I I I li III Hill llll II II II

22102293344

SEX AND CULTURE

By the same Author

SEXUAL REGULATIONS AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

SEX AND
CULTURE

BY

J. D. UNWIN, M.C., Ph.D. (Cantab.)

LATE (1914) CLASSICAL EXHIBITIONER, ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD ;
LATE (1928-1931) FELLOW COMMONER RESEARCH STUDENT,
PETERHOUSE, CAMBRIDGE

»

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON : HUMPHREY MILFORD

1934

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

AMEN HOUSE, E.C. 4
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CALCUTTA MADRAS SHANGHAI

HUMPHREY MILFORD

PUBLISHER TO THE
UNIVERSITY

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No.

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OPERIS ADIVTRICI
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PREFACE

THE writing of this treatise was originally completed in 1932 ; but there
were several reasons why it should not be published immediately ; and
I put it away, and wrote an Abstract of it. This Abstract, entitled Sexual
Regulations and Human Behaviour (Messrs. Williams & Norgate, Ltd.),
was published in October 1933. The little book was offered as a mere
summary of a future volume ; and the complete work is now presented.

If I may judge from the nature of the welcome extended to the Abstract,
some readers may be disappointed to find that so large a part of the com-
plete treatise is devoted to uncivilized peoples. I too have a greater personal
interest in the ideas and behaviour of civilized societies ; and, if I had been
concerned with the mere proving of a thesis (in the sense in which the word
is understood by those who adopt comparative methods), I should probably
have dismissed uncivilized societies with the eclectic summary that is
usually given to them, and confined my serious discussion to some highly
selected historical data. But I have not tried to prove a thesis, and have
none to prove; I have merely conducted an inquiry; and in such a case the
importance attached to any society, civilized or uncivilized, must be in pro-
portion to our knowledge of it. I wish to emphasize this. When I started
these researches I sought to establish nothing, and had no idea of what the
result would be. With care-free open-mindedness I decided to test, by a
reference to human records, a somewhat startling conjecture that had been
made by the analytical psychologists. This suggestion was that if the social
regulations forbid direct satisfaction of the sexual impulses the emotional
conflict is expressed in another way, and that what we call 'civilization'
has always been built up by compulsory sacrifices in the gratification of
innate desires. The psychologists arrived at this conclusion after
inquiring into the nature and causes of mental disturbances ; they made no
attempt to fortify it by a reference to cultural data ; so I decided to investi-
gate the matter. I began in all innocence ; had I realized how greatly, as
the result of my work, I should have to revise my personal philosophy,
I might even have hesitated to begin at all ; I was so far from desiring to
illustrate a personal conviction that I always struggled against arriving at
the conclusions which the evidence appeared to force upon me; and I
continued to work, resisting every temptation to speak, until I was satisfied
that I could find no exception to the apparent rules. I then collected so
much of my material as seemed necessary and advisable. This treatise is
the result.

I have had to omit many uncivilized societies which at first I proposed
to include because I found that our information concerning them did not
reach the standard of adequacy that I decided to adopt. Thus I have
excluded the Australian aborigines, and also many Bantu and American

viii PREFACE

Indian peoples of whose culture I made a preliminary examination. I
discuss the SE. Solomon Islanders (Melanesia), but have not regarded our
knowledge of the other Solomon Islanders as good enough to justify their
inclusion. The same remark applies to most of the Melanesians of New
Hebrides and New Guinea. My list of Polynesian and Micronesian societies
also is shorter than I should like it to have been. It includes the Maori,
Samoans, Tongans, Tahitians, and Gilbert Islanders ; and I mention the
Hawaiians ; but I make no reference to the Hervey (Cook), Ellice, Marshall,
Pelew, Marquesas, and Caroline Islanders. No people are more fascinating
than these ; but our information concerning them is scattered, scanty, and
of doubtful reliability. The quality of African ethnography, too, is uneven ;
and though it was disappointing to have to exclude such societies as the
Bari, Kavirondo, Konde, Bushongo, Bambala, and Ibo- and Edo-speaking
peoples (to mention a few of the African societies which at first I proposed
to include and later decided to omit), I was not impressed by the quality
of the available evidence in regard to their behaviour. I also studied the
Veddas, Todas, Oraons, and other famous peoples of India and Ceylon,
but did not feel able to place the requisite value upon our knowledge of
them. I have included twenty-eight American Indian societies; and
in their case my choice has been exercised in an apparently arbitrary
manner. From my original list I have deleted the names of the Ahts
(Nootka), Kwakiutl, Kootenay, Cheyenne, Delaware, Seminole, Mohave,
and some Shoshonean units ; but there is no doubt that our knowledge of
some of these tribes is equal to that of the Lillooet, Shuswap, and Thomp-
son, all of which I have included. The reason is that among the American
Indians there was an intense variety within the cultural pattern (in my
sense of the word), and I was anxious to examine as many societies as I
could in order to see if there was a change in the cultural pattern itself. A
protracted search failed to reveal such a change ; but the result of it was
that when I collected my material on the American Indians I was somewhat
embarrassed by its quantity. Some societies, like those of the Haida,
Ojibwa, Dakota, and Crow, could not possibly be omitted, for they were
of vital importance and our information concerning them is comparatively
good ; and from the remainder I simply chose such a number as might be
considered representative.

In all I discuss eighty uncivilized societies, and from the nature of
their cultural behaviour make my first induction. In the cultural be-
haviour of the omitted societies there was not, so far as my knowledge
goes, any item that militates against that induction ; and I mention the
fact of their omission in order to inform the critical reader that my
inquiry has actually covered a slightly wider field than that covered by the
printed treatise.

As to civilized societies, our comparative ignorance of social history is
such as to preclude inductive reasoning concerning the greater part of it.
This cannot be too often or too emphatically stated. I have even gone so

PREFACE ix

far as to say bluntly, in my first note, that researches based on historical
evidence alone cannot claim to be exhaustive. In saying this, I am thinking
particularly of social regulations and conventions ; and I confess that I view
with alarm the current habit, deplorably widespread among historians and
antiquarians, of assuming that the regulations and conventions that pre-
vailed in a century of which we have direct knowledge prevailed also in
a preceding or in a succeeding century, of which we may have no direct
knowledge at all. Whenever our knowledge is complete, we find that in
any vigorous society the method of regulating the relations between the
sexes was constantly changing; and, unless there is direct evidence, it is
wrong to assume that in any such society social laws were ever static and
unchanging, even for three generations.

My inductive survey of civilized societies is limited to the Sumerians,
Babylonians (to twentieth century B.C.), Hellenes, Romans, Anglo-Saxons,
and English. I also make a few references to the Arabs (Moors), and a
deductive suggestion about the Persians, Macedonians, Huns, and Mon-
gols. The brevity of the discussion is chiefly due, as I have said, to the
comparative scantiness of our knowledge of other ancient societies ; but I
also felt that if I descended into too much detail, the significances I wished
to convey would be obscured. For these reasons I have refrained from
discussing many societies which I should like to have discussed. Thus
the Cretans, Hittites, Assyrians, and Hindus have been entirely excluded.
I make a passing reference to the early vigour of the Teutonic peoples,
but the subsequent lethargy of, for instance, the Visigoths, the Lombards,
and the Merovingian dynasty, is not even mentioned. Teutonic law,
indeed, is only described in its relation to Anglo-Saxon customs. I have
also thought it better to omit any reference to the rise of the Sassanids, to
the age of Heraclius, and to those other great changes that took place in
western Europe, north Africa, and western Asia after the fall of the
Western Roman Empire and before the Mohammedan conquest; and I
have tried to avoid unnecessary controversy by cutting short the presenta-
tion of the Roman evidence as soon as I have summarized the legal changes
that took place between the traditional foundation of the consulate and the
principate of Augustus. Of the events of the next three centuries I merely
offer a general indication ; my reasons for doing so are stated or implied in
the text. As for the Venetians, Portuguese, and Spaniards, I have done no
more than hint at the apparent reason for the uneven energy they displayed
at different times ; and I have left the reader to judge for himself the rele-
vancy of my conclusions to the historical careers of the Prussians, Dutch,
French, and other modern societies. The sacrifice of some of this material
was painful ; but I thought that if I included it, the inductive character of
my work would be violated, or at any rate imperilled.

In the cultural behaviour of the societies I have mentioned there was
nothing, so far as my knowledge goes, that conflicts with the conclusions I
have drawn ; and at a later date I may seek to remedy some of the omissions.

X

PREFACE

In the meantime I cherish a hope that if any historical student is impressed
with the facts presented here, he will test my judgements by a reference
to the cultural career of a society which comes within his expert knowledge.

Since I have been so bold as to include our own society within my
survey, I should like to utter an early warning against a too literal applica-
tion of any conclusion, either in a reforming or in a die-hard spirit, to any
contemporary society. My own opinion on this important subject, given
for what it is worth, is implicit in my final sentences.

In presenting the evidence I have made every effort to be accurate and
concise, but in spite of care, and much rewriting, errors may have crept
in. Should any be found, I shall be glad to have them pointed out. The
treatise is not short; yet in some places it is extremely compressed. It
would, indeed, have been much easier to write it in seven volumes than it
has been to write it in one. This may explain, though it cannot extenuate,
many of the inelegancies that I myself find in it. My one aim has been to
express myself in such a way as to leave no doubt as to my exact meaning.
I hope that the second and third chapters will be useful for the purpose of
reference. There is certainly no need for any one to read them from
beginning to end. They, as well as the bibliography and index, are designed
to help those who wish to study human societies as dynamic units. I doubt
if a comparative student will get much assistance from them; but if he
browses in the notes he may find something to suit him. The notes contain
many facts of which there is no hint in the index. Throughout the survey
I have used or quoted the native terms, and have drawn up the index in
such a way as to encourage their use.

The book is divided into three parts: text, notes, and appendices. In
the text I relate the bare facts, and then interpret them without permitting
myself to stray from the main argument. In the appendices the facts are
expressed in a summary or symbolic manner. The notes have a twofold
character. In the first place, I cite the authorities for the statements made
in the text, compare and analyse any conflicting evidence, and elucidate
obscure passages. I regard this part of the book as important. The time
has surely passed when we can accept as authoritative a statement made
by a single authority, and omit to consult, or at any rate to quote, the other
authorities on the subject. The books and articles referred to are those
which I have carefully read and compared. Secondly, I have used the
notes both to support my submission that uncivilized societies can only
be classified according to their rites, and to point out some of the con-
fusions and misunderstandings that appear to have been caused by the
current method of translating native terms. I am dismayed when I think
of the errors into which we seem to have been led by the vague use of such
terms as 'high god', 'spirit', 'god', 'demon', 'evil spirit', 'godling', &c;
and there is no doubt in my mind that the man who uses them without
referring to the native term that they are supposed to represent runs the
risk of being superficial, if not definitely misled.

PREFACE

xi

It was only after much consideration that I adopted the system of separat-
ing the notes from the text. The system has one disadvantage : the serious
student must continually turn from one part of the book to another. But
my notes are extensive ; and if I had placed them at the bottom of each page,
as is sometimes done, I should have split up the text in a most displeasing
manner. Moreover, my subject is such as may arouse the interest of the
general reader as well as that of the specialist; so I have wished to make
the book as readable as I could. I fear that I have been compelled to tease
the reader's eye by the insertion of many small reference numbers, but in
the last two chapters, which are more likely than the others to be read
consecutively, I have tried to reduce the inconvenience of the numbers by
placing most of them at the end of paragraphs instead of at the end of
sentences. Throughout the second and third chapters the text is freely
peppered with numbers ; but that, I think, does not matter so much. The
general reader is unlikely to study these chapters very closely, and the
specialist will already have been hardened to the irritation that the numbers
are apt to cause.

I can best describe the general plan of the text by explaining how the
book came to be written.

It was in 1924 that after ten years of intellectual laziness, five spent in
war, five in commerce that involved some travel, I decided to devote
myself to the study of human affairs. In the course of my subsequent
reading I came across the old Sumerian laws, the Hammurabi Code, the
newly published Hittite laws, and the laws of Manu, and was much im-
pressed by their character. At that time the work of the analytical psycholo-
gists was still the subject of spirited debate ; and from my study of these
ancient records, read in the light of Hellenic and Roman history, there
emerged a suspicion that in their conjectures about 'civilization' the
psychologists might be right. And the more I studied historical societies
the more confident I became that the facts might support their theories.
But I perceived that I could arrive at no safe decision unless I included
uncivilized as well as civilized societies within the scope of the inquiry
I decided to undertake. So, after summarizing some of the historical
evidence in two short papers, I went up to the University of Cambridge
in order to inquire into the relation between sexual opportunity and
cultural condition among uncivilized peoples. When I first consulted some
of the original authorities on uncivilized ideas and behaviour, I began to
despair ; for it seemed that little sense could be made of the evidence. The
current language of social anthropologists did not always appear to be
exact, and I could not see my way to believe, in regard to uncivilized
thought, many statements that some social anthropologists appeared to
accept without question. I had lived at close quarters with some uncivil-
ized men, and I frankly doubted the reliability of much evidence that
seemed to have satisfied my predecessors. Fortunately, in my first frame
of reference (which contained thirty-seven columns), I had included the

xii

PREFACE

peoples' rites as well as their beliefs ; and gradually from this mass of data
there emerged the coincidences described in my first three chapters.
These were indeed impressive ; but I realized that I should not be able to
understand either the different kinds of cultural behaviour or the reason
for the apparent coincidences unless I could gain some knowledge of the
ideas that prompted the behaviour; and it was in this manner that I was
accosted by the phenomenon that is commonly, but so misleadingly, called
'the evolution of religion'. My argument in that connexion constitutes the
greater part of my fourth chapter; and, in order to avoid the dangers
incurred by the practice of selecting instead of stating the facts, I have
been careful, in this part of my work, to examine the evidence afforded by
each one of my eighty societies, even though some of it is of such a quality
as to have no real value.

In the course of my exposition of the cultural data I have had to make
many adverse comments on some anthropological writings; but I can
honestly say that I have confined my remarks to those writings which
run the risk of being commonly and uncritically accepted at their face
value. I have not gone out of my way to refute any opinion which bore no
relation to my problem; and I hope that the criticisms I have made will
be understood as springing only from a desire for greater exactitude and
lucidity. I usually found that a good deal of preliminary work was neces-
sary before any description of uncivilized ideas and behaviour could be
accepted as reliable evidence.

After analysing and drawing some conclusions from the anthropological
evidence, I proceed, in the second part of the fourth chapter, to outline the
opinions of competent psychologists in regard to the effects of compulsory
continence. Trained psychologists will find that this part of my work is
very elementary. They may be amused, too, by the shameless audacity
of a man who approaches his problem from an out-and-out behaviouristic
point of view, and then asks the analysts for assistance. But I have no
apology to make. I do not believe that human societies can be classified
in any other way than according to their behaviour ; thus a behaviouristic
approach was forced upon me; and the whole point of my argument is
that reasoning from other data the analytical psychologists have conjectured
the facts to be as I have found them.

It is commonly supposed, I believe, that when compulsory checks have
to be placed on the sexual impulses some form of neurosis is inevitably
produced. If by neurosis we mean abnormality, this opinion is not sup-
ported by the facts. There is a sense in which all civilized persons suffer
from a neurosis, but it is usual to apply the word to the nervous condition
of maladjusted persons. In recent years great stress has rightly been
laid on the number of such persons in our society, and, indeed, in any
branch of the white civilization ; but we must not forget that the number of
successful adjustments is much greater. Some of these successfully ad-
justed persons are just as neurotic, in the dictionary sense of the term, as

PREFACE xiii

those whom we call maladjusted ; but their abnormality happens to be of
a legal nature. On the instrument of human behaviour some notes are
called normal, others abnormal, some eccentric, others criminal. In each
case the difference is not of kind but of degree ; and the limits are arbitrarily
fixed by each society. Just as respectable misdemeanours are committed
by most of us who are not imprisoned as criminals, so each one of us is
guilty of a form of behaviour which, if exaggerated, would produce the
nervous condition medically diagnosed as neurosis. When compulsory
continence is intense, some persons seem unable to adjust themselves to
their cultural environment; but we must not allow our sympathy with
them to conceal the existence of those who have succeeded in adjusting
themselves. And we must not forget the relative character of our judge-
ments. The evidence is that in the majority of cases compulsory continence
produces social energy; only rarely does the consequent derangement of
the nervous system lead to what is technically called neurosis.

In my fifth chapter I present my final conclusions and place the cultural
process in what seems to be its proper relation to the biological and
universal processes. Our forefathers did not always preserve a clear dis-
tinction between these three processes, and I have tried to introduce some
order into the chaos produced in their minds by the controversies that
accompanied the submission of the Darwinian hypotheses. Here again
I have not begun the chapter by stating my final conclusion. I have led
up to that conclusion gradually, and only reach the last stage of my argu-
ment in the last two paragraphs.

The treatise, then, is nothing more than it pretends to be; it simply
contains the results of an inquiry, and an interpretation of the facts that the
inquiry revealed. I have made no attempt to erect a grand theoretical
edifice ; I have merely dug the foundations on which an edifice may later
be erected. The temperaments of some thinkers will incline them to accept
the conclusions I have drawn. These will not care a jot for my laborious
proofs, and may even claim that I can tell them nothing that they did not
know before. They are entitled to their opinions. The temperaments of
others will be strongly opposed to my conclusions. These will wish to
examine the proofs very closely ; and it is for them that I have written. For
their sake, too, I have preserved a rigorous distinction between the facts
and my interpretation of the facts.

Those who have lent a ready ear to the more exaggerated claims that
have been based on the Uncertainty Principle in physics may shy at my
unrepentant determinism ; but at present I do not propose to add to what
I have said in para. 175 and n. 646. There are signs that in regard to the
alleged spontaneity of the electron calmer views are beginning to prevail
than was the case two years ago ; so it may be that no serious dispute will
arise; but it is always well to be forearmed. Let me say, then, that I
acknowledge, and even emphasize, the free will of individual human beings ;
I am prepared to accept, if I must, the spontaneity of the individual

xiv PREFACE

electron ; these things do not affect the doctrine of determinism as I under-
stand and define it ; and I shall not contemplate the making of any further
defence unless in the opinion of competent thinkers the position I have
taken up seems likely to be rendered untenable by further researches into
electronic behaviour.

To a mind that is unaccustomed to the methods of scientific research,
the facts, as presented, may appear over-simplified. The reason is that
I have refused to publish them until I felt that I understood them. If
any one should hesitate to accept the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I) be-
cause its contents are too satisfactory, my reply is that truth is usually a
simple thing. If an alleged truth appears complicated, the probability is
that we understand it imperfectly. And I believe that much of the hazy,
apparently abstruse, science that is current to-day only appears to contra-
dict this view of truth because some research students, eager to produce
results, make a premature disclosure of their data. The association of
pre-nuptial chastity and what I have called the deistic cultural condition
has been known to me since 1929; and I will confess to having written
a short paper on the subject; but I recalled the manuscript before it was
published. By the spring of 1930 I had tumbled to the existence of a
compulsory irregular or occasional pre-nuptial continence, and after a few
more months had completed the Chart of Evidence as it now appears ;
then I toyed again with the idea of publication, but eventually decided to
withhold the Chart from the public eye until I felt I really understood its
meaning. I know that it is usual to present the results of a long research
in a series of short papers, and that it is dangerous to break a convention ;
but I cannot be persuaded that the Chart would have been welcomed, or
even considered, unless at the same time an interpretation had been placed
on the evidence it contains.

To assist a readier understanding than would be gained by reading the
book from the beginning to the end, I have not hesitated to summarize,
and even to repeat, the argument in what I considered to be the appropriate
place. My suggestion is that after reading the first chapter, and so much
of the second and third chapters as may be necessary to understand the
technique of the inquiry, the reader will find it easier to study para. 152,
and then to proceed straight to the end, returning afterwards to study the
details of the evidence. Para. 158 also is a useful summary for those who
wish to take a still shorter cut. But one point must be emphasized: in
considering the contents of the last chapter it is vital to distinguish
between what I have called the first and second primary laws (paras. 160,
174). They are both distinct and dissimilar. If they are discussed at the
same time, endless confusion will result.

Briefly stated, my final conclusion is that the cultural behaviour (as
defined) of any human society depends, first, on the inherent nature of
the human organism, and, secondly, on the state of energy into which,
as the result of its sexual regulations, the society has arrived. According

PREFACE

xv

to the amount of continence they compelled, the sexual regulations adopted
by human societies in the past divide themselves into six classes. These
have produced six distinct states of energy, three lesser, three greater.
All the uncivilized societies were in one or other of the three states of
lesser energy; civilized societies have always been in one or other of the
three states of greater energy. Each of the three states of lesser energy
produces a definite cultural condition; I call these cultural conditions
zoistic, manistic, deistic. Only one of the three states of greater energy
produces a definite cultural condition, rationalistic; the other states of
greater energy are those of expansive and productive energy. A deistic
society can display expansive energy, but not productive energy, unless
it first becomes rationalistic. If a rationalistic cultural stratum retains
its energy for about one generation (the records do not justify a more
definite statement), its cultural tradition seems to be augmented by an
element I have called human entropy. Just as the second law of thermo-
dynamics, or the Law of Entropy, appears to reveal the Direction of the
Universal Process, so this new element appears to reveal the Direction of
the Cultural Process (hence its name) ; and so long as the stratum continues
to display great energy its cultural behaviour changes in the Direction of the
Cultural Process. If, however, its energy decreases, its behaviour changes
away from the Direction. So far as my knowledge goes, no stratum can
be shown to have moved in the Direction for more than one-half of a
generation after the appearance of human entropy. The possibility of its
doing so must appeal to the imagination of any speculative philosopher.

In connexion with the inherent nature of the human organism my use of
the word 'conception' should be explained. I do not use it as a psychologist
but as a social scientist. I note the invariable reaction of men to the
'unusual', but make no attempt to explain or analyse it. When I say that
human culture (as defined) appears to be founded on the conception of the
strange quality (or power) that is manifest in anything unusual or beyond
comprehension, I merely mean that this seems to be the least common
denominator of the four cultural conditions. I am far from suggesting
that in the minds of all men there is, or was, a clearly formulated idea of
that quality or power ; yet my use of the word conception may imply that
in my opinion this is, and was, so. I have been unable, however, to think
of any other simple manner of expressing myself ; so I hope that the word,
although unsatisfactory, will be allowed to pass as a useful method of
describing a state of mind that plainly exists and existed.

No one but myself is responsible for the methods I have adopted or for
the conclusions I have drawn ; but I am indebted to many scholars for help
and encouragement. I could not have included either the Amazulu or
the Basuto within my survey if Mr. J. Y. Gibson, of Pietermaritzburg,
and Mr. F. H. Dutton, of Maseru, had not been so kind as to supply me
with some unpublished information on certain points. I thank them for
their great trouble. And I should have been unable to take advantage of

xvi

PREFACE

their expert knowledge if Mr. R. U. Sayce, Lecturer in Material Culture
in the University of Cambridge, had not written to them on my behalf.
My warm thanks are also given to the Rev. Dr. D. S. Oyler, who sent me
a valuable manuscript containing some important information on the
Shilluk.

My difficulties in regard to the ideas and behaviour of some other
uncivilized societies have been reduced by Professor T. C. Hodson, the
Rev. E. W. Smith, Dr. J. H. Hutton, and Dr. L. S. B. Leakey. Each of
these gentlemen was kind enough to answer a number of questions that
I put to them. I have learnt much, too, from my conversations with
Mr. J. H. Driberg. Mr. B. L. Hallward, Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge,
has assisted me in many ways ; and I value greatly the sympathy and advice
I have received from Dr. A. C. Haddon, late Reader in Ethnology, from
Dr. S. A. Cook, Regius Professor of Hebrew, and from Dr. A. B. Cook,
Professor of Classical Archaeology, all in the University of Cambridge.
When I was studying Sumerian and Babylonian law and history, Dr. R.
Campbell Thompson, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, was always ready
to place his knowledge at my disposal and to advise me in my reading.
My thanks are also due to Mrs. Doris Dingwall, who pointed out, at an
informal meeting held in University College, London, in May 1932, a
deficiency in my definition of the word 'temple'. As a result of her valuable
criticism I was able to increase the precision of my language by making
a slight amendment.

During my residence in Cambridge I was fortunate enough to enjoy
the privileges of a Fellow Commoner of Peterhouse. It is a pleasure to
record my appreciation of the kindnesses extended to me by the Master
and Fellows.

In 1 93 1 I presented to the Board of Research Studies in the University
of Cambridge a dissertation on the subject of this book. Dr. R. R. Marett,
Reader in Social Anthropology in the University of Oxford, and Mr. F. C.
Bartlett, Professor of Experimental Psychology in the University of
Cambridge, acted as referees. I learnt much from their criticism, and am
grateful to them for their subsequent encouragement.

The manuscript was revised January-March 1933. The final paragraph
was expanded, and a few notes added, in March 1934.

J. D. U.

LONDON

26 May igj4

CONTENTS

PREFACE

page vii

Chapter I. THE FRAME OF REFERENCE
Chapter II. SELECTED EVIDENCE

Chapter III. GENERAL SURVEY ....

Chapter IV. THE CONNEXION BETWEEN SEXUAL OPPOR
TUNITY AND CULTURAL BEHAVIOUR

Chapter V. NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS

NOTES AND REFERENCES

Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III .

Appendix IV

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

> 38

> 83

, 232

> 327

> 433
, 618

facing page 620

page 621

„ 624

5)

644

b

DETAILED LIST OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE FRAME OF REFERENCE

1. The Inquiry 1

2. The Material 3

3. Definition of Cultural Condition . . . . -4

4. Criticism of Categories based on 'Beliefs' . . . .7

5. Some Unacceptable Translations . . . . .10

6. By Their Rites We Shall Know Them . . . .13

7. Zoistic; Manistic; Deistic . . . . . 13

8. Ancestor-worship' : an Analysis . . . . 15

9. The Treatment of Affliction . . . . • *7

10. The Control of the Weather . . . . .18

11. The Frame of Cultural Reference (Uncivilized Peoples) . .18

12. The Meaning of 'Primitive' and 'Civilized' . . .22

13. The Meaning of 'Higher' and 'Lower' . . . .23

14. Definition of Marriage . . . . . 24

15. Comments on the Evidence . . . . 25

16. Definition of Sexual Opportunity . . . . 27

17. Exogamy and Prohibited Degrees . . . . .28

18. Definition of Pre-nuptial Chastity . . . . .28

19. Irregular or Occasional Continence . . . .29

20. Sexual Rights of a Clan-brother . . . . -3°

21. Sexual Rights over a Wife's 'Sisters' . . . 31

22. The Fate of the Widow . . . . . -33

23. The Complete Frame of Reference (Uncivilized Peoples) . . 33

24. The Method ....... 34

CHAPTER II

SELECTED EVIDENCE

25. The Plan of the Chapter . . . . . -38

A. SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA

26. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Loyalty Islanders and Tannese . 38

27. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the New Britons . . -38

28. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the SE. Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and

Sa'a) . . . . . . . -39

29. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Fijians . . . .40

30. Cultural Condition of the Loyalty Islanders . . 41

DETAILED LIST OF CONTENTS

XIX

31.

L ' X •

Cultural Condition of the Tannese

V Li H U 1 til V — . V.'il i.l 1 L1V/1I V/X IH v X CillllvOV • * • #

A O

42

32.

Cultural Condition of the New Rritnn<;

V^/ 1*1 L Li I CI 1 W A J. LX A tAL/11 L/l I 11L i. 1 L/ VV J.JL X lUilO • • • «

42

33.

Cultural Condition of the SE. Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a)

44

34.

Cultural Condition of the Fijians .....

47

35.

Summary and Chart ......

49

B. SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM AFRTCA AND AMFTCTCA

36

Sexual Recnllations of the Ranvanlrnlp Riitit^rii anH RQcrcmdci

r t

37.

Cultural Condition of the Banvankole

38.

Cultural Condition of the Bakitara ....

jj

39.

Cultural Condition of the Bafanda

V> L* X L IX X CI X V—-^ Vy X X LX 111 V-/ x X V_/ x 111 V*" X— ' CX CX X X LX ex • • • •

55

40

Summarv and Chart

k_/ IX 111111 CX X y ClllLi V. 1 J t* i L • « . , . #

57

41

Pre-mintial Regulations of the Yomha and Thihin

X 1 V, 1 1 LX yJ L 1 CI 1 1\L £1 LX 1U11 W llO L/l I 11 L X v'l LX LJ CL CXllLx 1 UlUiU • • •

5°

42.

Cultural Condition of the Yoruba and Ibibio

59

43.

Pre-nuptial Regulations and Cultural Condition of the Aztecs

61

44.

Summary and Chart ......

62

C SELECTED EVIDENCF FROM POI YNFSIA

V s U J. ., A. j 1 j L. X 1.1' 1 - V X A_-/ 1 . » 'I V. L X X \V_/ XVX X V/ i - 1 . > 1 . l ) 1 i \

45

^x%_/ •

Pre-nimtial Regulations of the IVlaori

X X V~ X X LX v ' L X CI X X » L. 4 LX A CX I 1 \ ' 1 1 J \ 7 X LI IV X " 1 IU '1 X • • • •

wo

46

Prp-miDtial Rpp'iilatiorm of tVsp Sarnoan^

X X XX LX 1 ' L-XtXX Xxvcl LX 1CX 11VJ1 IO V/X lllv KJ CXXXXWCXXXO • • • •

64.

47

Pre-nnntial Regulations of the Tonfans

X X L^ X X LX C. ' L 1 CI A X x L. J_~ LX XCX L1L/A X \J V/ X lllv X V / 1 X £5 ClllO • • • *

48

The Revolution in Hawaii

X 1 A L_ 1\V V V/l vUlvyll XXX X XCX V > CXXX ••••••

66

49.

x j •

Cultural Condition of the Maori

CX X L LX X C< X V_- x_y X X H X 11 v / 1 X \_/ X VI 1 x>^ t* V./ XX* • • • *

67

50.

Cultural Condition of the Samoans ....

69

51.

Cultural Condition of the Tongans ....

70

52.

Summary and Chart ......

7i

F> THF NACA TRTRFS OF ASSAM AND THE PALAEO-SIBERIANS

1 / , 1 JTE/ li AVJA. i IMUL/tJ V/X iliJUAlVl XXX X-j X i. XX_>i IAjL/ UlX'AvA\Ai&iik'

53

\-f L> •

Pre-nnntial Regulations of the Na^a Tribes of Assam

X X L-- X X LX L--' I 1 ill X \VC LX XCX L X \J I IO v-'X lllv X T U XX J- X X VU x. x J n • *

72

54

Cultural Condition of the Napa Tribes of Assam

V-x LXX L LX X CI X v/Wllvii L 1 Vv 1 1 \_/ X LI 1L X 1 CX CX XXX \^kj v^/ x X ivuui x x • • "

74

rre-nuptiai Keguiations 01 tne r aiaeo-oiDenans

70

56.

Cultural Condition of the Palaeo-Siberians

79

57.

Chart of Selected Evidence .

81

CHAPTER III

GENERAL SURVEY

A. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

58. The Plan of the Chapter ...... 83

59. Societies which were both matrilineal and matrilocal . • 84

60. The Area of Profound Mystery . . . • 85

61. Comments on Uncivilized Culture . • • -85

62. 'Animism' Again . . . . • • .88

63. The Power 89

xx DETAILED LIST OF CONTENTS

64. The Place . . . . . . • 91

65. The Agency . . . . • • • 91

66. Dead Level of Conception . . • . -97

67. Confusion between the One and the Many . . .97

68. Temporary Distinction between the One and the Many . . 98

69. Permanent Distinction between the One and the Many . . 98

70. Native Brains . . . . . . .98

71. Summary of the Foregoing . . . . .101

B. MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA

72. Banks Islanders ....... 102

73. Trobriand Islanders . . . . . .103

74. Kiwai Papuans . . . . . . .105

75. Mafulu . . . . . . . .107

76. Purari . . . . . . . .108

77. Koita . . . . . . . .110

78. Mailu . . . . . . .111

79. Orakaiva . . . . . . . .112

80. Summary and Chart . . . . . .116

C. EASTERN AFRICA

81. Comments on the African Evidence . . . .119

82. Shilluk ........ 121

83. Dinka ........ 124

84. Lango ........ 126

85. Akikuyu . . . . . . . .128

86. Akamba . . . . . . . -130

87. Nandi . . . . . . . -132

88. Masai . . . . . . . 134

89. Summary and Chart . . . . . -136

90. Preliminary Evaluation of the Foregoing Evidence . . .140

D. THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY

91. Awemba ........ 142

92. Baila ........ 146

93. Baronga ........ 149

94. Amazulu . . . . . . . -152

95. Basuto . . . . . . . .154

96. Summary and Chart . . . . . .156

E. AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES

97. Wayao and Anyanja — Pre-nuptial Sexual Regulations . 159

98. Wayao and Anyanja — Cultural Condition . . . .160

99. Dahomans . . . . . . .163

DETAILED LIST OF CONTENTS

100. Ashanti ......

101. Summary and Chart ....

F. AMERICAN INDIANS

102. Comments on the Evidence from North America .

(i) Indians of the North-west

103. Tlingit .

104. Haida

105. Thompson

106. Shuswap .

107. Lillooet .

108. Coast Salish

109. Klallam .

110. Nez Perces

111. Dene

112. Summary and Chart

(2) Indians of the Plains and Great Lakes

113. Ojibwa

114. Blackfeet

115. Arapaho

116. Iroquois

117. Dakota

118. Omaha

119. Hidatsa, Mandan, and Crow

120. Winnebago

121. Summary and Chart

(3) Indians of the South and South-east

122. Comments on Pueblo Culture

123. Hopi

124. Zuni

125. Sia

126. Navaho and Apache

127. Chickasaw

128. Creek

129. Natchez .

130. Pima

131. Summary and Chart

G. MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES

132. Comments on the Remaining Evidence

133. Tahitians .....

134. Gilbert Islanders ....

xxi

166
169

171

173

175
176

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

185
187
188
188
191

*93
194

196

197

199
201
204
205
205
206
207
208
210
211

213
213
220

xxii DETAILED LIST OF CONTENTS

135. Mikirs . . . . . . . .221

136. Garos ........ 222

137. Khasis . . . . . . . -223

138. Andaman Islanders ...... 225

139. Sea-Dyaks . . . . . . .226

140. Summary and Chart ...... 228

CHAPTER IV

THE CONNEXION BETWEEN SEXUAL OPPORTUNITY AND

CULTURAL BEHAVIOUR

A. ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE

141. Analysis of the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I) . . 232

142. The Cultural Scale . . . . . .236

143. The Scale of the Limitation of Sexual Opportunity . . 237

144. Method of Classifying the Evidence in regard to Uncivilized Ideas 240

145. Classification of the Evidence in regard to the Ideas of the Eighty

Uncivilized Societies ...... 241

146. The 'Unusual' as the Power . . . . .243

147. The 'Unusual' as the Agency ..... 249

148. Misconceptions and Misinterpretations .... 253

149. The 'Unusual' as 'the Dead' . . . . .266

150. The 'Unusual' as the Recipient ..... 277

151. The 'Unusual' as the Place . . . . .288

152. Summary of the Foregoing ..... 298

B. SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS

153. Origin of Psycho-analysis ..... 302

154. Social Nature of the Unconscious ..... 309

155. Effect of Sexual Limitations . . . • 3*3

156. The Cause of Social Energy . . . . • 3*7

157. Application of these conclusions to the Cultural Data . .321

158. Digest of the Foregoing Chapters ..... 323

chapter v
NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS

159. The Relativity of Human Affairs .

160. The Science of Human Affairs .....

161. Seven Classes of Sexual Regulations .

162. Cultural Effect of Pre-nuptial Sexual Freedom

163. Cultural Effect of a Compulsory Irregular or Occasional Continence

164. Cultural Effect of Compulsory Pre-nuptial Chastity

165. A Method of Confirming these Suggestions

DETAILED LIST OF CONTENTS xxiii

166. Degeneracy among Uncivilized Peoples . . . -360

167. Cultural Effect of different Post-nuptial Regulations; Christian

Marriage . . . . . . . 368

168. The Institution of Absolute Monogamy .... 379

169. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Babylonians (to twentieth century

B.C.) and Sumerians . . . . t .382

170. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Athenians . . . .386

171. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Romans (to first century a.d.) . 392

172. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Anglo-Saxons . . . 399

173. Post-nuptial Regulations of the English (from sixteenth to twentieth

century) . . . . . . .406

174. Human Entropy . . . . . . .411

175. Conclusion . . . . . . .415

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

The Frame of Cultural Reference (Uncivilized Peoples) . . 19

The Frame of Reference (Uncivilized Peoples) . . . -34

Selected Evidence from Melanesia . . . . .50

Selected Evidence from East Africa . . . . 58

Selected Evidence from West Africa and Central America . . 63

Selected Evidence from Polynesia . . . . 71

Chart of Selected Evidence (21 Societies) . . . .82

Melanesia and New Guinea . . . . . .119

Eastern Africa . . . . . . . 136

Area of Profound Mystery . . . . . 157

African Matrilineal Societies . . . . * . .169

American Indians of the North-west . . . . -183

American Indians of the Plains and Great Lakes . . 197

American Indians of the South and South-east . . . .212

Miscellaneous Societies ...... 229

The Power in the Universe. Indisputable Evidence . . . 245

The Power in the Universe. Probable Evidence . . . 246

The Source of Magic Power. Indisputable Evidence . . . 250

Terminology of some Zoistic Societies ..... 267

Terminology of some Manistic Societies .... 274

Diagrams of the Cultural States . ... 426

CHAPTER I

THE FRAME OF REFERENCE

1. The Inquiry. Among both civilized and uncivilized peoples there is
a close relation between sexual opportunity and cultural condition, and I
have thought it worth while to conduct a detailed inquiry into the matter.
The results of my inquiry, and the conclusions I have drawn from the
facts, are presented in the following pages.

In submitting them for consideration I am conscious not only of the
voluminous nature of the evidence which I shall ask the reader to examine,
but also of the established opinions which are current to-day in regard to
sexual regulations. These opinions may be said to be either dogmatic or
theoretical. Those who adhere to dogmatic opinions claim that their con-
clusions are founded upon a supernatural sanction; but since this super-
natural sanction is not recognized by all men, it follows that those who hold
the dogmatic opinions cannot speak with authority except to those who, by
recognizing the sanction, inevitably subscribe to those opinions already.
The theoretical opinions are held by those who have rebelled against the
dogmatism of the former party ; they substitute an alleged rationalism for
the supernatural sanction of their opponents. Yet their conclusions have
no greater validity, for they do not always succeed in excluding the personal
factor from their submissions; and when they attempt to justify their
opinions by a reference to human records they have a tendency to sub-
stitute conjectural hypotheses for rational inductions, and to submit a
collection of apt illustrations as proof of their individual theories. In
dealing with such subjects as sex and culture these methods are disastrous ;
so I have endeavoured both to devise a technique by means of which the
personal factor may be avoided, and to adopt a procedure which will
approach, so far as possible, the methods of the chemist and the physicist.
In this manner I hope to have safeguarded myself from premature and
superficial conclusions. I am not unmindful of the handicaps that must be
suffered by a student of human affairs who seeks to emulate the methods
applied to the more exact sciences ; yet I am persuaded that, if the study of
human affairs is to be raised above the level of mere opinion (which is
always subject to the time in which it is expressed), there must be a radical
change in the methods which have been adopted in the past. So I propose
to devote this chapter to the consideration of method and to the formula-
tion of exact definitions.

When a chemist conducts an inquiry into the behaviour of two chemical
elements he does not express any personal opinion about the reaction ; he
accepts it as part of their inherent nature ; and he publishes his formula in
the language which is common among chemists. After this has been done

B

2 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE § i

he may subject his material to a closer analysis ; he may solicit the aid of
other scientists in order that the natural constitution of the elements may
be examined more minutely ; but the observation and acceptance of the
original fact preceded this research, and the ultimate reason for the observed
behaviour is hidden in the ultimate nature of the physical universe.

It is the same, I submit, in the study of human affairs. If, as the result
of extended researches into human records, certain cultural factors are
found to be coincident with certain social factors, we must first collect,
classify, and present the evidence ; we must then sift it as finely as possible
in order that we may make some intelligible suggestion concerning the
manner in which the phenomena are connected. After this has been done
we may solicit the aid of the psychologist and of the biologist in order that
a concerted endeavour may be made to arrive at an agreed conclusion ; but
the acceptance of the original evidence must precede this subsequent dis-
cussion. We cannot bask in the sunshine of theory before we have plunged
into the cold waters of fact. Moreover, the ultimate reason for the observed
behaviour will always remain undisclosed, being hidden in the ultimate
nature of the human organism. Our individual opinions concerning the
relation between the factors are irrelevant. If we attempt to intrude our
personal bigotries we shall deprive ourselves of the power of appealing
to the unaided human reason.

The experimental chemist, however, enjoys many advantages which are
denied to the social scientist. A chemist can communicate his results by
means of eloquent symbols which will express his meaning in a precise
and economical manner ; the student of human affairs is compelled to state
his evidence in words of common currency and must preface his inquiry
by the formulation of an exact technical language. A chemist can squeeze
his symbolic equation into a page, devoting the remainder of his treatise
to a discussion of its meaning; the social scientist must tread a long and
weary path of monotonous exposition, postponing his interpretation until
the whole of the evidence has been presented and elucidated. This is the
only reliable method. The illustration of a personal theory by the citation
of numerous examples is indecisive, for in this manner many opposing,
and even contradictory, theories could be (and indeed have been) 'proved'.

A third advantage which the chemist enjoys is afforded by the nature
of the material on which he works. When he has published his formula
concerning the behaviour of two chemical substances every other chemist
can test the truth of his conclusion by means of a simple experiment.
There is no limit to the amount of the evidence, for there is no limit to the
number of experiments. As a result of these experiments the conclusion
may be formed that so long as nature remains uniform the observed reaction
is inevitable. Now a limitation of sexual opportunity always is, and so far
as I know always has been, accompanied by a rise in cultural condition ; but
from a bare study of the facts alone it is impossible for me to say that the
coincidence is inevitable, for I am precluded from conducting a series of

§2 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 3

experiments by means of which the truth of the assertion (or prophecy)
might be tested. Furthermore, I cannot say that the statement is true of
every society which exists or has existed, for the evidence is not available
on which such a declaration could be based. All I can do is to include in
my survey as much evidence as is reliable, and to defer a final conclusion
until the whole of that evidence has been presented and agreed. And this
is what I propose to do.

2. The Material. The material which is available for an inquiry into
the relation between sexual opportunity and cultural condition is of two
kinds, historical and anthropological. It is usual to regard social history
and social anthropology as separate subjects, but the distinction between
them, I trust, is a temporary separation and not a statutory divorce. Indeed,
my suggestion is that social history and social anthropology are the upper
and lower portions of the same stream of knowledge. For the purposes of
study we may erect a temporary dam between them, but if we do not
remove it when occasion demands we shall find that the waters of our
study will not arrive in the open sea of acceptable conclusion; they will
waste their energies on an unfertile land which can produce nothing but
indecisive judgements. At the same time the division is more than an
academic convention. So far as this inquiry is concerned, the historical
and the anthropological facts are of a totally different character. In the
records of history we can observe the changes that occurred in the cultural
condition of a society as century succeeded century ; the study of social
anthropology reveals a number of simpler peoples, scattered all over the
world, occupying different positions in the cultural scale. The historical
law-codes and other appropriate data tell us of the changes that the
members of historical societies made in their methods of regulating the
relations between the sexes ; but we must study the sexual regulations
of uncivilized societies in a different manner, comparing the rules which
operated in one society with those which prevailed in another society. In
the one case we compare the condition of a society with the condition of
the same society in a previous or a subsequent epoch; in the other case
we compare the condition of one society with the condition of another
society in the same epoch. In the one case we move through time, in the
other case through space. If we were to concentrate on the historical facts
we should disregard the larger part of the evidence. If we confined our
researches to uncivilized peoples, the most important societies would-be
excluded from the survey. Some of the historical evidence, however, is
exceedingly fragmentary ; it can be employed only as corroborative material
for a conclusion which has been based on other and more complete evi-
dence. I shall summarize the more important and more reliable historical
facts in the final paragraphs of this book ; but in order that the very con-
siderable material may be managed more easily I propose to make my
inductions from the anthropological evidence alone. In this manner,

4 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §3

moreover, I shall preserve the conventional distinction between social
history and social anthropology.1

To some scholars this may appear somewhat arbitrary. May I quote,
then, what an eminent physicist has said in reference to scientific method ?
'Everything', he declares, 'is linked with everything else. We may, however,
choose our own range of study. We may concentrate on a certain small
patch or we can take a broad survey. By the one method there is limitation
of breadth; by the other method we run the risk of being superficial. If
both breadth and depth are attended to by the same individual, they must
be attended to at different times. It is not possible to work them con-
currently.'2

3. Definition of 'Cultural Condition* . The sense of the word 'culture' is
somewhat extensive. It is used to denote social customs, religion, litera-
ture, art-forms and sciences, methods of government and manufacture,
means of communication, types of houses, and all practical industries.
We speak of 'culture-contact' when we refer to the meeting of societies of
which the 'culture' differed, and of 'culture-diffusion' when we allude to
the fact that people who travel do not absorb the 'culture' of those among
whom they settle, but preserve some portion of their own, so that the' cul-
ture' of both parties is affected. The so-called cultural Ages, the Neolithic
and the Palaeolithic, for example, or the Aurignacian and the Magdalenian,
have their various types of 'culture' which are used as evidence of the
evolution of human 'culture'.

It is obvious that the application of so protean a word must be strictly
limited before it can be said to possess any single precise meaning. To
arrive at this limitation I will state a few general facts in regard to un-
civilized peoples.

The work of Frazer, van Gennep, Driberg, and Malinowski has demon-
strated that the members of uncivilized societies feel that they are sur-
rounded by certain forces or powers. In times of sickness or distress, at
planting and harvest, when rain is needed or comes too much, at birth,
adolescence, marriage, and death, and on every occasion of importance,
these forces or powers make themselves manifest. Their needs, if any, must
be satisfied in the proper manner, in the proper place, by the proper person,
and at the proper time.

Under certain circumstances some savages consider that they can control
the course of nature by rite and spell, compel the wind and the weather,
and ward off dangers from themselves, their cattle, and their crops. They
think that they can persuade the earth to bear fruit and the beasts to
multiply. At least, that is the manner in which the various rites have been
interpreted ; but we must remember that the magical ceremonies are not
miraculous as well as magical, and it is this simple fact which makes me
doubt if we have always understood correctly what was in the native mind.
As Mr. Driberg has said, magic is not all-powerful ; if it were, the savage

§3 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 5

would not work at all. The truth seems to be that the savage conducts the
rites which seem to us so futile and so complicated because he regards
them as being both necessary and efficacious. To him they are necessary
because the powers that surround him must be attended to, and efficacious
because if the proper rites are performed by the proper person, in the
proper place, at the proper time, there will be nothing to fear.

We must not go beyond the evidence and maintain that such savages
are ignorant of all natural law. They may not conceive of nature as an
assembly of orderly activities which follow one another in a determined
order ; but they have a very clear idea of what is usual and unusual in their
limited world. The Melanesians of whom Professor Malinowski has
written possess a sea-lore as rational and as consistent as our own; but
they believe that incantations must be sung when a canoe is being made.
Their methods of agriculture are based on logic and experience, and they
always plant at the right season; but in their opinion the powers in the
universe must be attended to while the planting is being carried out.
They believe that magic is indispensable to success, and among such
people the domain of the sacred (or the dangerous) so permeates the pro-
fane (or the ordinary) that nothing can be undertaken without attention
being paid to the powers which are manifest therein.

The stimulation and control of the sun, sky, and earth, however, are
only part of the business of life ; or to put the matter in another and more
accurate way, it is not only in the sun, sky, and earth that the powers
are manifest. The great events of every person's life, birth, adolescence,
and death, are also times of peculiar danger and immense significance.
Therefore on these occasions also certain social ceremonies must be per-
formed which are equally necessary and equally efficacious. Inevitably
every man and woman must pass through these crises, and, as an insulation
against danger, and as an injection of power for the negotiation of future
difficulties, certain ceremonies must be performed in the proper manner,
by the proper person, in the proper place, and at the proper time.3

Lastly, it is usual for an uncivilized man to assume that an illness which
does not yield to the simple treatments which are based on his stock of
herbal or medicinal correctives can be explained only by the assumption
that some malignant power is working against him, or that some hitherto
friendly power has been angered by his neglect. He must have recourse,
therefore, to the man who can withdraw, control, or influence that power,
or who can advise concerning its identity.

I have stated these beliefs in general terms in order that the words might
apply, so far as possible, to all uncivilized societies. We can sum the matter
up by saying that to the members of every uncivilized society a certain
power (or powers) manifests itself (or manifest themselves) in the universe,
and that steps are taken to maintain a right relation with it (or them).

Now the evidence is that different societies conceive of these powers in
different ways and adopt different methods in their efforts to preserve a

6 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE § 3

right relation with them. The manner in which the powers are conceived,
and the steps which are taken to maintain this relation, constitute the cul-
tural condition of a society in the sense in which the phrase is used through-
out this treatise.

Two comments are necessary.

In the first place, I am aware that the meaning which I attach to the
term 'cultural condition' may seem unduly limited. It is, indeed, narrower
than I originally intended. When I embarked on these researches I in-
cluded social and political organization within its scope. I had observed
that usually the societies which were in what I shall call the deistic cultural
condition were organized as monarchies ; and it seemed desirable to make
more detailed inquiries into the matter. But the bold enterprise had to be
abandoned. If uncivilized methods of social and political control are to
be analysed and classified, we must first collect and survey the facts ; we
must know whether a man's influence depended on his birth or on his
personality, and whether he exercised his authority over the members of
a certain social group or over the inhabitants of a certain territory. These
are simple and fundamental distinctions. In the appropriate literature,
however, the word 'chief has been employed in an extremely vague and
inexact manner. Few writers attach to it any single precise meaning, and
the evidence is of such a poor quality that a long argument is often neces-
sary before its meaning can be elucidated. Seldom is it possible to say
whether chieftainship was individual, social, or political. Sometimes a man
has been called a 'chief because he took the lead at a particular crisis.

The same remarks apply to the use of the word 'king'. The details of the
available evidence would have to be evaluated and compared before we
could be certain that our classifications were reliable. Sometimes the term
'Paramount Chief is applied toaman whom other writers would call 'King'.

Under such circumstances I had no option but to limit the meaning of
'cultural condition' until the necessary material shall have been subjected

to a closer scrutiny.

I am convinced that the relation which appears to exist between
monarchical institutions and the worship of gods in temples is more
apparent than real ; but I do not see how we can draw any definite con-
clusion from the coincident facts until we have defined our terms. Equally
am I convinced that the method of government which a society adopts at
any time is controlled by the same necessity as its cultural condition. The
evidence on which this opinion is based, however, is historical rather than
anthropological.

Secondly, the cultural condition of a society must not be confused with
its religion. This is most important. It is true that, if we were to extend
our definition of 'religion' to its full limit, among some peoples the two
phenomena would coincide almost exactly; but some cultural details, such
as the cure of sickness and the control of the weather, which under these
conditions would have to be included as an integral part of 'religion', are

§4 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE y

not included as such by the members of all societies at all times, and it is
vital that our definitions should be applicable to any society at any time.
How many twentieth-century thinkers would assent to the suggestion that
their pathological methods or their methods of weather-control were part
of their religion ? To a modern mind it sounds meaningless and incredible.
That is because our cultural condition has changed. Some of our fore-
fathers would have assented.

Such an extended use of the word 'religion', therefore, might be justi-
fiable as an academic definition, but it would be extremely inconvenient in
practice. It is very difficult, even for the most accurate thinker, to employ
such an important word in a sense different from that to which he has been
accustomed. The habits of years and the convictions of the mind cannot
be changed thus easily. It is, in fact, extremely irritating to be compelled
to remember that a writer is using an everyday word in a sense wholly
peculiar to himself. So far as possible such words should be avoided, I
think, as technical terms. Usually a technique can be devised which will
permit the use of some other satisfactory terms which enjoy a less universal
currency and which are subject to less individual interpretations.4

4. Criticism of Categories based on 'Beliefs'. The cultural condition of
any uncivilized society, then, is determined by its answers to two questions :

1 . What powers manifest themselves in the universe ?

2. What steps are taken to maintain a right relation with them?

My first submission is that it is impossible to classify uncivilized societies
according to their 'beliefs'; they can be classified only according to their
rites. This opinion is the opposite to that which is usually held. It is
fitting, therefore, that I should state my reasons for discarding the more
usual classifications.

If we classify our societies according to their beliefs, without reference
to their rites, we are relying on evidence the trustworthiness of which, for
several reasons, is extremely doubtful. In the first place, an uncivilized
man, and even a civilized one, finds it extremely difficult to state the precise
nature of his creed. I have lived and travelled among such different races
as the Ethiopians, Somalis, and non-Amharic-speaking peoples of modern
Abyssinia (commonly called Gallas), and I am confident that any declara-
tion which they may have made to me was by no means an accurate repre-
sentation of their genuine beliefs, which indeed they were quite unable to
formulate. I do not think that a European peasant or an American artisan
could give me a complete account of his beliefs, and I do not see that we
can expect a Melanesian or a Bantu to perform a mental feat which is
admittedly beyond the power of many of our own citizens. Thus the only
method by which we can obtain any knowledge of an uncivilized creed is
by asking direct questions. The unreliable character of the answers to
these questions is my second reason for suspecting the evidence. Generally
speaking, uncivilized men and women are more tactful than truthful. They

8 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §4

are anxious to make a good impression on their distinguished visitor, and
are extremely careful not to cause him pain or displeasure. The result is
that they give those answers to his questions which they think he would
like to hear. At the same time they are always ready to punish a lack of
sympathy by an intentional deception. If they consider that their questioner
will use his knowledge to their disadvantage they will cheat him by giving
him false information. Moreover, even under the most favourable condi-
tions, a man of undeveloped mentality quickly tires of a subject, and then
he is likely to say anything which will secure his escape from an irritating
conversation. As I plod through the vast literature which has accumulated
during the last fifty years in reference to the beliefs of uncivilized men
I seem to detect many signs of these mental gymnastics. I suspect that
occasionally our authorities have been misinformed. Many protests have
been made against the employment of direct questions ; yet they remain
a current method of obtaining information. The absurdity of the method
has been recognized ; but its temptations are not always resisted.

My third point is that even if an observer succeeds in collecting sufficient
data to justify a description of 'beliefs', it is likely that his own personality
will be reflected in his report. His conversations with the natives will place
in their minds a measure of his own beliefs and he will interpret their words
in terms of his own thought.

The former difficulty has been well stated by Callaway. 'Nothing is
more easy', he says, 'than to inquire of heathen savages the character of
their creed and during the conversation to impart to them great truths and
ideas which they never heard before, and presently to have them come
back again as articles of their own original faith, when in reality they are
but the echo of one's own thoughts.'5 If we add the possibility that the
observer may have reported the native belief in terms of Christian thought,
either unconsciously, or to show that Christianity is not unique in some of
its tenets, or to prove that the Christian system is a universal truth of which
all men still retain some knowledge, the confusion becomes so great that
I doubt if the evidence can be said to have any real value.

There is a fourth difficulty, too, and I wish to discuss it at greater length.
Let us suppose that an observer has succeeded in extracting from the natives
an accurate account of their personal creed; let us further suppose that he
has succeeded in reporting that creed without any intrusion of his own
individual philosophy: in what terms will he state his facts? If he follows
the example of ninety-nine per cent, of our authorities he will speak in
terms of 'spirits', 'gods', and other such entities. These words were being
employed long before Tylor formulated his theory of 'animism'; indeed,
Tylor's hypotheses were founded upon such reports; yet in my view they
are scientifically inadmissible. The native terms have been translated in a
manner which has concealed the natives' attitude towards their world, and
it is my further submission that the vast majority of native terms cannot be
accurately translated into a civilized tongue. Modern equivalents do not exist.

§4 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 9

If the view be adopted that all classifications which are based on 'beliefs'
are inherently misleading, it follows at once that such terms as 'animism'
and 'animistic' must be discarded; and the following pages will be under-
stood more easily if the conception of 'animism' is banished from the mind.
When we begin to extract those facts which will facilitate a final interpreta-
tion of the relation between sexual opportunity and cultural condition, we
shall have to consider the Tylorian hypotheses in greater detail. Here and
now I will state some of the reasons why, in my view, native terms cannot
be translated into our language.

The main points of my criticism can be tabulated thus :

1. If we translate a native term 'spirits' or 'spiritual beings', we create
the impression that different powers are manifest in different places. We
often find that the native uses the same word to denote the 'spirit' in each
place; that is to say, the same power is manifest in different places.

2. Sometimes a savage will apply a singular or collective word to 'the
dead'. If we must translate the word, 'the dead' most nearly approaches
the native meaning, assuming that the natives employ the term in those
contexts in which we use a substantive and not an adverb. If we render
this term 'spirits of the dead', we may create the impression of an individual
survival which is not part of the native conception.

3. Often the word which we translate 'spirit' is used in an adverbial
context. It seems, then, that the savage may conceive of a character or of
a quality. Our translation represents him as conceiving of an entity.

4. Often the same word is translated both as 'spirit' and as 'god'. If
these English words are to be accepted as alternative renderings, it follows
that neither of them has that precise meaning which it is desirable that
a technical term should possess.

5. Sometimes the natives employ the same term to denote various
circumstances or phenomena for each of which we use a separate word.
If we translate the native term by the word which we should use under
similar circumstances, or in a similar reference, we create the impression
that he distinguishes what actually he confuses. Sometimes we find that
a native word of this description is translated 'God', 'god', 'deity', 'godling',
'spirit', 'ghost', 'guardian spirit', 'malignant demon', or by these or other
words in their plural forms. We are then told that the members of that
society believe in 'gods', 'spirits', 'ghosts', &c, and their rites are classified
as 'spirit- worship' and 'ghost- worship' ; but the dual nature of the practices
has been created by our translations. To the native they are one and the
same thing.

6. The members of different societies often employ the same word to
denote the power in the universe. Usually we translate this word by the
same English equivalent, e.g. 'god'; we then assume that all the societies
conceive of the power in the same way. This is not a justifiable conclusion.
Sometimes a study of their rites reveals an astounding variety.

Methodologically these submissions are important, so I propose to

I0 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §5

illustrate each of them by a single example. In all cases, however, a number
of instances could be cited. I shall speak in the past tense, for the native
conceptions are being rapidly modified under white influence.

5. Some Unacceptable Translations, i. The Tlingit 'yek'. In the opinion
of the Tlingit Indian, we are told, 'All nature is animate and the spirit
of any being can become the genius of any man who thus acquires super-
natural powers. These spirits are yek."

From this statement it would be legitimate to conclude that the Tlingit
were 'animists'. A subsequent report, however, shows that this opinion
would be erroneous, and, according to Mr. J. R. Swanton, due to our
'European lineage'. 'Most Indian Languages,' he remarks, 'or at any rate
the Tlingit, do not have a true plural, but have usually a distinctive and
occasionally a collective. Instead of thinking of so many objects they think
of one. The sea-spirit is the ocean of supernatural energy as it manifests
itself in the sea, the bear-spirit as it manifests itself in the bear, the rock-
spirit as it manifests itself in the rock, &c.' Thus, whereas we should be
tempted to conclude from the previous report that different powers were
manifest in different places, actually the same power was manifest in each
place. The Tlingit did not believe in 'spiritual beings'; they saw in the
world the manifestation of a single power, yek.6

2. The Nilotic 'jok'. The Lango, we are told, were of the opinion that
after his funeral the soul of a dead man became 'merged in jok1. When
this happened the soul ceased to have any individual existence so far as
the survivors were concerned. The Dinka are said to have had a somewhat
similar belief. The spirit of a recently deceased man was called atiep, but
sometimes it was spoken of as 'ajok'; 'this term', Professor Seligmann
says, 'is generally reserved for the spirits of long dead and powerful
ancestors'. Jok are more powerful and energetic than atiep'

Now jok was a singular word: to say 'jok are more powerful' is therefore
ungrammatical, and misrepresents the native conception. Sir James
Frazer offers 'ancestral spirits' as a fair rendering ot jok, and remarks, 'In
the Dinka language jok signifies not a great God, but a spirit of a dead
ancestor.'

Now jok, a singular word, might possibly be translated the dead ,
although I am not satisfied that it was substantival in all contexts ; 'spirits of
the dead' would be a possibly legitimate but inherently dangerous rendering ;
but 'a spirit of a dead ancestor' cannot be correct, for it suggests an
individual survival (2s jok) which was not part of the Dinka belief.?

3. The Banks Island W. According to the Dictionary of the Mota
Language the word vui meant 'a spirit' or 'any big thing': thus, of a boy
much grown, ne vui gai y 'you exceeding fellow', gai being vocative; vui
lama, 'exceeding large'. In such contexts the word is clearly adverbial.
We are told also that 'whenever some impressive touch of natural awe
comes upon the native mind it apprehends the presence of some haunting

§ 5 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 1 1

vui\ Is it not possible that in this case a native adverb has been changed
into an English substantive? It seems to me that the native may have
applied the term vui, 'exceeding' (adv.), to every place which impressed
him, and that Dr. Codrington inferred that whenever the term vui (adv.)
was used, the native believed a vui (subs.) to be present. We are so
accustomed to thinking in terms of entities that we have always assumed
that a native thinks in a similar manner.

There is some evidence that my conjecture may not be wide of the mark,
for when we compare the translations in Dr. Codrington 's dictionary with
those in his monograph we can trace the manner in which he transformed
the adverb into a substantive. In the dictionary the phrase ne vui gai is
rendered 'You exceeding fellow'; but in the monograph the English
equivalent is 'He is a vui to be sure'. Does not this suggest that Dr.
Codrington, the author of both translations, was puzzled by the adverbial
meaning of vui and that the substantival rendering was due to what
Mr. Swanton calls 'European lineage'?

In another passage Dr. Codrington says: 'Men have declared that they
have seen something with no definite outline, grey like dust, vanishing
as soon as it was looked at. This must have been a vui.* This statement
seems to be a mere assembly of answers to direct questions.8

4. The Angami Herhoma?. Dr. J. H. Hutton translates this word as
'spirit', 'spirits', 'deities', 'a god'. He has been kind enough to explain
to me that the context alone shows whether the singular or plural should be
employed. Professor T. C. Hodson informs me that the form of the word
denotes 'heap', 'mass', 'crowd'.

It is accurate, therefore, to render terhoma either as 'spirit' or as 'spirits'.
We must assume that it is equally legitimate to employ 'a god' or 'gods'
as its English equivalent. In that case, if we employ the old terminology,
the Angami Nagas must be said to have been both animists and polytheists,
and those words lack the exact meaning which it is desirable that technical
terms should possess.9

5. The Sea-Dyak 'petard1. The Sea-Dyaks were of the opinion that
many things in the world were petara. The word is said to have been of
Sanskrit origin; but for our present purpose its origin is immaterial.
Archdeacon Perham, who is our best and almost our only authority on
Sea-Dyak beliefs, employs a capital P throughout his description. The
capital, however, seems to belong to Perham rather than to petara.

Among Archdeacon Perham's renderings or interpretations of petara are :

(a) 'Petara is God and corresponds in idea to the Elohim of the Old
Testament.'

(b) 'There are many Petaras.' (These anglicized plurals are not un-
common in anthropological literature. Nothing shows more clearly that
the word has been given an English rather than a native meaning.)

(c) 'One man has one Petara, another man another.'

(d) The phrase o kite petara is rendered 'O ye gods'. This, according

I2 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §5

to Perham, is 'unmistakable evidence that polytheism must be regarded
as the foundation of Sea-Dyak religion'. Compare (a).

(e) 'Of the white man it is said, "They are Petara".'

(f) ' Petara may be one particular being and may include a multitude of

gods.' . ,

(g) 'Petara is their own shadow projected into higher regions.

(h) 'Petara are innumerable.'10

Those who have read a quantity of anthropological literature of a certain
kind will remember other native words which have been maltreated in a

similar manner. . .

Archdeacon Perham proceeds: 'When the inconsistencies are pointed
out all he [i.e. the Sea-Dyak] says is that he does not understand it, that
he simply believes what his forefathers have handed to him.' Yet it seems
to me that it is the Archdeacon who is responsible for the inconsistencies.
If we cease to translate the term into our language and to intrude our
thoughts into the Sea-Dyak mind, we find that he applied the word petara
to certain people, certain natural phenomena, a man's shadow, and perhaps
his soul The obvious conclusion is that in his opinion all these things
possessed a common quality which he called petara. What could be more

reasonable or consistent ? .
6. The Maori 'atua\ If we had to confine our researches to such material

as Tylor was compelled to employ, we should obtain an equally strange idea

of the Maori 'beliefs'.

According to Brown, 'they have a multiplicity of gods, and each man has
an attua of his own to whom he ascribes all the evil which may happen to
him' Angas, however, prefers another translation: 'They believe in in-
visible spirits called atuas.' (I have already commented on these anglicized
plurals.) Colenso states that atua was 'a malignant demon'. Shortland is
confident that atua were 'the spirits of the dead'. Polack agrees with him
but uses the singular. Maning speaks of atua as a 'familiar spirit', while
Tregear says 'they believe in demons and spirits . . . there are no guardian
spirits'.11

Is it not obvious that the Maori did not believe in any of these European
things, but simply in the manifestation of a single power, which they
denoted by the untranslatable word atua ? Have we not confused the mean-
ing of the word with the phenomena to which it was applied ? ^

The word atua was common to most Polynesian societies; 'god' is the
usual rendering. The result is that all Polynesian societies have been
credited with the same conception of atua ; and then we have concluded
that they were all in the same cultural condition. But just as when a bargee
uses the word 'god' I cannot believe that he is expressing the ideas which
a philosopher associates with the term, so it would be rash to assume that
the Maori idea of atua was also that of the Tongans. Their methods of
maintaining a right relation with atua were, as we shall see, entirely
different.

§6 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 13

There is reason to believe, then, that some pagan creeds have not been
accurately described. Indeed it is doubtful if we can discover the nature
of any uncivilized belief apart from the rite which is based upon it, for a
native cannot explain his ideas and we cannot trust his answers to our
questions. Even if a native has succeeded in imparting his beliefs it is
doubtful if great reliance can be placed upon a white man's description
of them, for there is danger that the report will either contain some articles
of faith which are the echoes of the observer's thoughts or be influenced
by the observer's individual temperament. Furthermore, even if an
observer has obtained a correct idea of the native opinions, and has
described them without any subjective intrusion, the report cannot be
used as a basis of classification, for in all probability the English words in
which it is expressed not only misrepresent the native ideas, but also lack
the precise meaning which technical terms should possess.

For these reasons I discard all classifications which have been based on
'beliefs'.

6. By their rites we shall know them. Let me summarize the position.
According to the terminology which is adopted in this treatise, the

cultural condition of a society is determined by its answers to two questions :

1 . What powers manifest themselves in the universe ?

2. What steps are taken to maintain a right relation with those powers?
We have seen that it is impossible to accept the answers which have been

given to the first question. We are compelled, therefore, to base our
definitions on the answers to the second question ; that is to say, the only
reliable method is to classify human societies not according to their ideas
but according to their behaviour.

The following terms will be employed in the senses which are hereinafter
attached to them. I must beg that their significance be remembered.

There are four great patterns of human culture: (1) zoistic, (2) manistic,
(3) deistic, (4) rationalistic.12

Only a few civilized societies have been in the rationalistic cultural
condition. All uncivilized societies can be placed in one or other of the
remaining three classes. Before denning them I must explain that the
words zoism, manism, and deism will not and cannot be used to denote
the 'beliefs' of those societies which were in the zoistic, manistic, and deistic
cultural conditions. The conceptions of uncivilized people cannot be
simplified in that manner. In place of those convenient but misleading
substantives I shall employ some circumlocutory expressions which will
represent the native opinion more accurately. These expressions will be
introduced and defined in their appropriate place (paras. 67-9).

7. Zoistic, Manistic, Deistic. The main question, 'What steps are taken
to maintain a right relation with the powers in the universe?' can be sub-
divided according to (a) the place in which the rites were carried out,

I4 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §7

(b) the human agency which rendered them efficacious. For the present
we shall concentrate on the place. The agency will be discussed later
(para. 65).

1. A study of uncivilized peoples reveals that some of them erected
temples and that some of them did not. If the members of any society
erected temples in their efforts to maintain a right relation with the powers
in the universe, that society was in the deistic cultural condition.

When we analyse the rites of any society, then, the first question which
we must ask is, 'Did these people build temples?' If the answer is in the
affirmative, they were in the deistic cultural condition. If the answer is
in the negative, they were not in that condition. People who are in the
deistic cultural condition carry out their rites in temples through the
agency of priests.

The last sentence does not qualify the original definition, but completes
it. Unless a society erects temples, ex definitione it cannot possess priests.
Only thus, I shall submit, can we distinguish effectively and accurately
between a magician and a priest.

I define a temple as a roofed building, other than a grave-house, in which
the power in the universe manifests itself and which is specially erected
and maintained in order that a right relation may be preserved with that
power, the building being such that a man can stand upright inside it.

2. A study of uncivilized peoples reveals that among those societies
which did not build temples there were some which paid some kind of
post-funeral attention to their dead. Such people were in the manistic

cultural condition.

If, therefore, we receive a negative answer to our first question, we must
put 'a second question: 'Did these people pay some kind of post-funeral
attention to their dead?' If the answer is in the affirmative, they were in
the manistic cultural condition. If the answer is in the negative, they
were not in that condition.

3. Some societies neither erected temples nor paid any kind of post-
funeral attention to their dead. All such societies were in the zoistic
cultural condition. We place in this class all those societies concerning
which we receive negative answers to the questions I have just mentioned.

Within these cultural patterns there is always an intense variety.

Usually the rites and ceremonies of manistic peoples are called 'ancestor-
worship', but throughout anthropological literature the term has been
applied to a multitude of practices that differed in both meaning and
intent. No word has been employed more variously, and the resulting
confusion has been increased by the use of such words as 'propitiation',
'conciliation', and 'sacrifice', which not only lack precise meaning, but also
beg the most important question. Some attempt must be made, therefore,
to introduce order into the chaos ; and I shall devote the next paragraph
to a description of the principles by which the rites of manistic societies
will be analysed and classified.

§8 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 15

8. Ancestor-worship : an analysis. An almost bewildering variety of
opinion is said to exist, and to have existed, concerning the fate of a dead
man's soul. After the appropriate funeral rites have been performed the
'soul' may proceed near or far, westward, eastward, or downward. It may
hover in the vicinity of the grave, in the house in which its original owner
once lived, in his cattle-kraal, or in the dwelling-place of his heir. It may
take up its residence in a particular tree, in any tree of a particular species,
in a forest, in a rock, or in some other natural feature. It may transfer
itself to an animal. It may possess a person and make him ill or even
transform him into a magician. It may be remembered for a few short
weeks, for a generation, or for generation after generation. It may lose its
individuality and become merged, as it were, with all other souls into one
united whole. It may live again in a newly-born child. And apparently
all or any of these things may happen to the same soul at the same time in
the opinion of the same person.

I confess that I accept some of these 'beliefs' with reservations. As we
have seen, a native sometimes uses the same word in those contexts wherein
we employ different words. For instance, he may apply the word which
we translate 'ghost' to the peculiar quality which is manifest in some
particular tree. We rationalize this 'belief by saying that the ghost is in
the tree, but I sometimes doubt if the report does not contain as much
inference as fact. It is so very easy to confuse the meaning of a word with
the phenomena to which it was applied. Many cases of this confusion will
come to our notice during the course of our survey ; they constitute another
argument against the acceptance of any translation unless the native term
is given.

It is obvious that any attempt to classify manistic societies according to
their beliefs concerning the dead would be futile, for even if the reports
were absolutely reliable we should be faced with such diversity of opinion
that a rigid definition could not be formulated ; but we can classify them
according to the methods which they adopted in their efforts to maintain
a right relation with the dead ; that is to say, the manistic cultural condition
subdivides.

The task of framing the definitions which apply to these subdivisions
is simplified by the inclusion of the historical societies within their scope.
The technique has already been devised by the late Dr. L. R. Farnell, whose
terms I adopt and adapt.

Dr. Farnell has suggested that 'we should distinguish between ancestor-
cult, hero-cult, and general religious tendance of the dead'. In a somewhat
similar manner Mr. W. Crooke once remarked: 'The distinction between
the worship and the placation, or tendance, of the dead is one of great
importance which many of our travellers and observers have failed to
appreciate. There are cases in which the dead are worshipped, but those
of placation and ministration are much more numerable.'13

In that passage Mr. Crooke is employing the word 'worship' in the same

IO THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §8

sense as Dr. Farnell uses the word 'cult'. I shall employ the latter term.
I doubt, however, if we can divide 'cult' into 'ancestor-cult' and 'hero-
cult', if 'we mean to distinguish by those terms the attention paid to an
individual who was a blood-relation from that paid to one who had been
a notable citizen. If the necessary evidence were forthcoming, I think we
should find that among uncivilized peoples 'cult' was always 'hero-cult',
never 'ancestor-cult'. But the classificatory nature of the relationship terms
complicates the subject. There is no instance of 'ancestor-cult' among the
eighty societies with which we are concerned. Among them cult was always
hero-cult.

As 'tendance' Dr. Farnell has mentioned specifically only 'general
religious tendance of the dead'. He makes no reference to the tendance of
individual ghosts. The latter, however, is a common phenomenon among

uncivilized peoples.

While, therefore, I adopt Dr. Farnell's terms in an attempt to analyse
those rites and practices which have been loosely defined as 'ancestor-
worship', I find it necessary to adapt them to their new purpose. In per-
forming this office I shall endeavour to preserve the general sense attached
to them by their originator.

'Tendance', as I use the term, includes all those post-funeral rites which
are regarded as services due from the survivors to the dead in general or
to an individual ghost in particular. 'Cult' consists of the attention which
is paid to a particular ghost, either directly or through the agency of a
third party, on those specific occasions when the assistance of the ghost is
required in order that something may be accomplished which is beyond the
power of a living human being. If a rite is performed because its omission
would offend, that is tendance. If a man approaches a ghost in order to
secure the removal of an affliction, it may be tendance or it may be cult ;
it depends whether the ghost is held responsible for the injury or not. All
those practices which can be included under the heading of do ut abeas are
tendance, but all genuine do ut des is cult. In order to be certain that
a do ut des rite is genuine, we must be sure that the ghost is in no way
blamed for the misfortune, but has been approached in order to secure its
alleviation.

The difference between the ideas which impel the rites is clear. On the
one hand, it is thought that the dead can and will be troublesome if their
needs are not satisfied, but that they will refrain from active interference
in mortal affairs if the survivors carry out their duties towards them. In
such cases the dead man is not credited with the ability to perform any
task which is beyond the power of living men ; the rites performed in his
honour come under the heading of tendance. On the other hand, a dead
man is conceived not only as possessing greater power than living men,
but also as ready to exercise it on their behalf if he is approached in the
proper way by the proper person. The attention paid to such a ghost
is cult.

§9 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE jy

In applying these principles to our material we must remember that the
distinctions are made for the purposes of study. In actual practice tendance
and cult blend, the one with the other. Moreover, such words as 'pro-
pitiation', 'conciliation', and 'sacrifice' beg the important question of the
power of the ghost. They lack any single precise meaning and cannot
be employed either in exact definitions or as technical terms.

The affirmative character of a petition, of course, cannot be accepted as
evidence of cult. For instance, when the Ashanti place food, saying 'Let
your family have health', the rite is not cult. Such cries, we are told, are
really negative in character. 'Give us long life' means 'Do not send disease' ;
'Give us children' would be more accurately phrased 'Do not make us
barren'.14 And so on.

There are some methods of dealing with ghosts which are neither
tendance nor cult. They are particularly common when affliction is
ascribed to ghostly visitation. For instance, if a ghost has 'possessed' a
person, it is sometimes possible to lure it into a pot and to 'lay' it by
throwing the pot away. We also find that certain people beat the bushes,
shout, and make other noises in order to frighten a ghost away, and that
they regard these measures as efficacious. In such cases there is no pro-
pitiation, for the ghost is not appeased by the bestowal of its due; it is
merely regarded as a nuisance of which the world can be easily rid. I
include such practices under the heading 'Controlled by Magic'. They
are not evidence of the manistic condition.

It will have been noticed that I have applied the epithet 'post-funeral'
to these rites. The qualifying adjective is important. Many uncivilized
people place food in or on the grave during the funeral ceremonies ; some-
times such attentions have been reported as 'ancestor- worship'; but they
usually have a different significance from that contained in the term
'worship', and in my view it is a misnomer. I do not propose, however, to
discuss this important subject. I content myself with the declaration that
I do not include a rite as either tendance or cult unless there is direct and
irrefragable evidence that it takes place after the funeral ceremonies have
been completed.

9. The Treatment of Affliction. A classification of the causes of affliction
is as impossible as a classification of any other 'belief. Indeed the same
criticisms apply to alleged beliefs about sickness as to alleged beliefs about
the power in the universe and the fate of the 'soul'. A multiplicity of causes
often exists in our translations, but was not present in the native mind.
There is no need to repeat what I have said in that reference.

I classify the methods of treatment under three headings :

1. Magic — including all treatment and /or protection by spells, charms,
amulets, &c.

2. Transference and j or Exorcism — including all those rites the object of
which is to exorcize the disease or its cause from the sufferer, or to transfer

c

!8 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE § 10

it to a pot, animal, tree, or other place. The counter-spells popularly called
'exorcism' come under the heading of Magic. See i.

3< priest— including all those cases in which a sufferer approaches a
temple in order to expiate his sin, or to consult the oracle, or to receive
treatment from the medium of the god.

I propose, in the first part of my survey, to devote some attention to the
sub-question, 'Through what agency?' but it is first necessary to introduce
some technical terms. In our original authorities there is some lack of
uniformity in the use of such words as sorcerer, thaumaturgist, wizard,
warlock, witch-doctor, magician, shaman, seer, diviner, medicine-man, &c.
In this treatise I employ 'wizard' to denote the man who inflicts disease,
'medicine-man' for the man who cures it, and 'diviner' for the man who
diagnoses or prophesies. These are the three great classes of magic, so far
as the treatment of sickness is concerned. It is possible, of course, for the
same man to act as wizard, medicine-man, and diviner. In some societies
this was always the case. In other societies men specialized. I use the term
'magician' to denote any man who practises magic, whether his art be black
or white.

10. The Control of the Weather. The last criterion by which we assess
the position of any society in the cultural scale is the method by which it
endeavours to control the weather. Here again it must be remembered
that the question is not 'Whence comes (e.g.) the rain?', but 'What steps
are taken when rain is needed or comes too much?' We are concerned not
with the belief but with the rite.

There are five different kinds of weather-rites among uncivilized peoples :

(1) They may approach a temple and request a god to send them rain.

(2) A sacrifice may be made to a dead man who is thought to be withholding
the rain. (3) The people may rely exclusively upon the services of their
own rain-makers or rain-stoppers in whose powers they may have complete
confidence. (4) A Magical Fraternity may perform a single grand ceremony.
(So far as I know this practice was confined to the American Indians who
inhabited the southern states of America.) (5) All the members of a social
group may assemble and sing or dance.

The second, fourth, and last of these methods are comparatively rare,
and I exclude them from my two main categories, which are:

1 . Magician— including those rites which are carried out by a magician
or a company of magicians in order to exert direct influence on the elements ;

2. Priest— including only those cases in which the temple is visited with
a request for aid to the god or his duly accredited representative.

11. The Frame of Cultural Reference ( Uncivilized Peoples).1* We have now
completed our preliminary definition of 'cultural condition'. As I have
said, the term is given a more limited meaning than I originally intended,
but the meaning is as broad as the material permits.

§n THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 19

Eighty societies will be examined in turn according to the above-
mentioned principles, and the evidence entered on a chart in the following
manner :

THE FRAME OF CULTURAL REFERENCE
(UNCIVILIZED PEOPLES)

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Society-

Cultural condition

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Temples and priests

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 <

) 10

Column 1. The letter Z (zoistic), M (manistic), or D (deistic) will be
entered according to the cultural condition of the society.

Columns 2-6, 10. A plus sign (+) or a minus sign ( — ) will be inserted
according to the evidence.

Thus, if the members of a society erected temples according to our
definition of the word 'temple' (para. 7) a plus sign will be entered in
Col. 10. If they are reported to have approached a temple when they
needed rain, a plus sign will appear in Col. 6. And so on.

One of the great advantages of Cols. 2-6 consists in their anticipation of
logical but mistaken conclusions. Thus, if a plus sign appears in Col. 10
it would be reasonable to expect a plus sign in Cols. 4 and 6. The expecta-
tion would not be fulfilled. For example, the Bakitara and Samoans were
in the deistic cultural condition, but they seem to have relied almost
exclusively on their rain-makers when they needed rain, in spite of the fact
that they erected a temple to a rain-god.

In some instances the evidence is doubtful or indecisive. For example,
certain rites have been called 'exorcism' by our authorities but do not
Come within the definition which I have placed on the word. We also find
instances in which a rite was conducted by some of the members of a
society in some places, but which cannot be said to have been a general
cultural trait. Doubtless in many cases the fault lies in the quality of our
information; but when a definite decision is impossible I shall enter a

20 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE § 1 1

minus-plus sign (=f) instead of a definite minus or a definite plus. The
minus-plus sign denotes either that the evidence is indecisive or that
according to our present information the rite was irregular.

The minus-plus sign does not imply a cultural evolution or a change in
cultural condition ; its appearance does not mean that the custom or rite
was being gradually introduced. It refers solely to the indecisive character
of the available evidence or to the irregular character of the rite.
A question-mark (?) means that the evidence is doubtful.
Columns 7-9. These three columns reveal the character of the post-
funeral rites, a plus sign or a minus sign indicating that the practices were
4 Control by Magic', 'Tendance', or 'Cult', according to the meanings
attached to those terms (para. 8).

Sometimes a minus-plus sign will have to be inserted in one or other ot
these columns also, for the evidence has not always been expressed in
exact terms. Sometimes, indeed, a report concerning 'ancestor- worship'
can be evaluated only with difficulty.

In all cases the sign o denotes No Evidence. It is hard to discover a
large number of societies concerning which our information is complete.

By the use of this chart we shall be able to see at a glance the cultural
condition of any uncivilized society, the culture of which has been recorded
upon it. The more familiar it becomes, the more useful it will appear.
I shall discuss the entries at greater length when I analyse and evaluate
the evidence which has been collected and communicated (paras. I4I-52)-
Here I wish to note, first, that the evidential value of the signs is unequal,
and, secondly, that we must be careful to distinguish between those minus
signs which represent definite cultural facts and those which may merely
denote a lack of information. The evidence contained in Cols. 2-7 is of
such a kind that a minus sign may merely mean that a rite has not been
described in the available literature. In some cases negative evidence is
definitely available, but in other cases a minus sign denotes that the rite
has not been reported; and it is at least possible, though perhaps improb-
able, that if our authorities had made further inquiries they would have
learnt the existence of, and therefore reported, the rite to which any of
these columns refer. Of course if there is a minus sign in Col. 10 there
cannot well be a plus in Col. 4 or in Col. 6, for if temples were not erected the
people could not have approached them in times of stress ; to this extent a
minus sign in these columns maybe regarded as representing a cultural fact ;
but even under these conditions it is not important for its own sake, for it is
merely a repetition of the minus sign in Col. 10. Moreover it is possible,
as I have said, for a plus sign to occur in Col. 10 and for a minus sign, or a
minus-plus sign, to appear in Col. 4 or in Col. 6.

Again, a minus sign in Col. 5 may denote that in the opinion of the
society no magician could make rain ; but it may mean that the observer
has merely reported his failure to notice any rain-makers ; and this failure
may have been due not to the absence of rain-makers but to the paucity

§n THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 21

of the observer's knowledge and experience. The same remark applies to
the minus signs in Col. 3. Some of the members of some societies may
have carried out certain rites which would have come within my defini-
tion of Transference and /or Exorcism, and these rites may not have been
reported. Upon these minus signs, therefore, no absolute reliance can be
placed.

The minus signs in Cols. 8 and 10, however, are of a totally different
character. It is on them that our classifications are based ; they are exact.
As a study of the following chapters will reveal, I do not enter a minus
sign in Col. 8 unless there is direct and irrefragable evidence that there was
no tendance of the dead ; thus I regard a minus sign in that column as a
foundation on which we can base an argument. As for the minus signs in
Col. 10, if the members of any society erected temples, I consider that a
reliable observer would have mentioned the fact; so, since I have been
careful to include within my survey only those societies concerning which
our knowledge seems reliable and adequate, I regard a minus sign in this
column also as definite evidence. In some cases we are told that there
were no temples ; in other cases the negative statement is not made ; but in
either case, I submit, we can argue from the absence of temples. Usually
the negative evidence, if not explicit, is implicit.

The nature of the signs in Col. 9 depends, to some extent, on the value
attached to the appropriate literature, which often is vague indeed, but
in most cases, I think, sufficiently clear. The reader must judge for him-
self whether or not in the subsequent chapters I have attached a fair value
to it.

It must be remembered that the chart merely reveals the general pattern
of a culture. As I have said, there is always a variety within the pattern.
Every human society has a character of its own; its culture is a unique
product. Its members are warm and wayward human beings ; their habits
are peculiar to themselves. Societies that are in the same cultural condition
do not necessarily possess identical customs; their customs merely con-
form to a general pattern. Hitherto uncivilized peoples have been studied
almost exclusively from an evolutionary or from a comparative point of
view. A rite that existed in one part of the world has been compared with
a similar rite that existed in other parts of the world ; and for the purpose of
the comparison it has been lifted from its context and described in great
detail. In this manner the variety within the pattern has been so emphasized
that the general pattern has been obscured. We have not been able to see
the wood because we have concentrated our attention on a particular tree.
In the following pages we shall be concerned with the general pattern of a
culture and not with the intense variety of the rites. Simply, we wish to
know whether certain rites were or were not carried out.

There is another reason why the general patterns of uncivilized culture
have been overlooked. It concerns the meaning of the words 'primitive'
and 'civilized'.

22 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §12

12. The Meaning of 'Primitive' and 'Civilized'. In current literature the
word 'primitive' is used in a double sense; and much confusion, both in
thought and in expression, has been created thereby. In the first place, it
is used to denote any society which is not civilized ; but the word 'civilized'
also lacks precise meaning, and concerning the preconceptions which are
contained in our use of that word I shall have something to say later
(para. 159). Here I am concerned only with its negative aspect, 'primitive'.

In order to understand the nature of certain phenomena which existed
in the early history of some 'civilized' societies (the so-called 'survivals'),
we have studied the culture of uncivilized peoples in the hope that we might
find among them a mature growth which might elucidate the original
character of the dead root surviving in historical records. The search
for a parallel has been carried out regardless of racial, cultural, and geo-
graphical considerations, and we have concluded that any society which
afforded the desired illustration was less developed than the historical
peoples. Each of these societies having been accepted as an example of less
developed culture, the impression has been created that a number of human
societies exists in the world which, being less developed, may conveniently
be called 'primitive'. Then by an unjustifiable extension of thought we
have allowed ourselves to conclude that, since all of them are classified as
'primitive', all of them must be in the same cultural condition. From some
points of view there is no objection to the loose classification; but a very
different idea of 'primitive' culture is obtained if, instead of comparing a
custom from one part of the world with a similar custom from another part
of the world, we compare the whole cultural condition of one society with
the whole cultural condition of another society in the same part of the
world. Then it is abundantly clear that 'primitive' societies occupy many
different positions in the cultural scale.

The word 'primitive' is used also in another sense, being applied to that
hypothetical organism, primeval man. Two unfortunate conclusions have
been the result, their effect upon our reasoning being aggravated by
the preconceptions to which I have referred. First, we assume that less
developed societies occupy a position in the cultural scale half-way between
that of primeval man and that of 'civilized' man. Secondly, having decided
(for no apparent reason) that the cultural advance from primeval man to
'civilized' man proceeds in well-marked stages which follow one another in
a determined order, we apply to less developed societies such epithets as
'more primitive', 'most primitive', &c, according as their ideas differ from
our own and approach more nearly to those which we credit to primeval
man. Thus hypothesis is heaped upon hypothesis. In actual fact our
evolutionary theories are usually nothing but hypotheses concerning the
possible history of some Hellenic or Roman institution, for the classical
tradition is so strong that we still tend to regard the Hellenes and the
Romans as the first civilized men who lived upon the earth ; and as for
our double use of the word 'primitive', it seems to have arisen out of

§i3 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 23

the reaction which took place in the middle of the nineteenth century
against the ideas inherent in the story of the Garden of Eden. The old
theory of human degradation is indeed untenable; but it would be a
grave mistake to proceed to the opposite extreme and to maintain that no
undeveloped society was degenerate. The truth seems to be that when
first we met them some simpler peoples were less developed and that others
were in decline, but it will be impossible for us to distinguish the former
from the latter until we have devised more exact terms of reference than
those which we have hitherto employed. Moreover, whenever we use
such words as 'degenerate' and 'decadent' we tend to make a moral judge-
ment; and usually when a historian remarks that a society was 'advanced'
or 'developed' he is comparing the period which he is studying with that
in which he is living. In both cases there is a subjective intrusion which
must be rigorously excluded from our inquiry.

For these reasons I consider that it is inadmissible to speak of any society
as 'primitive', or 'more primitive', or as 'civilized', 'more civilized', or 'less
civilized', for all these terms lack precise meaning. There is only one way
out of the difficulty caused by their rejection. First, we must publicly
deprive them of any meaning at all ; then we must adopt other words to
take the place they used to occupy. In most of those contexts in which it is
customary to use the epithet 'primitive' I shall employ the word 'uncivi-
lized'. When I speak of 'civilized' societies I refer only to the following
sixteen historical peoples: Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians,
Hellenes (3), Persians, Hindus, Chinese, Japanese, Sassanids, Arabs
(Moors), Romans, Teutons, and Anglo-Saxons (i.e. ourselves). According
to my terminology any society not included in this list was 'uncivilized'.

It is a rough, arbitrary classification. The cultural condition of some
uncivilized societies was, of course, higher than that of some of the civilized
peoples.

Other new technical terms that I employ will be introduced and defined
as the course of the inquiry demands.

13. The Meaning of 'Higher' and' Lower'. On the grounds that a rational-
istic society has more control over its environment than a society which
is in any other cultural condition, I call the rationalistic cultural condition
the 'highest' cultural condition. Since all those societies which have been
rationalistic were deistic in the years immediately previous to the change
in their cultural condition, the deistic condition occupies the second posi-
tion in the cultural scale. A number of deistic peoples also carried out
some form of tendance and /or cult. The manistic cultural condition is
therefore higher than the zoistic cultural condition. But it is possible for
a zoistic society to become deistic without being manistic, and changes may
take place from any one condition to any other condition without reference
to a determined order.

So much for the definitions which we adopt in the study of uncivilized

24 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE § 14

culture. A similar service must now be performed for the sexual regulations
of uncivilized men.

14. Definition of Marriage. We are so accustomed to the idea that a
husband and wife must confine their sexual qualities to one another that
we are apt to assume that when a man has sexual access to a woman she
must therefore be his wife. This common mistake has been responsible
for many quaint submissions in regard to the marriage customs of uncivi-
lized men. Some students have tried to persuade us that what they call
'group-marriage' is not only a recognized institution in many parts of the
world, but also one of the earliest forms of marriage in the history of the
human race. It would be inconceivable, were it not a fact, that such a small
error should lead to such extravagant conclusions. The only evidence for
the existence of 'group-marriage' is the simple fact that some uncivilized
societies permit other men in addition to her permanent economic partner
to have sexual access to a woman. The confusion between marriage and
sexual access has been so great, indeed, that such phrases as 'sexual com-
munism' and 'sexual promiscuity' have been freely employed as synonyms
for 'group-marriage'.16

It is well to remember, then, that the limitation of sexual activity to
married persons is a civilized phenomenon, and, so far as civilized societies
are concerned, the study of their sexual opportunity is almost identical
with a study of their marriage customs. The members of uncivilized
societies have different views on the matter. An inquiry into the nature of
their sexual regulations, therefore, must cover a wider field.

It is dangerous, and always misleading, to generalize about the customs
of uncivilized men, for those customs vary between wide limits ; but if a
generalization be permitted in order to introduce a sense of proportion we
may say that their marriage rules are an insignificant part of the evidence
which we have to consider. It is the economic side of married life which is
important to most savages. When a man is young, he may, and often does,
form temporary liaisons with the girls who are physically attractive to him ;
it is even possible that he will not concern himself about their attractions if
they are ready to satisfy his desires ; but he will not select his wife on the
same principles. Usually the industry and character of the young woman
is the deciding factor. Similarly, parents who are seeking a husband for
their daughter will judge a man by his qualifications as a hunter or by his
wealth. It is exceedingly rare for a savage to marry a girl in order that he
may taste her sexual qualities, and if we apply the terms 'husband' and
'wife' to men and women who are permitted to have sexual intercourse we
make nonsense of the facts as they have been reported and can be observed.
There were very few uncivilized societies who compelled a girl to confine
her sexual activity to one man throughout her life; these societies, as we
shall see, occupied the highest position in the uncivilized cultural scale.
I do not know of a single case in which a man was compelled to limit his

§15 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 25

sexual qualities to one woman ; this custom has been in force only in some
civilized societies. Those societies which have maintained the custom for
the longest period have attained the highest position in the cultural scale
which the human race has yet reached.

I have not been able to find a satisfactory definition of 'marriage', but
submit the following :

Marriage is an economic and sexual relationship between one or more
men and one or more women, based on those customs which the members of
a society have seen fit to adopt in order to regulate the relations between
the sexes.17

15. Comments on the Evidence. In a previous paragraph (para. 4) I have
remarked that it is difficult for an observer to report the 'beliefs' of a society
without a certain amount of subjective intrusion ; the value of what he has
written is to some extent autobiographical. The same criticism applies to
descriptions of sexual conduct. Just as our observers have concentrated on
beliefs rather than rites, so they have tended to describe the sexual conduct of
the natives rather than their sexual regulations. Such reports have little value.

Some writers attempt to whitewash the native. According to their
accounts the savage may be a savage, but at any rate he is a moral savage.
I do not know what exact meaning is attached to the word 'moral', but
I suspect that a moral judgement varies according to the judge and accord-
ing to the tradition in which the judge was reared or against which he has
reacted. Would a modern writer, for instance, give the same account of the
Arreoi Society as was written by the early travellers and missionaries to
Tahiti? The latter condemned the sexual conduct of that Society in no
uncertain terms ; yet its members behaved in a manner which some modern
reformers would like all white men and women to emulate. Sometimes we
read that 'chastity is held in high esteem', or that 'the girls are modest and
beautiful, the majority chaste'. Such statements have a high romantic
interest but lack precise meaning.18

The opposite tendency is apparent in the writings of the early travellers
and missionaries. The statements of the latter concerning the licentious
behaviour of the native women, true as they may be, are not always free
from a desire to paint the heathen in lurid colours ; and while the travellers
may have had the same, and other, reasons for remarking on the receptive
character of the pagan females, we must not forget that the attitude of a
native towards a white man, especially on a first acquaintance, is not by
any means the same as the attitude of the same native towards a member
of his or her own tribe.

Some of our authorities have neglected to distinguish between pre-
nuptial and post-nuptial conduct, and have caused a great deal of confusion
by their vague use of the word 'chastity'. Usually when a missionary uses
the word chastity he refers to post-nuptial conduct: a chaste wife is a
constant wife; an unchaste woman is a woman who has left one man in

26 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §15

order to live with another man. In the majority of cases, when a missionary
says that the native women were unchaste, he merely means that adultery
and divorce were frequent. The travellers use the term in various ways.
If they were well acquainted with the customs of the natives about whom
they were writing (which is rare) they usually meant the same thing as the
missionaries meant. If their knowledge of the people were more superficial,
the fact that the women repelled the advances of the white sailors would
cause them to say that the women were chaste. There is a complete absence
of uniformity in the use of 'chastity' among modern writers, who, however,
employ the word freely.

Sometimes the manner in which a report is written definitely conceals
the actual facts. For instance, concerning the Omaha tribe of American
Indians, A. C. Fletcher and F. La Flesche remark: 'Men and women were
on a moral equality. Tribal custom favoured chastity, and those who prac-
tised it stood higher in public esteem than those who did not.' J. O. Dorsey
makes a similar statement. The girls, he adds, were not allowed to go to a
dance unless their mothers accompanied them and no woman would ride or
walk with any man but her husband. It would be possible to quote these two
passages and to conclude from them that the Omaha women were compelled
to be continent; but nothing would be more false. Elsewhere Mr. Dorsey
says : 'Sometimes when a youth sees a girl whom he loves, if she be willing,
he says to her, "I will stand in that place. Please go thither at night." Then
after her arrival he enjoys her and subsequently asks her in marriage. But
■ it was different with a girl who was petulant or who had refused to listen
to the suitor at first. After lying with her, he might say, "As you struck me
and hurt me, I shall not marry you." 'I9 Thus the deduction which might
have been made from the first two passages is disproved by the third. And
we must not be misled into thinking that marriage in our sense of the word
followed a pre-nuptial intimacy. Mr. Dorsey uses the word 'marriage' in
reference to any sexual union, and in the above context the word merely
denotes a temporary cohabitation.

An instance of a particularly intricate character comes from the Gilbert
Islands. When a bride joined her husband she was required to be virgo
intacta. As soon as the marriage had been consummated the senior female
members of the groom's family inspected the nuptial mat for the proofs of
her virginity. The prevailing system of land tenure, however, prevented
some girls from securing economic partners ; such a girl was called nikiran-
roro, 'remnant of her generation'. She was sexually free. Now our reports
concerning the pre-nuptial regulations of the Gilbert Islanders conflict,
for some of them refer to the wives of whom virginity was demanded,
and others confine their remarks to the conduct of the women who could
never possess husbands. The sexual activities of the nikiranroro so impressed
and repelled the early missionaries and travellers that they neglected to
make detailed inquiries; thus they do not mention the demand for pre-
nuptial chastity which was discovered only by a more careful and less

§16 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 27

emotional observer. Usually the early writers refer to the nikiranroro as
'prostitutes'; indeed 'prostitute' has been offered as a translation of the
word nikiranroro, so careless have we been in our efforts to understand the
meaning of native words. We owe a great debt to the modern writer who
has corrected the blunder.20

Another pitfall for the unwary is the confusion between pre-nuptial preg-
nancy and pre-nuptial intercourse. Sometimes we are told that the latter
was definitely forbidden, when the real fact was that the natives objected to
the birth of a pre-nuptial child. Mr. BrifFault was the first to point out that
when a girl is punished for bearing a pre-nuptial child her seniors do not
necessarily disapprove of her sexual activity.21

These examples will illustrate the uncertain nature of some of the material,
and the need for exact definitions. I will state the meaning I attach to the
various terms which I employ.

16. Definition of Sexual Opportunity. By 'sexual opportunity' I mean
the opportunity which is afforded to a man or a woman to gratify a sexual
desire. Sometimes the sexual regulations prevent such satisfaction; the
impulse must be checked or the offender will be punished. The sexual
opportunity has then been limited.

The phrase can be elucidated by two examples.

Let us suppose that two societies, A and B, living side by side in the same
geographical environment, regulated the relations between the sexes in a
different manner. In the first case, A, every girl had to be virgo intacta
when she was married. In the other case, B, every young girl was allowed
to indulge freely in any sexual activity she desired. It is clear that the young
females of A were compelled to check many an impulse which would have
been readily gratified had they been members of B. Their sexual oppor-
tunity, therefore, was less than that of the B girls. A limitation was also
imposed upon the A males, for the young females of B would be available
not only to the young B males but also to the older B men ; thus all the males
of B, feeling a desire, would be able to satisfy it, but it would have had to
be contained if they had been members of A. The sexual regulations of A,
therefore, afforded to all its members a more limited sexual opportunity
than those of B.

Secondly, let us suppose that in one society, C, a husband was in exclusive
possession of the sexual qualities of his wife, and that in another society, D,
each husband possessed sexual rights over the wives of a number of other
men. There are many occasions, such as sickness, child-bearing, &c, when
a man cannot have intercourse with his wife ; under such circumstances
the married males of C would be compelled to restrain a desire which
would have been satisfied if they had been members of D. Similarly, men
are often away at the chase or on a journey or an embassy ; under such
circumstances the married females of C would be compelled to check their
desires in a manner which would have been quite alien to the experience of

28

THE FRAME OF REFERENCE

the D females. Thus the regulations of C would afford a more limited
sexual opportunity to its members than those of D.

Our task is to classify uncivilized societies according to the sexual oppor-
tunity which was afforded to their members. We shall consider the subject
under three heads: (i) exogamy and prohibited degrees, (2) pre-nuptial
regulations, (3) post-nuptial regulations.

17. Exogamy and Prohibited Degrees. So far as we can tell, complete
sexual opportunity has been denied to every man and to every woman. In
every human society known to us there are always some women to whom
a man cannot have access and some men who are denied to every woman.
Some societies are reported to have employed a system of plain exogamy,
i.e. compulsory marriage and sexual intercourse outside the social group.
Others have preferred a system of prohibited degrees. In many cases there
was a combination of exogamous groups and prohibited degrees.

There is a lack of uniformity, however, in the use of the word 'exogamy'
and the so-called classificatory system of relationship introduces some com-
plications into the interpretation of the words 'prohibited degrees'. These
difficulties preclude a satisfactory analysis of the available evidence. For
instance, the word 'exogamy' as originally employed by McLennan denoted
compulsory marriage outside the social group, all other unions being per-
missible ; but in recent literature we read of a man being a member of two
exogamous groups. This is either a careless statement or a new use of the
word 'exogamy'. I am not satisfied that the confusion between sexual
intercourse and marriage to which I have already referred has not been the
cause of some false deductions in regard to exogamic regulations, but I do
not propose to discuss the subject.22 In assessing the sexual opportunity
of the eighty tribes with which we are concerned I shall take no notice of
the limitations which were imposed by these prohibitions. In one form or
another they were common to all of them. When, therefore, I say that the
members of any particular society were pre-nuptially sexually free, I shall
mean that their pre-nuptial sexual opportunity was limited only by their
exogamic regulations and /or their prohibited degrees. The existence of
these ordinances is assumed throughout.

18. Definition of Pre-nuptial Chastity. If we are to decide whether or not
a society insisted on pre-nuptial continence, we must have concrete evidence
of the fact. Otherwise we shall be at the mercy of unreliable and incom-
plete evidence. Fortunately the savage is of the same opinion. When he
insists that his bride shall be virgo intacta, he demands, or rather his
womenfolk demand, that the tokens of her virginity shall be visible on the
nuptial mat. I accept the same criterion. The test of pre-nuptial chastity,
so far as this treatise is concerned, is a demand for those signs. The demand
for the tokens of virginity is the only admissible evidence that a society
insisted on pre-nuptial chastity.

§i9 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 29

I shall add an eleventh column to the Frame of Reference (para. 11)
marked Tre-nuptial Chastity'. If a society insisted on pre-nuptial chastity
in accordance with this definition, the fact will be indicated by the insertion
of a plus sign in that column. No plus sign can or will be entered unless
explicit evidence to that effect is available.

A minus sign will indicate that the females were pre-nuptially free. The
girls may or may not have been punished for pre-nuptial pregnancy.

19. Irregular or Occasional Continence. The pre-nuptial regulations of
some societies, however, cannot be accurately included in these two cate-
gories. Sometimes we find that although the females were pre-nuptially
free, those who had been betrothed were compelled to confine their sexual
qualities to their future husbands. It is clear that in such a case the sexual
opportunity of a betrothed girl was limited, and that the other males were
compelled to check an impulse to possess her. If the regulation had not
existed, both parties would have been able to satisfy a desire which
under those circumstances had to be contained. They were constrained,
therefore, to practise what may be called an irregular or occasional con-
tinence.

Another complication concerns pre-nuptial pregnancy. There were, as
I have said, many societies which, while permitting pre-nuptial intercourse,
forbade or punished pre-nuptial pregnancy. In some cases a woman used
an abortifacient or her child was killed as soon as it was born ; nothing more
was said or done. In other cases more serious notice was taken, the man
responsible for the condition of the pre-nuptially pregnant girl being com-
pelled to atone for his action in a manner which was considered suitable to
the occasion. Some societies compelled him to marry the girl, that is, to
pay the amount of her bride-price ; other societies were content to inflict
a fine, usually payable in cattle or live stock. (The amount of the fine might
or might not be subtracted from the bride-price if he eventually married
the girl.) Sometimes the man's responsibility was limited to the care of the
girl during the period of her pregnancy and to making some provision for
the rearing of the child. Again, he might be brought before the elders who
would prescribe an appropriate punishment.

My suggestion is that if the male members of any society were subject to
such laws they would check an occasional impulse which would have been
indulged if they had been members of a society which did not saddle a man
with his responsibility for a pre-nuptial child. They would hesitate some-
times, I think, before risking the loss of the cattle which they loved so much.
That is to say, such regulations would impose an irregular or occasional
continence.

If, then, the sexual qualities of a betrothed girl were reserved exclusively
for her future husband, or a man was fined or otherwise punished for pre-
nuptial fatherhood, I shall enter a minus-star sign in the column marked
Tre-nuptial Chastity'. A minus-star sign denotes that pre-nuptial sexual

30 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §20

intercourse was permitted, but other regulations existed imposing an
irregular or occasional continence.

I must beg that the meaning of these signs — plus, minus-star, minus —
be remembered. They are of paramount importance. The evidence is that
the pre-nuptial sexual opportunity is the chief factor in deciding the cul-
tural condition of a society.

Now for the post-nuptial regulations. They are a little complicated.

20. Sexual Rights of a Clan-brother. I have already mentioned that the
sexual qualities of a wife or husband might be shared with other men and
women. There was an extreme variety in the choice and rights of such
individuals. Usually all the different customs have been classed together
as if they were identical ; in actual fact each case seems to have had its own
peculiar characteristics. In some instances all the members of a clan had
a mutual interest in their wives; in other cases the privilege might be
extended only to the members of the same age-set. On the other hand,
sexual access might not be the indisputable right of any man, but a privilege
voluntarily extended to certain favoured individuals. The Banyankole of
Uganda (para. 36), the Masai of Kenya Colony (para. 88), and the Chukchee
of north-eastern Siberia (para. 55) are respective and appropriate instances
of societies which had adopted such customs. Many more could be cited.23

These arrangements, as we have seen (para. 15), would increase the post-
nuptial sexual opportunity both of the males and of the females ; thus, their
existence is the first point which arises when we begin to consider the ques-
tion. If no such custom existed, then the sexual opportunity of the females
depended in some measure on the punishment of adultery and on the
facilities for divorce. That of the males will be discussed in the next
paragraph.

The question of adultery is difficult. The reports concerning its punish-
ment among uncivilized peoples do not always represent the universally
recognized statutes of an organized society. In most uncivilized societies
there was, in fact, no regular punishment; each case seems to have been
decided on its merits. Indeed, in many cases the matter seems to have
been left to the individual husband. And it is doubtful if any particular
society can be said to have regulated the matter in any particular manner.
Customs varied between such wide limits that we cannot generalize.
Economic considerations also complicate the subject: for instance, in
some tribes an old man who possessed several young wives would not object
to the young men having intercourse with them so long as the young women
remained in his house and continued to work for him.24

Sometimes, however, we find a case in which a woman, who had been
married as a virgin, was compelled to confine her qualities to her husband
throughout her life, he on his part being allowed to have access to other
women beside herself, whether or no they were his permanent economic
partners. Under such circumstances the sexual opportunity of the female

§21 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 3I

was considerably reduced. In fact it was the same as that afforded to a
woman who was a member of an absolutely monogamous society. When,
therefore, we begin to assess a post-nuptial sexual opportunity the existence
of such regulations is the second point which must be considered.

But the matter is not so simple as it may appear. In the first place, there
is no doubt that the sexual regulations of some uncivilized societies had
changed just before we knew them. Indeed, in the period to which our
information applies, they were sometimes in a state of flux. Just as the
Roman woman enjoyed a greater sexual liberty under the ius gentium than
under the ius civile, and the Athenian woman of the fourth century B.C. was
subjected to less rigorous customs than her great-grandmother who had
lived in the fifth century, so also after the reign of Mutesa the Muganda
wife seems to have ceased to tolerate the old restrictions (para. 166). Again,
in the ancient Sumerian records we can trace a relaxation of the ancient
regulations in regard to adultery, and it is also clear that by the end of
Hammurabi's reign the Babylonians in their turn had modified their
opinion of the offence ; in a similar manner, so far as we can judge from the
available evidence, the inhabitants of the Friendly Islands (para. 47) had
changed their outlook and, by the end of the eighteenth century, had ceased
to administer their ancient punishments. If an observer had visited Rome
in the first century B.C., he would have found that some families retained
the old customs in their full rigour and that other, and more 'modern',
families had adopted the new ideas. I suspect that this was the case also
in Uganda and Tonga. We cannot say definitely that it was so, but there
is sufficient evidence to necessitate a suspension of judgement.

Secondly, a considerable amount of our information applies to those
societies which for some time had been subjected to Christian influences of
one kind or another. Sexual regulations are affected very closely by those
influences, and usually, ironical as it may appear, the regulations are thereby
loosened. If, in pagan times, adultery on the part of the women has been
effectively prevented by the infliction of a stern punishment, such as death,
a more tolerant attitude is introduced when Christian influence becomes
paramount. Then infidelity, instead of being prevented, is merely for-
bidden by ethical precept, and becomes more common. Sir Basil Thomson
has emphasized this point in reference to the Fijians (para. 29). Other
examples could be cited.

Thus the available evidence is extremely uncertain, and I doubt if great
reliance can be placed upon it. Indeed, after perusing a great quantity of
the appropriate literature and studying the subject in all its aspects, I feel
that we have still a great deal to learn about the attitude of the savage
towards adultery. Considerable evidence is available which would help us
to assess the post-nuptial sexual opportunity of the females, but it requires
very careful handling.

21. Sexual Rights over a Wife's Sisters. Sometimes we find, especially

32 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §21

among the American Indians, that a man was granted sexual access to the
younger sisters of his wife either at once or as they matured. There are
also cases in which a bride was accompanied by her younger sisters when
she joined her husband. So if we are to assess the post-nuptial opportunity
which was afforded to the males of any uncivilized society, it would appear
that we ought to inquire whether or not these rights were extended to
them.

Sororal polygamy and the sororate have been discussed at considerable
length in comparative literature, particularly by Mr. Briffault and Sir
James Frazer respectively. Both these investigators suspect that a con-
nexion existed between those institutions and 'group-marriage'.2* For our
purpose, however, they are unimportant. In the first place, I do not put
a high value on the evidence. It seems possible that we may have been mis-
led by our translations of the classificatory terms of relationship. Secondly,
I am not persuaded that our evolutionary theories have not promoted the
customs to a position which is out of proportion to their native significance ;
and, as I have said, the hypothesis of 'group-marriage' is founded upon a
careless confusion between sexual access and marriage. Thirdly, I doubt
if any man in any society were permitted to receive more than one daughter
unless the girls' parents were satisfied that he could support them ; and it is
probable that in any case such a man would have been a polygamist,
whether or no sororal polygamy was the social rule. Since, so far as post-
nuptial sexual opportunity is concerned, the important point is whether or
not a man were compelled to confine his sexual qualities to one woman, it
does not matter whether his wives were sisters, own or classificatory, or
whether they were not. I have thought it well, however, to mention the
customs, for no study of uncivilized sexual regulations would be complete
unless they were discussed.

Speaking generally, it is safe to say that a member of a savage society
could possess as many wives as he chose and could secure, whether they
were sisters or not. In fact, a man's wealth was often estimated by the
number of his wives. Moreover, the produce of their labour increased his
wealth. In a few cases, such as among some of the tribes which lived in
Assam, the possession of more than one wife was not the rule; but among
these tribes divorce seems to have been so easy and frequent that no man
can be said to have been subject to any post-nuptial sexual limitation.

Thus it is impossible to compare the difference in post-nuptial sexual
opportunity which was afforded to the males of different uncivilized
societies, for there are no data on which a comparison can be based. We
can compare it only with that which was afforded to the males of some of
the civilized societies.

If, then, the sexual qualities of the married men and women of any
society were not shared by other persons, the remaining evidence in regard
to post-nuptial opportunity applies only to the women. We have already
discussed the sexual opportunity of the wives ; now we must consider that

§22 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 33

of the widow. Then we shall have examined the sexual regulations which
control a woman's sexual activities throughout her life.

22. The Fate of the Widow. The question of a widow's fate among
uncivilized peoples has been much confused by the point of view from
which we have studied the question. Instead of asking, 'What is the fate
of the widow ?', we have said, 'Does the levirate exist ?'26. Thus the extreme
variety of the customs has been obscured.

They can be arranged in four classes. First, the widow might auto-
matically become the wife of her deceased husband's heir, brother, nephew,
or son. (But no man inherited his own mother.) Secondly, it might be the
duty or the right of the younger or of the elder brother to take care of her ; the
man then possessed the product of her labour. Thirdly, she might be free
to return to her own people if she or they refunded the bride-price which
had been paid for her. This custom, which is very widespread, seems to
confute the suggestion that the levirate is a relic of 'group-marriage' and to
indicate that economic considerations were uppermost in the native mind.
Fourthly, she might be free either to remain single or to remarry, as she
preferred.

Now if a widow had no choice concerning her fate, her sexual opportunity
would be less than it would have been if she had been free as soon as her
husband was dead. Moreover, her absolute freedom would increase the
opportunity of the married and the unmarried males, for she who might
have been forbidden to them would be accessible.

For the purpose of this inquiry, therefore, the only information we
require is an affirmative or a negative answer to the question of her free
choice.

23. The Completed Frame of Reference. Let us summarize the position.
The sexual opportunity of uncivilized men and women can be assessed by
the answers which are received to eight questions :

1. Was there a demand for the tokens of virginity when a girl was
married ?

2. Was a betrothed girl compelled to confine her sexual qualities to her
future husband?

3. Was pre-nuptial fatherhood punished?

4. Were the boys and girls sexually free (outside the exogamic regulations
and /or the prohibited degrees) ?

5. Did other men share the sexual qualities of a man's wife?

6. Was a wife compelled to confine her sexual qualities to one man
through her life ?

7. Was a husband granted access to his wife's sisters?

8. Was a widow sexually free?

Having collected the evidence under these eight headings, and tabulated
the results, we should be able to see at a glance the nature of the sexual

D

34 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §24

opportunity of any society. Five columns could be added to our Frame of
Reference, thus:

THE FRAME OF REFERENCE
(UNCIVILIZED PEOPLES)

Treatment
of

affliction

Method
of

Treatment
of
ghosts

Sexual

weather
control

regulations

Society

Cultural condition

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Wife's sexual qualities
shared

Sexual rights over wife's
sisters

Wives limited to one man

Widows sexually free

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1

12

13

14

15

In this chart a plus sign or a minus sign could be entered in Cols. 12 and
13 according as a man was, or was not, in exclusive possession of his wife,
and was, or was not, granted access to his wife's sisters. A minus sign or a
plus sign in Cols. 14 and 15 would indicate a wife's or a widow's freedom
or lack of freedom. But, as I have said, the pre-nuptial sexual opportunity
seems to be connected more closely with the cultural condition of a
society than the post-nuptial opportunity ; the post-nuptial regulations are
apparently unimportant unless the members of a society insist that a bride
should be a virgin when she joined her husband. I propose, therefore,
to omit Cols. 12-15 until the information to which they refer becomes
necessary to the progress of the inquiry. Thus the Frame of Reference we
shall use consists of eleven columns only.

24. The Method. If the reader will refer to Appendix I, he will find that
I have completed the Chart of Evidence. The chart reveals the cultural
condition and the pre-nuptial sexual opportunity of the eighty uncivilized
societies with which we are concerned, the entries being made in accordance
with the above-mentioned principles and definitions. A study of the chart
reveals the following facts :

A plus in Col. 11 coincides with a plus in Col. 10 and a D in Col. 1.

§24 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 35

A minus-star in Col. n coincides with a plus (or minus-plus) in Col. 8

and an M in Col. i.
A minus in Col. n coincides with a Z in Col. i.

That is to say, among these eighty societies the three great patterns
of uncivilized culture invariably accompanied the three patterns of pre-
nuptial sexual opportunity. Thus :

1. If a society permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom, it was in the zoistic
cultural condition. Conversely, all the zoistic societies permitted pre-
nuptial sexual freedom.

2. If a society adopted such regulations as imposed an irregular or
occasional continence, it was in the manistic cultural condition. Con-
versely, all the manistic societies had adopted such regulations as imposed
an irregular or occasional continence.

3. If a society insisted on pre-nuptial chastity (in my sense of the term),
it was in the deistic cultural condition. Conversely, some of the members
of all the deistic societies demanded the tokens of virginity as proof that a
girl was virgo intact a when she was married.

My submission is that on such evidence a social scientist is compelled to
induce that there is a close relation between sexual opportunity and cul-
tural condition among uncivilized peoples.

The eighty societies were chosen by me out of the vast number which
have been mentioned in comparative literature. The only criterion present
in my mind was the existence of adequate and reliable information. I have
no doubt that other names could be added to the list ; and so long as the
evidence is satisfactory both in quality and quantity additional data are
welcome. At the same time, I must confess that I have experienced great
difficulty in finding even eighty societies concerning which our knowledge
seems adequate and trustworthy. Indeed I am not sure that I have not
been too generous in my judgements; I am far from satisfied with the
quality of some of the evidence. I have thought it well, however, to make
the survey as wide as my knowledge permitted.

I am confident that any further researches will confirm the original
result. The relationship between the two phenomena is, I believe, so close
that if we know the sexual regulations of a society we can prophesy the
general pattern of its cultural behaviour. Conversely, if the general pattern
of the behaviour is communicated to us, we can prophesy the general
character of the sexual regulations. Indeed the conclusions of this book
can be tested in a practical manner. If the sexual regulations of some
uncivilized societies with which I am unfamiliar are related in the form of
authoritative replies to the eight questions tabulated in para. 23, 1 am ready
to prophesy the general pattern of their culture, and to abide by the result.

By producing the completed Chart of Evidence at this early stage, I hope
to have shown that the study of human affairs can be based on the same
principles as any other science, and that the form of reasoning employed

36 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE §24

in the more exact sciences can be employed also in the study of human
affairs. Having shown that an induction is possible, and having bound
myself by its results, I proceed to describe the customs and culture of each
society, stating in words the evidence which in the chart is represented by
symbols. First, however, I wish to make sure that the method which I adopt
is clearly understood.

Although we can apply inductive methods to the study of human affairs
the nature of the material imposes certain limitations upon us. When a
chemist discovers that the admixture of two chemical elements produces a
certain result he can test the accuracy of his conclusion by conducting an
experiment. Moreover, other chemists can conduct the same and other
experiments. And the success or failure of these experiments is the final
argument in the acceptance or rejection of the original conclusion. Now in
the study of human affairs no experiments are possible. We cannot test the
validity of our induction by creating a number of human societies and then
extending to them a varied pre-nuptial sexual opportunity so that we may
observe the cultural results. If we could do so, we should not need to
debate the matter any further, for the results of these experiments would be
the final argument for the acceptance or rejection of the inductive conclu-
sion. Since, however, such methods are out of the question, we must find
some reasonable explanation for the observed coincidences; and for the
experiments which a chemist would conduct under similar circumstances
we must substitute an interpretation of the facts. After the facts have been
recited, therefore, I shall make some suggestions which will explain why,
for example, the association of pre-nuptial chastity and the worship of gods
in temples is not only rational but also apparently inevitable. At the same
time I distinguish between the facts and the interpretation of the facts, for
it is only in this manner that other students of human affairs will be free
to consider the evidence from an inductive point of view.

I propose to devote a separate paragraph, or two separate paragraphs,
to the consideration of each society, and shall describe its customs and cul-
ture as simply and as economically as I can, banishing to the notes all com-
ments on and elucidations of the available evidence. First, I shall compare
the customs and culture of societies which lived in the same geographical
environment and which were of the same racial extraction; and in the
course of my exposition I shall adduce more evidence (if that be needed) in
support of my claim that classifications based on beliefs alone are untrust-
worthy and that human societies can be classified only according to their
rites. After a short excursion, during which some more definitions will be
formulated, I shall proceed to a general survey, arranged geographically.
When this survey has been completed the whole of the anthropological
evidence will have been recited, and the entries in the chart will have been
justified.

The fourth chapter will be devoted to an analysis and assessment of this
evidence. Then, in order to make sure that my interpretation of the facts

§24 THE FRAME OF REFERENCE 37

is a likely one, I shall quote the opinions of competent psychologists in
regard to the psychological effect of a reduction of sexual opportunity. We
shall see that their conclusions, based not on cultural but on psychological
data, support the suggestions I shall have made. In the fifth chapter I shall
state the whole conclusion in general terms, including within the survey the
customs and culture of the most developed historical societies.

CHAPTER II

SELECTED EVIDENCE

25. The Plan of the Chapter. First, I will describe the sexual opportunity
and cultural condition of a few selected societies from these geographical
areas: Melanesia, Africa, North America, Polynesia, Assam, and Siberia.
I will take them in that order.

The Melanesian societies are those of the Loyalty Islanders, Tannese
(New Hebrides), New Britons (Bismarck Archipelago), 'South-east Solomon
Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a), and Fijians.

A. SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA

26. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Loyalty Islanders and Tannese. In the
Loyalty Islands pre-nuptial children were regarded as evil portents. If a
girl became pregnant before marriage she employed some method of abor-
tion. No social condemnation, however, was incurred either by the father
or by the mother of the child, and promiscuous intercourse before marriage
was permitted.27 It was the same with the Tannese. 'Promiscuous inter-
course between the sexes is allowed,' says Cheyne.28 According to Mr.
Humphreys, 'sexual laxity before marriage was not frowned upon'. He
adds that both infanticide and abortion were common, so it is possible that
in Tanna also pre-nuptial children were condemned.29

27 . Pre-nuptial Regulations of the New Britons. In New Britain we find a
slight but important difference, a limitation being placed on the conduct of
a betrothed girl which would compel an occasional continence both on her
part and on that of all the available males. Natural children were killed,30
and there was no special condemnation, we are told, 'of any occasional act
of unchastity'; but after betrothal 'any interference with the betrothed
female was strongly reprobated'.31 As we shall see, those societies which
insisted on the display of the tokens of virginity were not usually in the
habit of making inquiries into the past conduct of any woman who had not
been betrothed ; so the limitation which the New Britons placed upon the
conduct of a betrothed girl may be regarded not unfairly as being the first
step towards a demand for pre-nuptial chastity. It is worth while, therefore,
to describe in some detail the customs which prevailed.

There were several different methods of arranging a betrothal ; customs
varied even in adjacent districts.32 As there seems to have been constant
hostility between the various social groups,33 we could hardly expect them
to be uniform in their habits. Moreover, the reports cover a very wide
area. Dr. Brown employs the title New Britain as an inclusive name to
denote the whole of the Bismarck Archipelago: 'There is little difference',

§28 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA 39

he says, 'between the manners and customs of the people living in the large
islands of New Britain and New Ireland, and for all practical purposes the
inclusive name of New Britain will be sufficient.'34

According to Romilly, the parents arranged the marriage, and the boy
paid for the girl by sending to her parents the produce of his labour ; but the
girl's consent seems to have been essential, for even after the lad had ful-
filled his obligations she could refuse to go away with him.3* Such refusals
are said to have been common;36 but in such cases the girl's parents seem
to have resorted to some method of compulsion. Usually they could devise
some means of encroaching upon her liberty of choice.

The betrothal of children by their parents was the usual method of
arranging a marriage,37 but Dr. Brown reports a custom whereby the lad
approached a girl direct. If she consented, 'he forbids her to any one else,
and she is called his webat'. 3S

It is difficult to imagine a more explicit case of the reduction of sexual
opportunity. The limitation was not great, and chastity was neither
regarded nor demanded ; but the sexual activities of a webat were hampered
in a manner which was never experienced by a Tannese maiden, or by a girl
in the Loyalty Islands. The regulations imposed a curb upon the instincts,
a webat being compelled to check any impulse which she might feel towards
any other man than her betrothed. In a similar way the male members of
the society were obstructed in a manner which a Tanna man would not
have understood.

28. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the South-east Solomon Islanders (Ulawa
and Sa'a). The South-east Solomon Islands is the only part of that group
of islands concerning which our information is adequate and reliable. In
that area betrothed girls were still more carefully guarded. Dr. Codrington
remarks: 'They consider themselves much stricter at Sa'a';39 and, accord-
ing to Dr. Ivens, a betrothed girl, 'if convicted of unchastity, might be
strangled'.40

A betrothed girl was forbidden to indulge in any sexual activity prior to
her marriage, and only the rigidity of our definition prevents us from
concluding that pre-nuptial chastity was demanded of her. Whereas in the
Loyalty Islands a girl could have intercourse with any man outside the
prohibited degrees and indulge her instincts as and when she was inclined,
and whereas in New Britain a betrothed girl was compelled to confine her
sexual qualities to her betrothed, the maidens of Ulawa and Sa'a were
forbidden even to their future husbands. Indeed, it is probable that a
betrothed couple had never met.

Arrangements were made on a lad's behalf when he was about 12-14
years old. The bargain, according to Mr. Hopkins, had a completely
social character; there was no question of the girl's consent or of the lad
contributing towards the bride-price by the product of his labour. On a
later occasion the group which received payment for a girl would obtain a

40 SELECTED EVIDENCE §29

wife from the group which paid for her ; and this reciprocity was an important
social factor : 'Accounts of unfailing accuracy were kept in the heads of the
groups concerned.' A girl from a distance was preferred, and a part of the
bride-price was paid as soon as the preliminary negotiations had been
completed. In these the young man had no part: 'I don't know', a young
man confessed, 'which of the girls they will buy. . . . They will settle it.'
Thenceforth the girl was adi, taboo. She paid sundry visits to the mother
of the lad, who took careful notice of her disposition. If she turned out to
be sulky or lazy, the marriage did not take place ; but if no fault was found
with her, the contract was sealed by the display of the whole of the bride-
price, hune ha" a. Thenceforward the girl was hu'e, a married woman. Miss
Coombe says that neither the bride nor the bridegroom was present at the
final scene.41

Thus the South-east Solomon Islanders were as strict as they could be
without insisting on a display of physical proof. For an example of the
latter in Melanesia we must turn to the Fijians.

29. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Fijians. A Fijian girl wore two plaits
of hair, tombe> which hung down behind her ears. They were the signs of
her virginity, and were cut off on her wedding day. This ceremony was an
important part of the celebrations, and had a special name, veitasi.*1 The
girl was carefully examined in the privacy of the house by the women of
the bridegroom's family. Should it appear that she had no right to wear the
plaits, her family was put to shame at the marriage feast: 'By a slash of
the knife the carcasses of the pigs were so mutilated as to intimate in the
grossest imagery that the bride had had a history.'43

The importance which the natives attached to pre-nuptial continence is
emphasized by Sir Basil Thomson who describes how the old native laws
broke down under the influence of Christianity. 'There is a mass of evi-
dence', he says, 'that in heathen times the majority of the girls were virgin
until they married.' In later years the tombe were worn by many unmarried
girls who had no right to them.44

We are not told specifically that virginity was not demanded except
when a girl had been betrothed; indeed, marriage among the Fijians does
not seem to have been a matter of mere transfer of wealth in compensation
for the loss of the woman. Nor are we told whether or not, in the event of
a girl's failure to pass the test, the bridegroom's people had the right to
cancel the match. Apparently not; but a girl who was not virgo intacta on
her wedding-day might be killed.45

Under such circumstances a pre-nuptial child was, of course, a deep
disgrace.46 Irregular unions, contracted without the proper ceremonies, were
despised. Fison says that the offspring of an eloping couple was not
regarded as a full member of society. A base-born boy was rebuked
if he asserted himself over-much. 'Let not your voice be heard,' they
used to say to him. 'As for your mother we know nothing of her. We

§3o SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA 41

did not eat at her marriage feast, nor did we make presents to her kinsfolk
for her.'47 Similar sentiments have not been uncommon among some
civilized societies.

Such were the pre-nuptial regulations of these five Melanesian societies.
They represent a kind of ascending scale towards pre-nuptial chastity.
Diagrammatically, the customs can be represented thus :

Loyalty Islanders .....

Tannese ......

New Britons ......

South-east Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a)
Fijians .......

It is not possible to show, by means of these symbols, the relative severity
of the customs which had been adopted by the inhabitants of Ulawa and
Sa'a. Only the general pattern of their pre-nuptial regulations can be
indicated: Irregular and Occasional Continence.

The cultural condition of these societies varied from zoistic to deistic.

30. Cultural Condition of the Loyalty Islanders. The Loyalty Islanders
had no temples, and no post-funeral attention was paid by them to any dead
man. 'The spirits of the departed', Mrs. Hadfield remarks, 'were not
supposed to exhibit any malicious propensities towards mortals.'48 The
Loyalty Islanders were therefore in the zoistic cultural condition.

The power in the universe was haze. The word haze seems to have
been used in those contexts in which we should use a substantive, adjective,
or adverb. This is clear from the following sentence: 'A haze was any
object which had been made haze, nyi haze, or endowed with supernatural
power, by the ite tene haze\ that is, by a person who was or possessed
haze.49 Usually such a person was an aged individual who received material
rewards from the people for exercising his or her magic power. By virtue
of his haze, a tene haze could inflict disease or kill at a distance ; he could
neutralize the effect of his own destructive charms ; he could also cure any
sickness ; and if he did not consider that he had been adequately paid for
his services, he could and would cause a relapse. In all cases the efficacy
of his ministrations depended solely on the haze that he possessed.50 So
great, indeed, was the respect paid to a tene haze, and so completely was
haze the exclusive concern of these islanders, that when a man who had
possessed haze died, every one was anxious to secure some part of his
person in order to possess some of the magic power which was inherent
in every part of it. Would-be wizards contended for the eyes, the toe-nails,
and the bones.51

The only method which was adopted to cure a stubborn disease was the
unassisted 'magic' of the tene haze ; the Loyalty Islanders did not distinguish
between a wizard, a medicine-man, and a diviner. Indeed, it is doubtful
if they would have understood wherein the difference lay, for a tene haze

Pre-nuptial Chastity

*

#

+

>

42 SELECTED EVIDENCE §31

could act, by virtue of his haze, in any of those capacities. In a similar way
'the sun, the wind, and the rain were all more or less under the control of
certain sorcerers who were easily prevailed upon, by gifts of food, to use
their power and skill'.52 Faith in the power of these magicians was so
implicit that in answer to the question 'Who made the flowers?', the
natives replied, 'Our old men.'53

31 . Cultural Condition of the Tannese. Similar customs prevailed among
the Tannese. They had no temples, nor did they consider it necessary to
propitiate the dead.

The power in the universe was uhngen (uhgen), which Messrs. Gray and
Ray compare with the haze of the Loyalty Islanders.54 Among the latter
people a magician was called tene haze, but we are not told the term which
was used by the Tannese. A wizard wasyolnuruk (nuruk = 'witchcraft'),55
but this seems to have been a descriptive rather than a distinctive term, and
to have been applied to a magician who was actually engaged in anti-
social practices. The sense of all the reports demands the assumption that
no distinction was made between a wizard, a medicine-man, and a diviner.56
Yolnuruk was not the term which was used to differentiate between a
magician and an ordinary man.

The source of magic power was the possession of a magic stone. A
Loyalty Islander would have called such a stone haze; and although this
is not stated specifically, it is probable that a Tanna man would have called
it uhngen. Just as a Loyalty Islander credited the magicians with having
manufactured the flowers, so a Tanna man considered that the man who
possessed a magic stone could multiply the fruits of the earth. Gray
remarks: 'Ask who makes the bread-fruit, fish, yams, &c, and the answer
would be "So-and-so". "How does he do it ?" liUhngen!"'sl Theinference
is that the stones were magically powerful because they were uhngen. Every
department of nature was subject to the control of a special stone, and
therefore of a special man: thus one could make yams grow, another could
produce rain, a third could make the sun shine, and so on.58 'If a rain-
charm does not succeed,' says Mrs. Watt, 'it is because some one is making
doses of sunshine.'59

32. Cultural Condition of the New Britons. Things were slightly different
in New Britain. There were no temples, but the people paid some kind of
post-funeral attention to their dead. Apparently the practices were some-
what irregular, and the information is only vaguely stated by our authori-
ties; but it would not be out of harmony with the facts to describe the
customs as an incipient tendance.

The natives considered, at least in some areas, that they could control
a ghost by magic. Thus if they thought that the ghost of a man had
remained in, or was revisiting, the place where he had lived during his life-
time (opinions seem to have differed concerning the length of the period

§32 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA 43

during which such visits could continue), it could be speedily routed by
beating the bushes and making other noises.60 Sometimes, however, or in
other places, a slight placation was necessary. If, for instance, a man had
been killed by a member of a neighbouring group, his house was kept
intact and food was placed for his ghost; the murderer was caught, killed,
and cooked. (If the guilty individual could not be found, any member of
his social group would serve equally well.) The people then ate some of
the flesh; the ghost also partook. Honour having been satisfied, they beat
the bushes, shouted, and made other noises in order to frighten the ghost
away.61

Moreover, 'sacrifices' were made to the dead. Invariably the recipient
was a deceased member of the family, and the native name of the offerings,
wairok tebaran, reveals the nature of the practices. The phrase meant 'to
cause the ghost to go or leap away'.62 That is pure tendance; but the
attention seems to have been neither usual nor regular (it may have been
both usual and regular in some areas), and it is doubtful if in all cases it
was continued after the funeral feast. Perhaps the rites, like the reports,
were vague and uncertain.

Epidemics could be averted by the utterance of spells, and the native
term for a wizard, tene agagara, is translated 'professor of magic'. This does
not necessarily mean that he acted also as medicine-man, but the magical
profession does not appear to have been subdivided. I have been unable to
discover whether or not the tene agagara practised the spasmodic exorcism
which is said to have existed.63

The magicians were in full control of the forces of nature. When they
failed to produce the desired result, however, they did not maintain that
some other magicians were working against them. If a man tried to stop the
rain and failed, he announced that the particular rain against which he was
striving did not belong to any one, pi tar a dat maiy 'it was made with us'.64
This acceptance of natural events without further inquiry, and the implied
differentiation between the rain which was made by the rain-maker and the
rain which was in the world when the New Briton arrived, militate strongly
against the Tylorian theory of primitive thought.

There is a great difference between the ideas of these men and those of
the Loyalty Islanders and Tannese. The information is not as clear as we
should like. This is partly due to the fact that Dr. Brown, our best author-
ity, after translating tebaran both as 'spirit' and as 'ghost', has attached a
final s to the word, thus forming a kind of anglicized plural, tebarans.65
There does not appear to be any plural form of the word in the New
Britain language, and the anglicization of the word may have led to some
confusion in the description of the native culture. Moreover, many of the
author's inferences have been recorded as facts. But two things are plain:
the men of New Britain practised (1) a kind of incipient tendance, (2) a
form of exorcism in their treatment of affliction. It is in these two rites that
their behaviour differed from that of the other two societies which we have

44 SELECTED EVIDENCE §33

described. The ceremonies which were carried out by the men of Ulawa
and Sa'a reveal a still greater variety.

33. Cultural Condition of South-east Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a).
There were no temples in the South-east Solomon Islands, but the inhabi-
tants practised both tendance and cult. Compared with the New Britons,
indeed, their rites were complicated, and they decorated their sacred
places by erecting altars and walls.

Dr. R. H. Codrington's masterly survey of Melanesian culture applies
to the Banks Islands, three of the New Hebrides, and the Solomon Islands.
Speaking generally of the whole region, with special reference to their
conception of 'magic power', the term for which in the Banks Islands was
mana, Dr. Codrington observes: Tt is the belief in this power, and in the
efficacy of the various means by which spirits and ghosts can be induced to
exercise it for the benefit of men that is the foundation of the rites and
practices which can be called religious.' After reading this passage, if we
were not careful, we should assume (1) that the word mana was used on all
the islands concerning which Dr. Codrington wrote, (2) that the methods
which were adopted to secure the power were the same throughout that
area. Both assumptions would be false.

In Ulawa mana occurred in metathetic form, nanama, 'to be powerful',
nanamanga, 'power', 'force'. At Sa'a the word was saka, 'hot', 'pungent',
the contrary being waa> 'cold', 'spiritually weak'.66 It was to the saka
ghosts that there was paid the attention which must be included, I think,
as 'cult'.

Dr. Codrington noticed the difference between the various rites which
were carried out on the different islands, and was surprised by it. 'There
is a very remarkable difference', he says, 'between the native of the New
Hebrides and the Banks Islands to the east, and the natives of the Solomon
Islands to the west ; the direction of the religious ideas and practices of the
former is towards spirits rather than ghosts, the latter pay very little atten-
tion to spirits and address themselves wholly to ghosts.'67

As I am unable, for reasons which I have already stated, to accept
'spirits' as an accurate or convenient translation of a native term, this
passage means no more than that some of the societies were in a different
cultural condition from others. It is extraordinary that Dr. Codrington
should have considered such differences 'very remarkable'. The fact
reveals the powerful preconceptions with which the study of uncivilized
peoples has been approached. And although he not only observed but also
emphasized the differences between the Banks Islanders and the Solomon
Islanders, Dr. Codrington seems to have assumed that all the Solomon
Islanders were in the same cultural condition. At any rate, this seems to
be the only possible explanation of a slight but important disagreement in
the meanings and use of the words which have been translated 'ghost'.

The inhabitants of the other islands in the Solomon group denoted the

§33 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA 45

soul of a living man and the soul of a dead man (i.e. ghost) by two different
words. Thus in Florida the tarunga of a living man became a tindalo at
death; in San Cristoval the aunga was changed into an ataro.68 But 'it
must not be supposed', Dr. Codrington remarks, 'that every ghost becomes
an object of worship. The ghost who is to be worshipped is the spirit of a
man who in his lifetime had mana in him ; the souls of common men are the
common herd of ghosts, nobody alike before and after death.'69 The Sa'a
term for a powerful ghost was Woa, which Dr. Codrington compares with
the tindalo of Florida and the ataro of San Cristoval.70 In another passage,
however, he equates another word, akalo, with those terms, and the con-
tradictory nature of his report is allowed to remain unnoticed.71 Either,
then, Dr. Codrington has blundered, or the men of Ulawa and Sa'a used
two words in those contexts where the inhabitants of the other islands
employed only one. The latter alternative seems to be the correct one;
and we may conclude that Dr. Codrington was prevented from noticing
the fact because obviously he expected that the ideas of all the people
would be the same. Akalo was the term which was applied to those
deceased members of the komu (kindred) who were deemed worthy of
attention; Woa denoted a specially powerful ghost.72 That is to say,
whereas on the other islands all the ghosts to whom attention was paid
were equally ranked by the survivors, the men of Ulawa and Sa'a divided
the inhabitants of the nether world into two separate classes. The character
of the rites which were paid to them varied according to the status of
the ghost in whose honour, and to appease whose anger, they were per-
formed. The attention paid to an akalo seems to have been tendance;
often the rites in honour of a Woa too were tendance, but sometimes
they seem to have been cult. The former seem to have been confined
to the members of the kindred ; the latter, when partaking of the nature
of 'cult', were in honour of a distinguished dead citizen who had been
eminent in some department of human activity, and whose assistance was
desired on behalf of living men who were not related to him either by
blood or by marriage.73 We shall find that these coincidences hold good
for every case of 'ancestor- worship' which comes within our survey. Cult
was always hero-cult.

When a man died the first task seems to have been to decide whether
any relic of him, a lock of hair, a nail, or a tooth, should be preserved.
'The name given to all relics of deceased persons chosen for preservation
was mangite'1^ If a relic were preserved, it was placed either in a special
relic-case inside the house, in a separate relic-house which was reserved
for the purpose, or in some other place. The latter seems to have been the
custom when a Woa was concerned; the relics of ordinary household
ghosts were placed in the relic-case in the corner of the room. Thus
the method of disposing of the relics seems to have corresponded to the
% manner in which the original owners were regarded.75

Near the relic-cases in the houses offerings were placed on various

46 SELECTED EVIDENCE §33

occasions, such as in times of sickness.76 Sometimes first fruits also were
offered there. 7 7 One kind of sacrifice was called toto akalo, the words referring
to the removal of the ghostly anger, 'to a ghost who is appeased by the
sacrifice'; for an akalo would make a man ill if he neglected his duty
towards it, or ate something which belonged to it. In all these cases the
attention was a form of tendance.78

It was different with the ghosts {IV oa) of those important people whose
relics had been placed in the canoe-houses, in wooden figures of fish or on
special rock-altars.79 They were not only propitiated in order that their
anger might be appeased; sometimes their assistance was demanded on
behalf of their 'owner'. Every IV oa was owned by a man who alone knew
the proper method of approaching it ; this knowledge gave power to his
incantations and assisted him in all his undertakings.80 The name of the
relationship between a IV oa and its 'owner' was iusi, 'twin'; thus the
permanence of the association is emphasized. A mere akalo was said to
ta'eli, 'possess', a person, or awasi, inspire him.81 Unfortunately, the re-
ports which we possess concerning the native terms for those who attended
to the desires of the ghosts are most unsatisfactory,82 but the following
passage will illustrate the general attitude towards a IV oa : 'The supernatural
power abiding in the powerful living man abides in his ghost after death,
with increased vigour and more ease of movement. After his death,
therefore, it is expected that he should begin to work, and some one will
come forward and claim particular acquaintance with the ghost. If his
power should show itself, his position is assured as one worthy to be
invoked and to receive offerings, till his cultus gives way before the rising
importance of one newly dead, and the sacred place where his shrine once
stood and his relics were preserved is the only memorial of him that
remains. If no proof of his activity appears, he sinks into oblivion at once.'83

If, on the other hand, and the point is important, there was ample proof
of his power and of his willingness to exert himself if he were approached
in the proper manner, then his cult was handed on by his 'owner'. 'It
sometimes happens', Dr. Codrington says, 'that the man who has offered
the sacrifices dies without having fully instructed his son in the proper
chant or invocation with which the IV oa ought to be approached. The young
man who succeeds is then afraid to go there often and begins a new place,
taking some ashes from the old sacrificial fire-place to start a new sanctuary.'84

When a man makes elaborate preparations to remove the shrine of a
ghost to whom he has never paid any attention, but whose ministration he
has inherited, we are justified in concluding that his object is not to ward
off the anger of the ghost, but to secure its power for the performance of
deeds of which he is incapable single-handed. Such attention comes under
the heading of cult.

Probably the 'sanctuary' which Dr. Codrington mentions in the above-
cited passage is the same as what Dr. Ivens calls an 'altar', an outer-circle
of stones {liliheu) containing an or a, sacrificial fire-place.85 Since the offer-

§34 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA 47

ings which were made to an akalo were usually placed beside the relic-cases,
it is possible, indeed probable, that these 'altars' were erected only to Ifoa.86
'Ghostly action' was predicated as being the most frequent cause of
sickness. It is impossible to tell if the diviner was engaged exclusively in
that capacity, for the reports are not exact. A troublesome akalo was
exorcised, tola akalo ; if a Woa had caused the trouble, an offering had to
be made.87

The power of an incantation, saruey resided neither in its words nor in
the power of the man who uttered it, but in the name of the ghost which
concluded it. Tt was the knowledge of the names of these ghosts, coupled
with the right to approach them, that gave the power.'88 In a like manner
the incantations that controlled the weather were dependent on the power
of the ghost (li'oa ?) to whom they were addressed, the form of words having
been handed down from magicians who had achieved fame in the control
of the elements and who had died long ago.89

These rites are very different from the unassisted magic of the Tannese
and Loyalty Islanders. The men of Ulawa and Sa'a were outstanding also
in other ways. Mr. Hopkins calls them 'the most virile of the South
Solomons', while Dr. Codrington observes: 'In the Melanesian Islands
the inquirer seeks in vain for antiquity. Sa'a is a remarkable exception.
They can remember eleven generations back.'90

34. Cultural Condition of the Fijians. When we turn to Fiji these differ-
ences become accentuated. In those islands nearly every town and village
possessed at least one {m)bure, temple. The word (m)bure meant 'house' ;
bure ni sa was the name of the Bachelors' Hall. According to Hazlewood
the full name for a temple was bure kalou, 'god-house'. No pains were
spared in the erection of a 'god-house' or temple ; it was built on a separate
mound of earth and approached by a winding path or a steep slope. But
'nothing like a regular or habitual reverence' was practised. Sometimes
the temples were allowed to fall into ruin and might be left unoccupied
for months.91

In these buildings, specially erected for the purpose, the Fijians main-
tained a right relation with the more important powers in the universe,
the kalou-vuy 'ancestor-gods'.92 The Fijians were therefore in the deistic
cultural condition.

Each kalou-vu was served by at least one {ni)bete, priest, and often, in-
deed usually, by more than one. No one could approach the god except
through the agency of his priest who was possessed by his deity when he
gave utterance to the god's word. The theory seems to have been that such
divine inspiration could take place only in the (m)bure, but in some areas,
at any rate, a stranger could consult the god at any place where the (m)bete,
priest, happened to be.93 Although a (m)bete could only serve, or be
inspired by, his own special kalou-vu, there was no definite priestly order.
If a man could demonstrate that he was capable of becoming 'possessed',

48 SELECTED EVIDENCE §34

he was accepted without further training or question. The profession is
said to have been hereditary, but this cannot have been a universal custom,
for we are told that any man was qualified who could 'shake well and
speculate shrewdly'.94

Our information concerning their treatment of disease is scanty and
vague. Curative counter-spells and exorcism seem to have been the usual
methods ; we are not told the identity of the man who was consulted. The
(m)bete, priest, is said to have been a 'doctor with a good practice',95 but
Williams, who is our authority for the statement, uses the word 'doctor'
in a very indefinite sense. He may mean that the (m)bete was often con-
sulted concerning the cause of a stubborn sickness. According to Sir Basil
Thomson the power of divination, ndaukinda, was confined to the priests.
Yet this may not be correct, for if we follow M. Rougier, wTe must conclude
that ninety per cent, of the cures were revealed in dreams to the dautradra,
who was a professional dreamer.96 M. Rougier says also that 'le pretre
est bien different du sorcier et magicien, et ceux-ci peuvent ne pas etre
pretres'.97 By 'sorcier' I presume that M. Rougier means the wizard; he
may refer to the medicine-man when he says 'magicien' ; but it would be
wrong to force into M. Rougier's words an exactitude which is foreign to
his meaning. Moreover, anti-social practices were by no means beneath
the dignity of a Fijian (m)bete. A (m)bete did not utter effective charms
over a severed portion of the intended victim's body, for, in the opinion
of a Fijian, no such charm was effective in itself. The (m)bete charmed a
relic by the power of his kalou. 'By him', i.e. the kalou, 'was the charm
made effective.'98 Williams states that the priest of Tokelau, whose sacred
grove was at Mabuku, would ask his god (kalou-vu) to deal out death and
destruction to the enemy of a supplicant.99

We hear nothing of rain-makers or wind-dispersers in Fiji. The elements
were thought to be under the control not of men but of gods. When rain
was needed, the priest of Ndengei returned from an interview with his god
not only dripping with water, but also bearing a promise that rain would
fall in all districts after two or three days. On one occasion, when the priest
of Wailevu had invoked his god in the usual way without success, he slept
for several nights exposed on the top of a rock, without mat or pillow,
hoping by this means to melt the hard heart of his obdurate deity ; and the
people of Tiliva, when they were suffering from a drought, crawled to
their priest on their hands and knees, carrying stones and long vines. 'The
vines are for you to eat,' they cried; 'the stones are for strengthening the
base of your temple. Let our gifts be accepted, and procure us rain.'100

There is no need to emphasize the difference between this method of
trying to procure rain and the magic of the Loyalty Island rain-maker with
his magic haze-sXont. The facts speak for themselves. Every Fijian, of
course, did not approach the same god when he wanted the weather to
change; the inhabitants of each district repaired to the temple of their
own kalou-vu.

§35 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA 49

The kalou-vu were not the only powers which were honoured by the
attention of mortals ; the kalou-yalo also were the recipients of spasmodic
'sacrifices'. Ultimately the kalou-vu and the kalou-yalo were identical,
the distinction between them being one of degree and emerging more
clearly in some districts than in others.101 The former were men who had
become gods (usually they are considered to have been the originators of
the clans), and their names were remembered for generation after genera-
tion. The kalou-yalo were the ghosts of more recently deceased fathers
and grandfathers. 'If my father died, he was my kalou, and kalou of the
whole clan also,' declared one informant ; but a kalou-yalo could, and some-
times did, become a kalou-vu. Indeed there was often considerable con-
fusion between them.102

This, I think, explains the amazing generalities which obscure the sense
of many passages in our earlier authorities, and it is impossible to avoid
the conclusion that the ambiguities are intentional. The researches of
Mr. Hocart show that his predecessors need not have strained after a clarity
which was not present in the mind of the Fijian. Generally speaking, a
kalou-vu was invoked publicly, e tumba, and in his temple, while the people
administered in private, e vale, to the inferior kalou-yalo. This, at any rate,
was the case among the Waimaeo people. Their ancestor Nggamau had a
temple; so had each of his sons; they were the kalou-vu. The more
recently deceased members of the community, who were considered
sufficiently powerful to be propitiated, were the kalou-yalo.103

The attention which was paid to a kalou-yalo , usually at the grave-side,
seems to have consisted both of tendance and of cult. We are told that
family ghosts would not trouble their surviving relations provided that
their needs were attended to.104 Sometimes they made their presence known
by rattling a can which was suspended from the central beam of the
house.105 Threats and abuse were common on a death-bed, and even the
mighty Ndengei is reported to have declared, when dying, 'I will be with
you to trouble you'.106 Sometimes offerings on behalf of a sick child were
placed in the small house, (ni)bure, which was erected over a grave, but
it is impossible to say whether such 'sacrifices' come under the heading of
do ut abeas ('Here is what you want') or of do ut des ('Please cure').107
Some of the family dead, however, were regarded as having a greater power
than the living, for a dead great-grandfather is said to have made a charm
effective.108 After a long vigil at the grave-side of his dead father, too, a
man had been made invulnerable, presumably by virtue of the power of
his father's ghost.109

Among the Fijians, therefore, we find both tendance and cult, as well as
the worship of gods in temples.

35. Summary and Chart. Such was the cultural behaviour of these five
Melanesian societies. The Loyalty Islanders and the Tannese, who allowed
complete sexual freedom, erected no temples and paid no attention to the

E

5o SELECTED EVIDENCE §35

ghosts of their dead ; in times of distress, whatever its nature, they consulted
the same person, tene haze (or uhngen), the man or woman who possessed
haze (or uhngen). Among the New Britons, whose regulations imposed
a slight check upon the sexual impulses of both sexes, there was an ir-
regular tendance of some deceased kinsman; a spasmodic exorcism was
one method of healing sickness. In Ulawa and Sa'a, where the sexual
regulations were stricter than in any other part of Melanesia except Fiji,
the natives practised both tendance and cult. Moreover, the power of a
man's 'magic' depended not on the possession of a stone which manifested
a wondrous power, but on the quality of the ghost which he 'owned'.
Exorcism was a usual form of treatment of disease. Finally, the Fijians,
who insisted on pre-nuptial chastity (that is, who demanded physical proof
that the bride was a virgin), not only conducted both tendance and cult, but
also erected temples in honour of the powers manifest in the universe.

Unfortunately the information in regard to the medical profession is
poor and often contradictory ; but the methods which the various societies
adopted in their efforts to control the weather reveal diverse attitudes to-
wards the physical universe. The Loyalty Islanders relied exclusively on the
power of a magician, tene haze ; the men of Ulawa and Sa'a consulted a man
who was able to solicit the aid of some powerful ghost (IV oa or big akalo) ;
the Fijians crawled humbly to the temple, with gifts for the priest of
their god.

The Loyalty Islanders and the Tannese were zoistic; the New Britons
were manistic; the South-east Solomon Islanders also were manistic; the
Fijians were deistic.

Diagrammatically the facts can be stated thus :

SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM MELANESIA

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

u

o

V)

■*->

>>

_o_
-o

OS

<n
<u

• 1— 1

-t->
• i-H

<M

_o

"■4-*
• t

c

B

u

a

CO

-cs
c

0)

o

>.

c

CJ

Society-

Cultural co

Magic

Transferen
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled

Tendance

Cult

Temples a

Pre-nuptia

i

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

IO

1 1

Loyalty Islanders .

Z

+

+

Tannese

Z

+

+

New Britons

M

+

+

+

T

_#

South-east Solomon

Islanders

+

(Ulawa and Sa'a)

M

+

+

+

+

#

Fijians

D

+

+

+ ?

+

+

+

+

+

§36

SELECTED EVIDENCE

51

B. SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM AFRICA AND AMERICA

We will now compare the sexual regulations of the Baganda, Bakitara,
and Banyankole, who lived respectively in central, western, and south-
western Uganda.

36. Sexual Regulations of the Banyankole, Bakitara, and Baganda.
These three tribes are said to have been of the same racial extraction,110
and in discussing them I propose to include certain details of their post-
nuptial regulations.

The Banyankole abominated pre-nuptial children, but did not object
to pre-nuptial sexual intercourse. If a girl conceived before she was married
she confided in her mother, and they endeavoured to procure an abortion.
'There were several methods of doing this.' If their efforts were successful,
nothing more was said; but an unmarried girl who bore a child was ex-
pelled from her home, or worse. We are told that sometimes the father
of the child was killed, but this may have been an extreme case. He does
not seem to have been compelled to marry the girl, or to have been fined.
The girl was regarded as the chief culprit, for she could have prevented the
catastrophe. Consequently, all girls were carefully watched.111

In a similar way, if an unmarried Bakitara girl had intercourse with
a man, 'and no result followed', nothing was said; but if she conceived, the
man was pressed into marrying her. He was also fined. 'There was no
idea of a sexual union being wrong so long as there was no conception.'
Both among the pastoral and the agricultural clans an aunt accompanied
the bride to her new home ; this aunt witnessed, and even directed, and if
the girl was shy gave a practical demonstration of, the consummation.
When she departed, 'she took with her the barkcloth which bore the signs
of the girl's virginity'. 'These signs were eagerly looked for by her parents.'
Among the agricultural people, 'if it was found that the bride was not
a virgin, her husband cut a hole in the barkcloth and sent it thus. If he
so desired, he might send the girl back to her parents, and demand the
return of the marriage fee'.112 It appears that the tokens were demanded
only when the girl had been betrothed before puberty; but there is no
explicit statement to that effect.

Among the Banyankole and the Bakitara a husband shared the sexual
qualities of his wife with his clan-brothers.113

A Muganda demanded physical proof that his bride was a virgin. After
the consummation he sent back to her parents the barkcloth on which
she had lain, and if the primitiae were not forthcoming, he cut a round
hole in it: 'This was a stigma upon the guardians who had not taken
proper care of the girl.' We are not told what action he could take in the
event of her frailty.114 Post-nuptial regulations among the Baganda were
strict. A Muganda wife was not allowed even to converse with strange
men. The women's quarters were guarded by a trusty servant; no one

52 SELECTED EVIDENCE §37

could enter without the husband's permission. A husband who even
suspected his wife was entitled to torture and even to kill her, and her
people would take no active steps on her behalf unless they could prove
that she was blameless. Even then they were usually satisfied by the
receipt of a small payment.115

Thus these three African societies were in three different categories so
far as sexual opportunity was concerned. The Banyankole insisted neither
on the tokens of virginity nor on exclusive sexual rights after marriage;
the Bakitara and the Baganda demanded the tokens, but whereas the
Kitara wife, like an Ankole wife, was common to her husband and his clan-
brothers, a Uganda wife was compelled to confine herself to one man.
The sexual opportunity of the Ankole woman was greater than that of
a Uganda woman both before and after marriage ; and although the Kitara
woman enjoyed the same freedom after marriage as the former, she was
expected, like the latter, to be a virgin when she was married. In Melanesia,
as we have seen, an occasional or irregular compulsory continence accom-
panied the manistic condition and a demand for the tokens accompanied
the deistic condition. The phenomena were associated in Africa also.

37. Cultural Condition of the Banyankole. The Banyankole were manistic
They built no temples, but they paid some attention to the ghosts (mizimu)
of their dead. 'It was only the ghosts of men who were universally feared' ;
and the ghosts of those who were more recently dead received more atten-
tion than those who had escaped from the barriers of the flesh at an earlier
date. The heir of a recently deceased man erected a small shrine near his
bed and placed thereon the milk of the cows which he had dedicated to
the ghost. Another shrine was set up at the kraal gate where offerings were
made when a medicine-man announced that they were necessary. If the
ghosts of other relatives required offerings, a separate shrine was erected
for each one of them. Sometimes there were as many as forty shrines at
a kraal gate.116

Offerings were made in time of trouble or distress. Do ut abeas was the
character also of those offerings which were made at kagondo, a special
place in the Mugabe's ('King's') kraal 'devoted to the shrines of past
rulers', frequent offerings being made there when occasion arose. The
gist of the action was 'This-cow-I-give-you-and-in-return-please-cause-
me-no-more-trouble'. 1 1 7

The Banyankole considered that rain could be controlled by their rain-
makers, abaizi be nzura, who belonged to the agricultural clans, as did also
the carpenters, the smiths, and the smelters. The blood of a sacrifice was
poured over the fetishes (bayembe}) which were placed in a specially
prepared shrine, of which no details are available. Incantations, suitable
to the occasion, were then uttered. And the people thought that in this
manner they compelled the rain to fall or to cease falling, and raised or
dispersed a wind.118

§38 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM AFRICA AND AMERICA 53

The causes of affliction were revealed by augury, but the magician that
diagnosed a case acted purely as a consultant, the remedy was applied by
another practitioner. The former was a mfumu (pi. bafumu); but this
man's fees were too high for poor people, so they consulted an omulaguzi.11?
A troublesome ghost was removed by force, smoked out, exorcized or
transferred to a goat, the magicians of Ankole considering that such
mizimu were completely under their control.120 The exorcism or trans-
ference of the ghost, however, did not cure the sufferer; it merely rendered
the patient capable of receiving the medical treatment which his symptoms
demanded and which had been ineffective owing to the presence or
activities of the ghost.121

38. Cultural Condition of the Bakitara. The chief powers which mani-
fested themselves to the Bakitara were bachwezi (sing, muchwezi). Canon
Roscoe calls them 'a misty and somewhat bewildering collection of beings';
and mentions nineteen of them by name. 'To these bachwezi', he says, 'the
people generally turned for help.' Each clan had one particular muchwezi
to whom its members applied in times of stress, but some bachwezi enjoyed
a wider reputation, the influence of others being confined to certain
localities.122 Each muchwezi had one or more representatives, bandwa
(sing, mandwa), whom Canon Roscoe calls 'priests'. Either they were
mediums themselves or they were accompanied by mediums whose
utterances they communicated to the people. Each muchwezi had a princi-
pal shrine where his mandwa dwelt. The office is said to have been
hereditary.123

The Bakitara erected temples to some of these bachwezi. Thus they were
in the deistic cultural condition.

The Kitara temples have not been described, and do not appear to have
occupied a very prominent place in Kitara life. Only a few of the bachwezi,
indeed, were regarded so highly as to be accorded the honour of a separate
building; most of them were less sumptuously equipped. Wamala, an
ancient king and 'god of plenty', had a temple near the king's residence;
the temple of Ndaula, god of small-pox, was in the vicinity of the royal
tombs; to the temple of Lubanga, god of healing, which had a strong
stockade of growing trees, both the pastoral and agricultural people
resorted for help in time of sickness ; a pair of twin goddesses, Mulindwa
and Nginawhiva, had a temple in the royal enclosure and cared for the
health of the royal house ; and when the people wanted a change from rain
to sunshine or from sunshine to rain, offerings were sent to the temple
of Munume, who was thought to control the weather. I2«

The power of the bachwezi was variously assessed. This is revealed
especially in the attitude of the people towards the weather. Apparently
Munume 's ability to effect the desired change was not rated so highly as
that of the rain-makers, who claimed to regulate, by the aid of their
'fetishes' {bayembeT), every variety of sky-activity. Both the Mukama

54 SELECTED EVIDENCE §38

(King) and the people were convinced that the claim was just, and took
appropriate steps to put their convictions into practice. If the rain-makers
failed to produce a needed shower, they were seated in the sun, fed on
well-salted liver, and, when tortured by thirst, told to obtain a drink by
rain, or die. Similarly, if they failed to stop an excessive downfall of rain,
they were compelled to drink great pots of rain-water, with the result that
they often became ill, but 'work harder and stop the rain' was the only
comfort that they received.125

It was the same with the treatment of disease. Some people may have
gone to the temple of Lubanga, but the usual ministrants were the medicine-
men. Unfortunately, the native terms for the various branches of the
magical profession are not given. The cause of a stubborn sickness was
discovered by an augur who divined by examining the entrails of an
animal. Prominent among the diviners were the mulaguzi we enkoko, who
acted as advisers to the Mukama, and the mutaka wa manda, who announced
whether or not the moment was propitious for a cattle raid. All diviners
were specialists, the remedies which they recommended being applied by
other magicians. The diviners, together with the rain-makers, constituted
the superior class of magicians ; there was also an inferior class who were
satisfied with smaller fees. The latter acted also as diviners ; they also sold
the power to get rich; wizards were included in their number.126

A case of ghostly possession was treated according to the identity of
the ghost. If the ghost was that of a member of the sufferer's clan, it was
transferred to a goat or to a woman ; then the patient was treated according
to his symptoms, afterwards being given an amulet as a protection against
that particular ghost. The transference or exorcism of the ghost did not
cure the illness; it merely rendered the patient capable of receiving the
proper medicine which previously had been applied in vain. The goat
or the woman to whom the ghost was transferred became sacred to the
ghost. If, on the other hand, the sickness was due to a hostile ghost, that
is, to a ghost of a man who had been a member of another clan, the medicine-
man lured it into a pot by the smell of savoury meat and then burnt the
pot; or he smoked the ghost out of the sufferer, chased it round the hut,
and, having caught it, took it away.127

All these methods imply the power to control a ghost which need not be
propitiated in any way and which apparently was not regarded as being a
very powerful entity; but all ghosts could not be dealt with in such a
cavalier manner. If a man had been of some consequence in life, and the
medicine-man considered that his ghost might be dangerous, his heir built
a shrine near his own bed and dedicated certain cows to the ghost, the milk
of these cows being placed on the shrine. 'If the ghost was neglected, or
any member of the family did something of which he did not approve, he
would manifest his displeasure by causing illness or death among the people
or the cattle.'128

Thus, in addition to paying attention to some bachwezi in temples, the

§ 39 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM AFRICA AND AMERICA 55

Bakitara also made offerings to those deceased members of the family or
clan who had been most influential when they were alive, the ghosts of
the members of other clans being under the control of the magicians.
The attention which was paid to the family dead was tendance. Appar-
ently the bachwezi themselves had once been famous men.

39. Cultural Condition of the Baganda. The Baganda also were deistic.
4 The national gods had temples appointed for them by the King on hill-
tops and estates on the hill-sides often extending down into the valleys.
The head man of the clan was appointed to the charge of the temple estates.
In many cases the same man was chief priest (kabona) and responsible for
the safety and good conduct of the slaves and cattle of the god. In some
temples there were as many as four priests. The duty of the chief priest was
to receive all persons who came to seek an interview with the god ; he took
their offering from them and announced them to the god, stating what they
had brought and why they had come. The priest interpreted the oracle
which was given through a medium.'129

This is the only mention of the Kabona which I can find, and I am not
clear whether the word means 'priest' or 'chief priest'; probably the latter,
for only one man could be held finally responsible for the administration
of the estates ; but Canon Roscoe says that some gods had 'four priests', so
in his report he must translate another Bantu word also by the English
word 'priest'. The word cannot be mandwa as might be expected (Canon
Roscoe translates mandwa 'priest' in his reports on the Bakitara and Ban-
yankole), for we are told that each lubare, 'god', chose one person, and only
one, to be his mandwa or 'medium' ; so the difficulty cannot be solved. The
mandwa became 'possessed' ; this was regarded as an unmistakable sign of
divine influence. When a man or woman first got into that condition he
or she was said to be kuwasa, 'married to the god' ; subsequent possessions
were called kukwata ku mutwe, 'being seized by the head'.130

The temples in Uganda were conical in shape, with thatched roofs.131 The
more important of them had a court. A temple that was so equipped could
not be entered by an ordinary person, who was allowed, however, both to
approach and to enter any temple that did not possess a court. A number
of young virgin girls were attached to most of the temples ; their duties were
to guard the perpetual fire which was burning and to keep the building
clean. They were replaced at puberty by younger girls. Of the balubare,
'gods', four were pre-eminent: Mukasa, god of plenty; Kibuka, god of
war; Kaumpuli, god of the plague; and Musoke, god of rain. There
were many other balubare of varying power and reputation. Spme were
national gods, some were clan gods. Most of them seem to have had
temples.132

The attention which was paid to a lubare through the agency of
the mandwa, who spoke with the voice of the lubare, was the most
important of all Baganda rites, especially for the Kabaka, 'King'. The

56 SELECTED EVIDENCE §39

observances of ordinary people, however, were directed more particularly,
or at any rate more regularly, towards the ghosts {mizimu) of the dead.
'Possibly', Canon Roscoe says, 'the most venerated class of religious objects
were the ghosts of departed relatives, ... the belief in ghosts, both malevo-
lent and benevolent, was firmly held by all classes*.133 The treatment of
ghosts varied from control by magic to cult. Since the ideas which compel
the people to perform these various ceremonies reveal diverse conceptions
of the powers of ghosts, it is fair to conclude that the reports refer to dif-
ferent families or to different districts, and that no particular rite can be
assumed to have been universal. It is probable, indeed, that just as all the
social strata of a rationalistic society are never rationalistic, so among an
advanced people like the Baganda some classes would be higher in the
cultural scale than others.

If a ghost were haunting a family and causing illness a medicine-man
(presumably the musawo) would be fetched that he might capture it. By
the power of his mayembe, 'fetish', he would entice the ghost into an empty
vessel and then throw it away. 'The ghost would be annihilated.' On the
other hand, in other districts, or among other families, a shrine was erected
near the grave. 'Each well-provided shrine had its fireplace, and its supply
of firewood . . . beer was placed inside,' for ghosts, in the opinion of a
Muganda, suffered from cold and thirst, and their needs must be attended
to. Ghosts were also annoyed if their graves were neglected. It was thought
that a ghost attached itself specially to the jawbone, and sometimes the
jawbone of a noted chief (the head of a clan ?) had a special shrine built for
it by his clan. The jawbones of dead kings were placed in special temples
and attended by bandwa, mediums. Thus there seems to have been a kind
of sliding scale in the paraphernalia of ghost- worship : some ghosts were
exorcized by a simple form of magic; in honour of other ghosts small
shrines were erected at the graveside; others still were granted special
temples where ceremonies were carried out for many generations after the
man's death. The ghosts of ordinary people were approached only in times
of danger or of sickness, but a chief 'might occasionally make a feast for
the ghost of a relative'. In return for this attention the ghost would cause
the king to show him favour. The former attention was tendance ; the latter
seems to have been cult. The majority of the balubare appear to have been
either dead kings, or famous men and women.134

The medicine-men, basawo, were very influential; 'the priests and the
mediums had very little power in comparison with them'. This reminds us
of the Fijians who are said to have 'laughed at a priest and trembled at a
wizard' ; but in the case of the Baganda there seems to have been a cultural
change before the arrival of the white man. King Mutesa (fl. c. 1850)
'changed the status of the gods and reduced the power of the priests from
its unique position'. It is possible, therefore, that some of the duties which
in later days were performed by the medicine-men, basawo, were in former
days part of the priestly responsibility. In Canon Roscoe 's time the basawo

§4o SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM AFRICA AND AMERICA 57

practised every form of magic art, diagnosed, prescribed, exorcized, manu-
factured fetishes (bayembe), sold amulets (nsiriba), and created those objects
which were used to work kulogo (witchcraft).135 Yet the dominance of the
basawo was not complete. If the king fell ill, 'all the skill in the land was
at his disposal and all the priests of the gods of the land came together to
diagnose his disorder'. Similarly, if a plague ravaged the country, the great
god Mukasa was consulted, and 'especially in cases of sickness did men
resort to a medium'.136 Canon Roscoe does not mention a specific god of
healing.

We hear nothing of any rain-makers ; the elements were regarded as being
controlled not by men but by gods. Musoke, the god of rain, was one of
the four great gods, his character being described as 'celestial'. He was
approached through the agency of a woman who became a goddess (lubare ?)
when she died. Mukasa and another lubare also, Gulu, were connected
with the weather, the former being credited with the power of control-
ling storms, the latter being sometimes held responsible for inclement
weather.137

40. Summary and Chart. Such was the cultural condition of these three
African societies which lived in Uganda. The Banyankole built no temples,
and did not insist on pre-nuptial chastity ; but their pre-nuptial regulations
were such as to compel occasional continence. They were in the manistic
condition. The Bakitara and the Baganda demanded the tokens of vir-
ginity ; they erected temples to their gods. The pre-nuptial sexual oppor-
tunity was the same in both societies, and both were in the deistic condition,
but whereas a Baganda husband enjoyed exclusive sexual rights, a Kitara
man shared the sexual qualities of his wife with his clan-brothers. Thus
both his and her post-nuptial sexual opportunity was greater than that of
a married Muganda, and often the latter would be compelled to check an
impulse which the former was able to gratify. In a coincident manner the
temples of the Bakitara played a less prominent part in the lives of the
people ; they were less well cared for, and their equipment was less elaborate,
than those of the Baganda. Moreover, every Kitara muchwezi did not pos-
sess a temple. 'The advance in religious ideas among the Baganda is great',
Canon Roscoe observes, 'though the clans still retain their veneration for
ghosts, and indeed raise them to a much higher position. The ritual of the
worship of the gods has become elaborate, and the huts of the priests
assume the dignity of temples. In these, together with the priests, reside
mediums, who are able to hold communications with the gods and to give
oracles, especially in cases of sickness. In the position of the national gods
we see a great change, since four gods are singled out to meet the particular
needs of the nation.'138

When rain was wanted, or came too much, the Banyankole relied solely
upon their rain-makers. The Bakitara had a weather-god, Munume, but
they did not have the same faith in him as in their rain-makers. The

5 8 SELECTED EVIDENCE §41

Baganda had no rain-makers ; their god of rain, Musoke, was one of the
four chief gods.

The methods which they adopted in their treatment of sickness have not
been described as fully as we could wish, and it is often doubtful which
native word is being translated as 'priest' or as 'medicine-man'. The
Bakitara seem to have neglected Lubanga, their god of healing, and at one
time the power of the priest (kabona ? mandwa ?) among the Baganda was
much greater than it was at a later date. The same words, e.g., mayembe
('fetish', though sometimes 'god') and mandwa ('medium', and often
'priest'), were used by all three tribes, but in different contexts and with a
different significance.

The Banyankole paid post-funeral attention only to the ghosts of recently
deceased men and then only when the medicine-man advised. The Bakitara
honoured some famous leaders who lived long ago. The Baganda had a
longer memory still ; they worshipped the ghosts of kings who are said to
have died nine hundred years ago.

Diagrammatically the facts can be stated thus :

SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM EAST AFRICA

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Wife's sexual qualities shared

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1

12

Banyankole .

M

+

+

+

+

+

#

+

Bakitara

D

+

+

T

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

Baganda

D

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

41. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Yoruba and the Ibibio. When we turn
to Western Africa the association of pre-nuptial chastity with the deistic
cultural condition is again illustrated. Once more, too, we find that those
regulations which compel an occasional continence were coincident with
the manistic cultural condition. I will compare the Yoruba and the
Ibibio.

Among the Yoruba, girls of the better classes were usually betrothed
when they were children. Virginity in a bride was of paramount importance,
and physical proof was demanded. A female member of the groom's family

§42 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM AFRICA AND AMERICA 59

displayed the tokens to the assembled company at the wedding feast, and
the cloth was carried to the parents of the bride who exposed it to the view
of every passer-by. If the primitiae were not forthcoming, there was con-
siderable trouble. The girl might be tied up and beaten, and forced to
name her lover ; her husband could repudiate her and demand the return
of the bride-price he had paid. No man was allowed to visit his future
bride except under supervision.139

It was different among the Ibibio. As a general rule, the Ibibio girl also
was betrothed when she was young ; she went into a fatting-house just after
her first menstruation or 'at the coming of the small breasts' ; but she was
allowed to visit her betrothed, and on these occasions sexual intercourse, if
desired, was taken for granted. If, however, any other man had sexual
relations with her, the man to whom she was betrothed had the right to
refuse to marry her and could demand the return of the money he had paid.
Whether he exercised these rights or not, he imposed a fine upon the girl's
lover.140 These regulations are similar to those which prevailed among the
inhabitants of New Britain (para. 27) ; the cultural behaviour of the two
societies was also similar.

42. Cultural Condition of the Ibibio and Yoruba. The Ibibio built no
temples, but they paid some post-funeral attention to their dead. 'With
every Ibibio', Mr. Talbot remarks, 'the worship of his ancestors is one of
the most important factors in his life. The dead, ekkpo y and the jujus are
almost equally revered'. Mr. Talbot, however, confines himself to the
descriptions of Ibibio 'beliefs', and neglects to describe the rites which were
carried out in honour of the dead, so it is impossible to say whether they
came under the heading of tendance or of cult. Ekkpo (singular or plural ?)
are said to have been represented by posts about a foot high; sometimes
in the case of a chief these were surmounted by a skull, and placed either
on the verandah or in a little shrine. We are not told any more details. It
seems that ghosts were not considered to be very powerful, for juju medicine
was sufficient to protect a man from their activities. The burning of the
corpse was also an effective method of preventing a ghost from doing any
mischief. The idea seems to have prevailed that the ghost was attached to
the corpse in some way or other, for the discovery of a hole in the ground
near a grave explained several mysterious thefts, the hole being regarded
as the road by which the ghost had travelled.141 We are told also that
a ghost which haunted a house could be exorcized by a 'diviner' or 'clair-
voyant'.142

It seems, then, that there was some tendance of the dead, but apparently,
too, some ghosts could be controlled by magic.

The control of the weather seems to have been in the hands of 'doctors'.
We are not told the native term, and we must infer that a rain-maker was
consulted in time of drought. His methods are not described.143 Nor are
those which were adopted in the treatment of sickness. The word 'doctor'

60 SELECTED EVIDENCE §42

is used to denote the wizard, the medicine-man, and sometimes also the
diviner; but in some places the abia idiong seems to have carried out a
diagnosis. Mr. Talbot calls him a 'magician-priest', but he does not define
what he means by the term. Apparently ghosts could cause sickness, but
the matter was easily remedied ; the people simply dug up the corpse and
burnt it. We are not told how they identified the culprit, or whether they
continued to dig up corpses and to burn them until the sick man recovered.144
Unfortunately, although the literature on the Ibibio is extensive, our know-
ledge of their practices is limited. I can do no more than record that they
were manistic.

The Yoruba, who insisted on pre-nuptial chastity, maintained a right
relation with orisha145 in special temples through the agency of a well-
organized priesthood. Some temples were situated in groves of trees ; that
of a tutelary deity of a town was usually built in the central square of the
town. The temples were circular huts with clay walls and grass, thatched
roofs. Almost invariably they contained images.146 I can find no descrip-
tion of any particular temple. The paraphernalia of Obatala, 'Lord of
Visions', 'Lord of the White Colour', 'Protector of the Town Gates', were
always painted white. The city of Ifa was sacred to Odudua, goddess of the
earth (though sometimes she is referred to as if she were masculine). Her
chief temple was at Ado. Elegba, the phallic divinity, had a noted temple
in a grove to the east of Badagry.147

The priests were organized into powerful orders, those of Ifa being of the
highest rank, those of Obatala and Odudua of the lowest. Each order had
several grades. The office is said to have been hereditary in the family, and
applicants underwent two or three years' novitiate in a seminary, after which
they were consecrated, and each man's name was changed. No priest could
serve any other god but his own. 'If a Yoruba priest of Shango were to
consult Ifa', Sir A. B. Ellis remarks, 'there would be as great a commotion
as there would be if a Roman Catholic priest were to attempt to preach in
a Baptist Chapel'.148

The priests of Ifa seem to have controlled all religious observances. It
was only through their agency that a man could learn what he must do to
please the gods, or what he had done to displease them. The priests of Ifa
were called babalawo, and alone possessed the power of divination. Among
their regular duties were (1) to announce the identity of the ancestral ghost
that was thought to animate a new-born child, (2) to make sacrifices on its
behalf to Ifa and Elegba, (3) to fix the date of a wedding and to give counsel
concerning a contemplated marriage, (4) to ascertain the cause of death
and to purify the survivors.149

I have been unable to discover what steps were taken by the Yoruba when
they needed rain.150 Their methods of treating sickness, too, have been
described in a rather cursory manner ; but the general nature of the practices
is clear. Application was made to Sanyin, a special medical orisha, 'god'.
We are not told if any temples were erected to Sanyin. His emblem was

§43 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM AFRICA AND AMERICA 61

a bird perched on an iron bar.151 The priests of If a were also consulted,
probably for the purpose of diagnosis. We are told that there were also
'good doctors' and 'bad doctors'. These terms, which are not defined, may
refer to medicine-men and wizards respectively.152 There is no mention of
exorcism, or of any illness being caused by ghosts. Very little, if any, atten-
tion was paid to ghosts.

This absence of 'ancestor-worship' is important. 'Ancestor- worship',
Mr. Talbot says, 'prevails less among the Yoruba than in any other tribe
in Southern Nigeria.' Sir A. B. Ellis states that attention to the dead had
been 'relegated to an inferior position in consequence of the greater power
and sway of the gods generally worshipped'.153 He further remarks: 'The
Yoruba has more independence of character than the Tshis, Gas or Ewes,
and is in all respects socially higher. Without saying that the Yorubas are
more intelligent we can safely say that their intellect is more cultivated.
The asperities of savage life are softened, and at the present day they are
certainly the leading people in West Africa.'154

43. Pre-nuptial Regulations and Cultural Condition of the Aztecs. A
limitation of sexual opportunity was accompanied by a higher culture also
among the inhabitants of North America. In the next chapter I shall dis-
cuss twenty-eight tribes of American Indians ; we shall find that the coinci-
dent facts are the same as those which we have already reviewed. Here
I wish to record the bare facts of Aztec life. Once more we have to record
the coincidence of a demand for the tokens of virginity with the deistic
cultural condition.

When an Aztec child was about five years of age, it was sent to the priests
to be educated ; from that time onwards a boy or girl lived in one of the
seminaries attached to the temples. The sons of the nobility were not
allowed to leave the temple except either to be married in accordance with
their fathers' wish, or to go to the wars. The place in which their sisters
were educated was guarded day and night by old men 'to prevent any
intercourse between the sexes'. 'The daughters of nobles who entered the
seminaries at an early age remained there until taken away by their parents
to be married.'155 In some places proof of a maiden's virginity was required
on the morning after the consummation of the marriage. If her chemise
was found to be stained with blood it was placed on a stick and exhibited
before the eyes of the passers-by ; a procession was formed and the relatives
danced their delight ; but if the chemise was unstained, tears and lamenta-
tions took the place of rejoicing ; abuse and insults were heaped upon the
bride, and her husband was at liberty to repudiate her.156

The organization of the Aztec church was very elaborate. Each god had
his own priests and 'perhaps the most venerable ecclesiastic' was the high
priest of Quetzalcoatl. 'The life led in the colleges or monasteries of either
sex was uncommonly rigid and austere.'157 Rain gods abounded and every
god in the Aztec pantheon was 'in some manner or other connected with

62 SELECTED EVIDENCE §44

the rain-cult'.158 Tlaloc (sometimes called the Tlalocs) was the chief rain-
god. Quetzalcoatl also was regarded in one of his phases as 'the deification
of a rain-making priest'. The priests of Tlaloc were second in rank of the
whole priesthood, and formed 'a large and composite body'.159 The people
possessed a great knowledge of herbal treatment, anatomy, and surgery.
All these things were in the hands of the priests. We are told that the
Asclepius of the Nahuan peoples 'was embodied in the persons of Oxomox-
oxipactonatl and Tlatecuinxochicaoaca, who were traditionally the inven-
tors of medicine and the first herbalists among the Toltecs'.160 I should
accept the statement more readily if their temple were described. So many
'beings' or 'powers' have been compared to Asclepius that even a slight
acquaintance with the literature compels a distrust of the parallel. Only
seldom do we find that the so-called 'god' was equipped with a temple
and a priesthood, like the Hellenic divinity; and before we can accept
the comparison we must have irrefragable evidence that this was the
case.

44. Summary and Chart. We have now examined the sexual opportunity
and cultural condition of eleven uncivilized societies, five Melanesian, five
African, and one Central American.

In our examination of the five Melanesian societies we found that they
ascended in the cultural scale if their pre-nuptial opportunity were limited,
the zoistic condition accompanying pre-nuptial sexual freedom, the manistic
condition accompanying a compulsory irregular or occasional continence,
the deistic condition accompanying pre-nuptial chastity. We found also
that the higher subdivision of the manistic condition (cult) was coincident
with a more stringent irregular or occasional continence, and that the lower
subdivision (tendance) accompanied those regulations which, although they
must be included in the same category, did not entail the same self-denial.
In Uganda we found three societies of the same racial extraction living in
a similar geographical environment which regulated the relations between
the sexes in three different ways. Their cultural condition also differed,
the manistic condition again accompanying a compulsory irregular or
occasional continence, the deistic condition accompanying a demand for the
tokens of virginity. Moreover, the elaboration of the means whereby a right
relation was maintained with the powers in the universe was seen to be
coincident with a more limited post-nuptial sexual opportunity. On turning
to Western Africa and Central America we again found that the people who
insisted on pre-nuptial chastity were in the deistic condition, and that the
manistic condition accompanied a compulsory irregular or occasional con-
tinence ; but none of these three societies was more than cursorily examined.
Our knowledge of the Ibibio, indeed, does not warrant a more exact
study.

Diagrammatically the customs and culture of the Ibibio, Yoruba, and
Aztecs may be stated thus :

§45

SELECTED EVIDENCE

63

SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM WEST AFRICA AND

CENTRAL AMERICA

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magic

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1

Ibibio ....

M

+

=F

+

+

T

_#

Yoruba ....

D

+

+

0

0

_?

+

+

j[\.ZtCCS • • • •

D

+

+ ?

+

0

0

0

+

+

I now propose to proceed westward and to compare three Polynesian
societies, the Maori, Samoans, and Tongans. The inhabitants of Polynesia
are in many ways the most fascinating people with whom we have to deal.
They had a long and interesting history before we knew them, and we must
remember that a society which was deistic at the time to which our informa-
tion refers may or may not have been deistic in the past, and that a society
described to us as manistic may have worshipped gods in temples in a
previous epoch. The facts at our disposal represent the cultural condition
of these three societies at about the end of the eighteenth century ; and we
may not assume that they apply to any other era.

C. SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM POLYNESIA

45. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Maori. Among the Maori, pre-nuptial
intercourse was usual, and by no means reprehensible. The sexual freedom
of the young men and women who were not betrothed was limited only
by the prohibited degrees, which were not extensive. It was common for
the female to make the first advances.161 A betrothed girl, however, was
taumou, and no man except her betrothed was permitted to have relations
with her. There was an old New Zealand proverb: 'Those on whom a
taumou has been placed, do not interfere with them.'162 Unfortunately
there is no evidence on which we can base any opinion in regard to the
prevalence of taumou.

It will be noticed that these pre-nuptial regulations afforded to the Maori
the same sexual opportunity as was enjoyed by the New Britons (para. 27),
who employed the word webat under those circumstances in which the
Maori used taumou, and by the Ibibio of Southern Nigeria (para. 41),

64 SELECTED EVIDENCE §46

whose customs were similar but have not been so minutely reported. We
shall see that the cultural condition of the Maori conformed to the same
pattern as that of the other two societies whose identical position in the
cultural scale we have already noted.

46. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Samoans. The Samoans had different
customs. At a Samoan wedding there was a public or private demand for
the tokens of virginity. The marriage of a chief's daughter took place in
the village square before the assembled people; her virginity was tested
publicly by the chief (presumably her own father) who inserted two fingers
into her vulva. The Samoan name for this rite was o le auanganga. The
crowd eagerly awaited the trickling of the blood, which was greeted
with prolonged cheers. If, however, the girl failed to pass the test, her
father and her brothers would rush upon her with clubs and 'despatch
her in an instant'. 'Every memorial of her life was destroyed and ab-
horred, her very name forgotten from the traditions of the tribe.'163 The
marriage ceremonies of the common people, Turner tells us, 'passed off
in the house, and with less display, but the same obscene form was gone
through'.164

Apparently, however, it would be a mistake to conclude that the young
people were actually as continent as these customs indicate. Unfortunately,
the reluctance with which the early missionaries speak of sexual conduct,
and their anxiety to present the sexual behaviour of pagan societies in as
unfavourable a light as possible, is reflected throughout the literature.
Indeed the prevailing customs and institutions have been described in such
vague terms that sometimes there is great doubt concerning the exact
meaning of the reports. Turner remarks: 'Chastity was ostensibly cul-
tivated by both sexes, but it was more of a name than a reality. From their
childhood their ears were familiar with the most obscene conversation, and
as a whole family, to some extent, herded together, immorality was the
natural and prevalent consequence. There were exceptions, especially
among the daughters of persons of rank, but they were the exceptions, not
the rule.'165

It is difficult to assess the value of such a statement. 'Chastity' is a
word which can be variously interpreted. In the reports concerning
the Samoans it is employed as a synonym for 'continence', 'celibacy',
and even 'morality', and the missionaries had such a horror of divorce
that often, indeed usually, they refer to post-nuptial conduct when they
employ the term. Nor are modern writers more careful. Miss Mead
discusses the sexual conduct of the Samoan girls at the present day, and
observes that 'Christianity has introduced a moral premium on chastity'.
'The Samoans', she adds, 'regard this attitude with reverent but com-
plete scepticism, and the concept of celibacy is absolutely meaningless
to them.'166

Doubtless, if the early Christians tried to persuade the Samoans of the

§47 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM POLYNESIA 65

sinful nature of all sexual activity, they were speaking in a manner which
was 'absolutely meaningless' to a Samoan, and the Samoans' experience of
white men may have caused them to receive such opinions 'with complete
scepticism' ; and since celibacy may have been upheld as a most desirable
condition, Christianity may be said to have introduced 'a moral premium
on chastity' ; but we cannot conclude that Christianity therefore introduced
the idea of continence among a people who had previously indulged their
instincts as and when they were inclined. Yet this is what Miss Mead
implies in the first sentence I have quoted, and her use of the word 'chastity'
is responsible for a confusion which becomes plain only when the whole
passage has been read and re-read.

The terrible punishments which were meted out to frail young women
in Samoa must have caused them to place many a check upon their impulses,
and the existence of the virginity test proves that pre-nuptial chastity
existed among them in the sense in which the phrase is used in this treatise.
At the same time, in the passage above quoted, Turner definitely mentions
'daughters', and it is plain that in spite of his uncertain phraseology (obscene
conversation does not deflower a maid) he is referring in his use of the
word 'chastity' to pre-nuptial as well as to post-nuptial conduct. I do not
regard his remarks, however, as indicating anything more than that the
Samoans did not live up to the reputation which he himself had given them
in other passages. On the whole we must conclude, I think, that although
the demand for the tokens was still both regular and universal when first
the white men arrived, the stringency of Samoan sexual regulations was
being relaxed in the years immediately prior to their arrival.

47. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Tongans. Professor Westermarck has
cited the Tongans in the same chapter of the same book both as an example
of a society that demanded pre-nuptial chastity and as an example of one
that allowed free pre-nuptial intercourse.167 And unless a rigid definition
is placed on the word 'chastity', and great care taken to ascertain whether
the writer is referring to pre-nuptial or post-nuptial conduct, the appro-
priate literature certainly appears to contain many. contradictions. Professor
Westermarck, however, has not quoted all the available authorities; and
whereas the statements which are said to support the latter opinion are of
a vague and indefinite character, the evidence for pre-nuptial chastity is
abundant and clear. Yet among the Tongans, as well as among the
Samoans, an erstwhile rigidity appears to have been relaxed just before
the white man arrived in the Friendly Islands.

Sir Basil Thomson remarks that 'in Tonga the nuptial mat was paraded
from house to house'.168 This is the only passage to which Professor Wester-
marck refers in connexion with pre-nuptial chastity. Other authorities,
however, confirm the somewhat attenuated report. According to Vason,
who lived as a native on the islands for some years after he had arrived in
the ship Duff with the other members of the first mission, the young women

66 SELECTED EVIDENCE §48

of the better classes 'pride themselves on their virginity, which they call
taihenee; and as the token and ornament of that state, their hair is suffered
to remain uncut before marriage'. Throughout his book Vason seems to
take it for granted that the girls were continent until their wedding day;
he clearly regarded virginity as the normal condition of a pagan bride.
Indeed he mentions the case of a girl who was not married until she was
twenty-three years old. She was expected to be a virgin and did not dis-
appoint her guardians.169

Mr. Collacott is even more explicit. After describing the details of a
marriage ceremony, he remarks: 'One other ceremony remains, that con-
nected with the bride's virginity. The man who has married a maiden
prepares a large basket of food which he presents to her parents. He also
gives them the mat bearing the sign of her virginity.'170 It is clear, then, that
if the tokens were available, the fact was celebrated; and the practice of
sending the nuptial mat to the bride's parents suggests that the husband
whose wife was not a maiden and who took no action in the matter had
overlooked something which at one time every one had regarded as impor-
tant and which some people still emphasized. Mr. Collacott continues:
'Elderly female relatives sleep with the newly married, and if an old woman
interested in the maiden suspects that her credentials are not as sound as
they should be, she may preserve her reputation by a little pious fraud.'171
This clinches the matter. The fact that the 'pious fraud' was practised
shows that the austere demands of pagan society were not always satisfied
(the influence of Christianity would abolish the custom, not reduce it to
an absurdity) ; but there would have been no need to practise the fraud at
all if at one time the girl's virginity had not been an item of vital importance.

The conclusion that the stringency of the sexual regulations was being
relaxed before the white missionaries arrived also follows from Mariner's
account of these islands which was edited, and apparently written, by John
Martin. All the remarks concerning Tongan 'morality' apply more par-
ticularly to post-nuptial conduct ; but Mariner takes pains to point out the
difference between Tongan theory and Tongan practice, a difference which
George Vason also emphasizes.172 The Tongans, therefore, must be regarded
as having demanded pre-nuptial chastity, but in their case a tendency to
depart from ancient custom seems to have been greater than in the case
of the Samoans.

48. The Revolution in Hawaii. Before describing the cultural condition
of these three Polynesian societies it is convenient to emphasize the changing
character of Polynesian culture. The best example of the revolution which
was taking place in some of the Polynesian islands just at the time when the
white men discovered their existence comes from Hawaii. So complete was
the downfall of the old order in Hawaii during the reign of Riho-riho
(Liho-liho), that it is doubtful if we shall ever know the precise conditions
which prevailed before that king put an end to the old ceremonies and

§49 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM POLYNESIA 67

customs. When the first missionaries arrived in 1820 the people are said to
have had no religion at all; Riho-riho had abolished it in the previous
autumn. The marae had been destroyed, the priesthood abolished, the
'idols' overthrown.

Curiously enough, the vexed question of the relations between the sexes
was the occasion of the revolution. Riho-riho was debarred by tapu from
eating with or from the same dish as the women. One day, at a public
feast, he went and sat among them and joined in their repast : 'The tapu
is broken', went the cry; and the old days were done. But even before this
remarkable incident had occurred there had been in private many a
departure from ancient custom, and the king was only abolishing, in a
formal and public manner, a tradition which had long been discarded in
private. 'Many chiefs', we are told, 'had been impious enough to eat at
the same board and of the same food as their wives before the caste of sex
had been broken by Riho-riho.'173

The state of flux into which Hawaiian affairs had been reduced at a time
previous to that to which our information applies makes it impossible for
me to include them in my list of societies concerning which our knowledge
is adequate and reliable; but the events which I have just described
encourage me to think that I am not wrong when I suggest that both the
Samoans and the Tongans were departing from their old customs. When
discussing the cultural condition of the Polynesians we must describe it
as it is reported to us, but he would be a rash man who opined that Poly-
nesian culture was a fixed phenomenon. Whatever may have been their
cultural condition in a past age, the Maori, when first we knew them, were
manistic. The Samoans and Tongans were deistic.

49. Cultural Condition of the Maori. The Maori built no temples ;174 but
they paid some kind of attention to the ghosts of their ancestors which may
be termed a nascent tendance. Information, however, concerning the rites
is sadly lacking. The most explicit statement which I can find is this: 'If
one met a kehua, ghost, you had only to offer it some cooked food and it
would instantly disappear, for ghosts disliked cooked food.' It is not very
helpful. It seems to be clear that a kehua could be malevolent, but in that
case its activities could be controlled by charms and incantations; and as
a rule the recital of the proper incantations at the funeral was regarded as
a sufficient protection against future ravages.175 We are told that the family
dead were placated, but no details are available concerning the method of
placation. 'The general notion about ghosts was that of indistinctness.'176
Figures of wood and stone were manufactured, and these are said to have
represented ancestors;177 but the rites which were carried out in their
connexion have been reported only scantily. Perhaps the practices were
equally uncertain.

The power which manifested itself in the universe was atua. The word
has been variously translated, and I have recited already (para. 5) some of

68 SELECTED EVIDENCE §49

the meanings which have been attached to it. Others abound. I cannot
think that the word has, or can have, any single English equivalent. Accord-
ing to Colenso, whose unfinished lexicon proves him to have been the
greatest authority on the Maori language, the Maori applied the word to
any strange or unaccountable phenomenon ; to anything ugly or disagree-
able ; to any uncommon animal or common animal of unusual power ; to
any artificial production, or secretly powerful thing, beyond Maori compre-
hension, such as a watch, magnet, or compass; to any sickness, disease, or
pain (of a strange, unaccountable character?); to any destroying cause,
animal, or thing ; and to any covetous, ill-natured person.178 The word was
applied also to the white man and to the various articles of his equipment.179
It is reasonable to suppose that all these things, and many others, contained
in the eyes of the Maori some common quality ; and yet our authorities have
translated atua as 'spirit', 'demon', 'god', 'ghost', 'idol', 'deified spirits of
ancestors' in the plural of these terms, and in other ways.180 It is easy to
see how a white visitor, accustomed to expressing his thoughts in terms of
'spirits' and 'gods', would be misled by the native use of the word, and we
can understand the difficulties which he would experience in distinguishing
between the meaning of the word and the multifarious phenomena to which
the natives applied it ; but it is doubtful if this plea excuses the complete
absence of scholarship which characterizes the reports. Maori ethnography
is the example par excellence of the uncertainties and misunderstandings
which, in my view, must accompany any attempt to divorce the belief from
the rite.

A man who possessed this strange quality (for 'quality' seems to be the
word by which atua can be best described) was said to be the waka, or
kaupapa, 'vessel', or 'carrier', of atua.1*1 A right relation was maintained
with atua by means of offerings. Unfortunately, the available descriptions
of these rites are few and vague. Apparently any one could make his own
offering, but as a rule the ceremony was carried out by a tohunga at a tuahu,
the character of the offering depending on the nature of the occasion.182
Such occasions were war, cultivation, sickness, witchcraft, fishing, fowling,
&c. Thus, when a man went fishing, 'he might cast aside the first fish as
an offering; a lad's first eel or first bird was similarly devoted, and first-
fruits were deposited at a tuahu'.1*3 The tuahu was not a building of any
kind. It was simply a secluded spot or 'small open space in a bush or grove',
chosen by a tohunga. Usually a tuahu was allowed to remain in its natural
state, but sometimes a rough unworked stone, or several such stones, was
placed as a mark.1** Occasionally a small rough platform, tiepa, was erected,
on which offerings were placed.185 The local stream, spring, or pond also
was used as a place of offering, and then was called wai tapu.lS6

The treatment of a sickness which did not yield to the simple remedies
which were part of the common stock of Maori knowledge187 was in the
hands of the tohunga. Literally the word meant 'a skilled person',188 the
tohunga consulted in cases of affliction being a man skilled in karakia,

§5o SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM POLYNESIA 69

incantations.189 We are informed that the Maori adopted no other method
of cure than the recital of karakia. Yet I find that the word takutaku has
been translated 'exorcism'.190 The power of a karakia depended on the
mana of the person by whom it was pronounced.191 As would be expected
from the literal meaning of the word, a tohunga occupied himself with many
things: 'He could restrain the malignance of evil spirits, destroy the
power of witchcraft and hold converse with the gods: he could likewise
enchant, bewitch, destroy his enemy by his spells and control the power of
nature.'192 In this passage the same Maori word, atua, has been translated
both as 'evil spirits' and as 'gods'.

A tohunga also controlled all forms of sky-activity. By the power of
karakia, incantations, he changed the course of the sun and affected its
power, created floods or caused them to subside, raised or dispersed the
wind, quelled a storm, calmed the ocean, and lengthened or shortened the
day.193 All forms of magic art were performed by a tohunga, who could act
as wizard, medicine-man, weather-monger, or diviner.194

50. Cultural Condition of the Samoans. The Samoans, on the other hand,
erected temples in which they maintained a right relation with aitu, the
power which manifested itself in the universe. Thus they were in the
deistic cultural condition.

The word aitu has been variously translated as 'spirit', 'god', 'ghost', and
in other ways, and seems to have been applied to anything beyond Samoan
comprehension.195 The Samoan term for a temple was faleaitu, 'house of
aitu9. We are told that some temples were also called malumalu, 'residence
of aitu\ but a malumalu was a place where aitu was manifest, such as a
house or tree, rather than the house which was erected in order that a right
relation with aitu might be maintained.196 The temples (faleaitu) were built
on platforms and were usually round or elliptic in shape. Their height is
said to have varied according to the respect in which the aitu was held.
We possess a detailed description of one such building, probably the last
specimen which survived. It had a stone-paved floor, and its stone roof
was supported by stone columns.197 The man, or priest, through whose
agency aitu was approached, was called taula-aitu, 'anchor of aitu\ A
taula-aitu seems to have belonged to one of four classes, according to the
status of the aitu which he served.198 He displayed the usual symptoms of
'possession' when he uttered oracles, such communications being given
both in the temple and elsewhere. There does not appear to have been any
priestly order; members of the profession underwent no special training.199

Dr. Brown says that 'traces of ancestor- worship were few and indistinct ;
what appears certain is that ancestor-worship had gradually given place to
the worship of a superior order of supernatural beings'.200 Some practices
are reported which, if they had been observed elsewhere, e.g. in Africa,
might have been reported as 'ancestor- worship', but I can find no descrip-
tion of any regular and universal rite which can be definitely included either

70 SELECTED EVIDENCE §51

as tendance or as cult.201 The Samoan term for ancestors (but not ghosts)
seems to have been tuprfaga.202

The methods by which the men of Samoa tried to control the weather
were various : sometimes they went to a temple, at other times they indulged
in practices which imply a faith in the power of human beings to control
the elements without divine assistance.203 In a similar way, the sick were
sometimes carried to the temple of an aitu who enjoyed a reputation for
the performance of miraculous cures; at other times the taula-aituy 'priest',
would treat the patient in a manner that can only be described as pure
magic.204

51. Cultural Condition of the Tongans. The inhabitants of the Friendly
Islands erected special 'god-houses', or temples, the native term for which
seems to have been fale-tapu, 'sacred house', or fale-lotu, 'house of sup-
plication'.205 'The houses', Mariner says, 'are built in the usual style, but
generally somewhat more care is taken, both in building them and keeping
them in good order, decorating their enclosure with flowers, &c.'206 In
these buildings a right relation was maintained with otua, or some present
or past manifestation of otua.201 The Tongans, therefore, were in the
deistic cultural condition.

All otua were known by special names which in all probability had once
been borne by living Tongans, and it would not be out of harmony with
the available evidence if we concluded that the foundations of Tongan cul-
ture were laid in 'ancestor-worship'; but although some of our authorities
state that the graveside of a dead man was a place of supplication, the
occasions of such approach, and the methods which were adopted, have
not been described in detail. I can find no mention in the appropriate
literature of any rite which can be definitely classed as tendance or as cult.2oS

The native term for priest was taula, or, more accurately, taula-otua.
Every taula-otua had an assistant, or attendant, feao, who presented the
supplicants and kept the temple in good order.209 A taula-otua underwent
no special training, nor was there any organized priestly order. The man
simply displayed the usual symptoms of 'possession', and this appears
to have been his only qualification.210

When the Tongans desired a change in the weather, they went to a
temple and sought the favour of some otua. The inhabitants of different
districts relied on different gods to perform this miracle, and sometimes
a god, e.g. Aloalo, was approached, not because the people were suffering
from inclement and unfavourable weather, but with a request that he
would preserve its seasonable character. Rain-making magicians are not
mentioned by any of our authorities, who describe the rain-gods at some
length.211

All forms of sickness and disease were ascribed to otuay or to some present
or past manifestation of otua. When a man was ill he went to a temple
and consulted a priest. No other method of treatment is mentioned.

§52 SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM POLYNESIA 71

Sometimes a patient was taken from one sacred house to another before he
arrived at the sacred house of the particular otua who was responsible for
his affliction.212

52. Summary and Chart. Such were the essential features of Maori,
Samoan, and Tongan culture. The Samoans and Tongans differed from
the Maori in erecting temples wherein they maintained a right relation
with the powers in the universe. When a Tongan was ill he was taken to
such a sacred house. A sick Samoan sometimes went to a temple, at other
times he was attended by a priest who invoked the power of his god, but
whose healing power does not always appear to have been dependent on
divine assistance. A Maori tohunga relied exclusively on his karakia,
incantations.

The Maori thought that they could control the elements by means of
magic words. The Tongans, when they were afflicted by unfavourable
weather, approached an otua in his temple through the agency of the
taula-otua, priest. The methods adopted under similar circumstances by
the Samoans must be placed in the cultural scale in a position half-way
between those of the Maori and Tongans.

The cultural condition of the three Polynesian societies may be stated
diagrammatically thus :

SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM POLYNESIA

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment

of
affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Maori ....

M

+

T

+

+

T

_#

Samoans ....

D

+

+

+

+

?

+

+

Tongans ....

D

_ ?

+

+

?

+

+

The Samoans and the Tongans demanded the tokens of virginity, and
their cultural condition conformed to the same pattern as that of those
Melanesian, African, and American societies which had adopted the same
custom. The Maori, on the other hand, allowed a girl who had not been
betrothed to indulge in free pre-nuptial intercourse, a betrothed girl,
taumou, being expected to confine her sexual qualities to her betrothed.
The cultural behaviour of the Maori differed from that of the Samoans

72 SELECTED EVIDENCE §53

and the Tongans, and was similar to that of those Melanesian and
African societies whose pre-nuptial regulations afforded a similar sexual
opportunity.

Thus it is becoming clear that (1) in a similar geographical environment
a higher or lower cultural condition accompanies a lesser or a greater sexual
opportunity, (2) in different geographical environments a similar cultural
condition accompanies a similar sexual opportunity.

D. THE NAGA TRIBES OF ASSAM AND THE PALAEO-

SIBERIANS

The remaining evidence to be submitted in this chapter will illustrate
the difficulties which attend any attempt to classify uncivilized societies
according to their 'beliefs'.

We are fortunate enough to possess some detailed information concerning
four tribes which inhabited the Naga Hills of Assam, the Ao, Angami,
Sema, and Lhota Nagas.213 A varying sexual opportunity seems to have
been afforded to their members; their cultural condition also is said to
have differed ; but the facts have been so stated that we can form no definite
opinion concerning the details of the variation.

Three Palaeo- Siberian societies also, Chukchee, Koryak, and Yukaghir,
have been the subject of detailed inquiry, but instead of describing the
social and cultural condition of these people in the simplest possible
manner our observers, as the result of their researches, have formulated
a theory in regard to the evolution of 'primitive' culture in general, and
have used the data which they have collected to illustrate the truth of
those theories.

If I were to omit these seven societies from my survey, I should lay
myself open to the charge that I had excluded a number of uncivilized
societies concerning which our information is considered by some scholars
to be adequate and reliable. Their inclusion is advisable for this reason
alone; but I fear it will merely reveal the difficulties that arise when
'beliefs' are described instead of rites, and when certain English words,
possessing no single precise meaning, are employed as technical terms.

53. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Ao, Angami, Sema, and Lhota Nagas.
Among the Aos sexual intercourse before marriage was usual. Ordinarily
a girl was 'pretty free with her favours', and 'probably' had a series of
lovers, usually one at a time.214 The Semas, however, did not allow 'that
freedom of sexual intercourse usual to unmarried girls in most Naga
tribes'.

The care that was taken of the Sema girl, Dr. Hutton says, was 'partly
due to the desire not to damage her value in the marriage market', but he
does not tell us what happened to her if she escaped the vigilant eye of her

§53 NAGA TRIBES OF ASSAM AND THE PALAEO-SIBERIANS 73

parents. I can find no mention of any punishment. Dr. Hutton concen-
trates his attention on sexual behaviour and neglects to describe the sexual
regulations, and it is sometimes difficult to know whether he is stating a
fact or making an inference. It is possible that he makes an inference
when he states that a girl's value in the marriage market was reduced if she
had indulged in sexual intercourse, for he proceeds to add that 'the fine
for an adultery with a girl of position is much higher than that for a similar
affair with a daughter of a man of none'. Are we to understand that the
parents of a girl invariably fined the man when the fact of their intercourse
was discovered ? Or did this apply only to betrothed girls ? If the fine were
an established institution, my submission would be that the insistence on
its payment would result in a man's checking a desire which, if no fine
would be incurred, he would have satisfied ; but the above-quoted sentence
is scanty evidence on which to base such an opinion, and I can find no
other reference to the fine which is mentioned thus casually. Moreover, if
the girl's marriage price were affected by the fact of her intercourse, is it
not possible that the loss which her parents thereby sustained would be
balanced by the fine which they may have received ? If we are to accept the
cupidity of the parents as the cause of her alleged continence, we must
make sure that they lost by their daughter's frailty; and this is just the
point which is not clear.

If I am right in suspecting that Dr. Hutton's suggestion concerning the
girl's market value is an inference rather than a fact, then his opinion that
a Sema girl was more continent than an Ao girl may be derived from his
observation of their sexual behaviour rather than from his knowledge of
their sexual regulations. This, indeed, seems to be the case, for after noting
the difference between the tribes he adds: 'This is not to say that the
unmarried Sema girl is invariably chaste, but she is a good deal more so
than the girl of any neighbouring tribe.' From this passage it is not clear
whether a Sema refrained from intercourse because she was not so inclined
or whether she was compelled to contain herself because her elders desired
it. The report concerning the marriage price suggests that the latter reason
was the real one, but I can find no record of any punishment being meted
out to a girl who indulged; and, since the whole object of this inquiry is
to discover whether the social regulations did or did not prevent a girl
from satisfying her impulses as and when she was so inclined, it is vital
that definite information on this point should be forthcoming.

I should conjecture (and it is a mere conjecture) that the Semas insisted
on their betrothed girls confining their sexual qualities to their betrothed,
and that any man who had any intercourse with the betrothed of another
man was fined, her future husband demanding that the bride-price be
reduced by a similar amount. Such customs would fit the apparent facts,
but we are not told that this was the case, and we have no right to come
to any conclusion which does not follow from the facts as they have been
reported.215

74 SELECTED EVIDENCE §54

Dr. Hutton is even less precise in his description of Angami practices.
'The Angami woman before marriage', he says, 'is given a great deal of
liberty, though the extent to which she takes advantage of this has possibly
been exaggerated.' As the monographs on the Semas and the Angamis
were published in the same year, this insistence on Angami sexual behaviour
suggests that our author may have concerned himself exclusively with
Sema sexual behaviour also and neglected to study the Sema sexual
regulations. Dr. Hutton proceeds: 'While the Ao girl is bound to admit
men to the girls' house at night, chastity before marriage prevails among the
Semas where the marriage price of a girl is reduced at least 50 per cent,
by the fact of her having had an intrigue. The Angamis would seem to fall
somewhere between the Aos and the Semas.'216

The evidence on which the three societies are placed in an ascending
scale in this remarkable passage is not related. It is impossible to accept
the statement that 'chastity before marriage prevailed among the Semas',
for in other passages (already quoted) we are told that the Sema girls were
not pre-nuptially chaste; and I confess to some lack of confidence in an
observer who can make such a definite statement on grounds which he
must have known were insecure. It is plain that the Sema girl was not
compelled to be a virgin when she married ; it is also plain that she was not
chaste in any exact sense of the word ; yet it would be possible to extract
the above phrase from the text of Dr. Hutton's monograph in order to
show the existence of a state of affairs which a more detailed acquaintance
with the facts would prove to be false.

On the whole I would conclude that the sexual opportunity enjoyed
by the Aos and the Angamis was the same, and that the sexual opportunity
of the Semas was less than that of the other two tribes. The degree of
limitation among the Semas, however, cannot be assessed. It is quite
impossible to say what the Lhota regulations were.217

54. Cultural Condition of the Ao, Angami, Sema, and Lhota Nagas. The
inhabitants of the Naga Hills did not erect special buildings in which they
maintained a right relation with the power which manifested itself in the
universe. Therefore they were not in the deistic cultural condition.

This is the one certain fact which emerges from a study of the literature.
No other question can be answered with confidence. Mr. J. P. Mills and
Dr. J. H. Hutton, who are our authorities on the culture of these tribes,
are disciples of Sir E. B. Tylor and Sir James Frazer, and it is plain that
the course of their inquiries (one feels that they inquired rather than
observed) was influenced, if not suggested, by their acquaintance with the
published works of these two great anthropologists. For the reasons which
I have stated (para. 4) I am unable to accept the word 'animistic' as an
accurate or convenient classification of uncivilized culture ; thus my study
of these monographs is considerably embarrassed. 'What are these spirits
whose goodwill the Ao so untiringly seeks?' asks Mr. Mills. He assumes

§54 NAGA TRIBES OF ASSAM AND THE PALAEO-SIBERIANS 75

that we shall accept without question his use of the words 'spirits',
'goodwill', and 'seeks'; but I am by no means persuaded that they do
not express his inferences rather than the facts. Among the Angamis,
Dr. Hutton observes, there is no 'very clear distinction between magical
and religious rites'; again, 'religious ceremonies, as practised by the
Semas, are propitiatory rather than magical'. I am at a loss to understand
what meaning can be attached to these announcements. The words
'magical', 'religious', and 'propitiatory' have not yet been defined in the
rigid manner which is essential to a scientific classification, and even
if Dr. Hutton was clear in his own mind concerning the exact meaning
which he attached to them, I have still less faith in the certainty of the
evidence by means of which he places the Angamis and the Semas in
different categories. 'The religion of the Lhota', says Mr. Mills, 'is of that
type which is vaguely termed Animism.' The term is vague indeed, but
would Mr. Mills's account of Lhota customs and practices have been
precisely as he wrote it if his mind had not been influenced by the hypo-
thesis of Animism?218

The power which manifested itself in the universe seems to have been
tsungrem (Ao),219 terhoma (Angami),220 and teghami (Sema).221 The reports
concerning the Lhotas have been expressed less definitely.222 All these
words, and others also, have been variously translated 'spirit', 'god',
'deity', or 'godling', or by the plural of these terms. If a study of Naga
social regulations had revealed the fact that an equal sexual opportunity
was afforded to the members of all tribes, the difficulty of separating the
inferences from the facts in regard to their culture would have caused me
to exclude the Naga tribes from this treatise ; but as it is possible that the
sexual opportunity of the Sema was less than that of the Ao and of the
Angami, their inclusion is vital and necessary. When, however, we ask
if they carried out any post-funeral rites in honour of their dead, and, if
so, when, where, and through what agency, it is impossible to obtain
a definite answer.

Among the Semas there may have existed some rites of the same nature
as those to which I have previously applied the term 'nascent tendance'.
The Semas appear to have considered that the kitimi ('ghost', but the
translation is uncertain) remained for three days ( ?) in the neighbourhood
of the house. Sometimes steps may have been taken to retain it for a longer
period. The reason is obscure; and although the question of food in
connexion with a ghost is important, we are not told whether or not any
food was placed in the house. It seems, however, that a returning warrior
used to throw aside a piece of meat for the ghosts of the men he had slain.
Apparently, the 'spirits of the dead' {kitimi) were regarded also as being
responsible for death. Whether, as seems to have been the case, this opinion
was the Naga method of describing a tiresome and significant episode
which these Nagas regarded as a regrettable part of every man's life, or
whether a man's death was thought to be due to kitimi anger, which might

76 SELECTED EVIDENCE §54

be appeased, is not clear. I can find no mention of any rite which was
carried out in order to appease kitimi anger, and the phrase 'responsible
for death', therefore, may be an over-statement of a vague conception.
Yet the placing of meat for the benefit of ghosts of dead enemies is a
definite action which suggests that unless the needs of the ghost were
satisfied, misfortune would ensue.223

Concerning the Angamis, we are told that the condition of a man after
he is dead is a matter concerning which 'the average Angami troubles his
head very little'. The only approach to a post-funeral rite which I can
find is this: 'A dead man's drinking-cup is frequently, if not usually, hung
up where he usually kept it filled with liquor, in case he may return for
refreshment, and in some cases the horn is occasionally refilled, until the
memory of the dead has passed away.' In that sentence it is difficult to
separate the inference from the fact. I am uncertain whether the memory
qua memory of the dead would cause the filling of the cup, but in view of
the apparent rarity (yet implied frequency) of the filling the point is
unimportant. At any rate, I doubt if this slight indication can be accepted
as evidence of tendance, for the filling of the cup was not a duty which
the living owed to the dead. Moreover, Dr. Hutton emphasizes the fact
that the Angami 'neither knows nor cares' what happened after death to
himself or to any one else.224

When we turn to the Aos, the difficulties increase, and may be insuper-
able. Dr. Hutton has added an abundance of footnotes to Mr. Mills's
monograph in one of which he refers to his own suggestion that 'in the
Naga Hills' there was 'an intimate connexion between the dead and the
fertility of the soil'. The suggestion was made in a small paper which he
wrote in 1923 after he had inspected some carved monoliths at Jumuguri,
Assam, and in which he makes an attempt to explain 'the connexion
between stones set up to perpetuate the memory of the dead and the stones
erected to assist the fertilizing functions of nature'. This connexion, he
considers, 'becomes clear enough, if the souls of the dead are themselves
identified or confused with the reproductive powers of nature'.

I am not concerned with the merit of this conjecture. In some societies
the same native word has been translated 'nature-spirits' and 'spirits of the
dead'. Many examples of this will be given in the next chapter. Since
the natives denoted by the same word those phenomena which we dis-
tinguish by the words 'spirits' and 'ghosts', it is clear that there must
have been, in their opinion, a 'connexion' between them. Indeed, I protest
against the translation which has introduced the distinction. In the opinion
of such people there was no distinction at all between 'spirits' and 'ghosts' ;
the dual nature of the conception has been created by our translations.
Dr. Hutton does not quote the native words which he translates 'the dead',
'spirits', 'fertilizing functions of nature', &c, and so I cannot tell if these
observations apply to the people he is discussing. I have mentioned the
matter because, in the note which I have quoted, he seems to regard the

§54 NAGA TRIBES OF ASSAM AND THE PALAEO-SIBERIANS 77

connexion between the Dead and Fertility as a demonstrated fact, and to
consider that the idea prevailed among all the tribes which lived in the Naga
Hills. It is, therefore, a noteworthy fact that in the monographs on the
Angami, Sema, and Lhota Nagas, which were written before Dr. Hutton
went to Jumuguri, there is no mention of any rite or 'belief which could be
interpreted as even implying that there was any 'connexion' between the
Dead and Fertility. So when, in a monograph on the Aos, Dr. Hutton adds
a note to Mr. Mills's text that 'as he has endeavoured to show elsewhere'
there was an 'intimate connexion in the Naga Hills between the dead and
the fertility of the soil', we must study the text with the more care because
the monograph concerning the Aos was written after the visit to Jumuguri.
Mr. Mills states categorically that 'it is held by all very strongly that the
abundance or failure of the crops depends largely on the favour of the dead',
but I have been unable to find the evidence that caused him to arrive at
that conclusion. Most of the references to the alleged connexion between
the dead and fertility have been written by Dr. Hutton. I can find no
mention of any rite which would indicate that tendance or cult was a
cultural phenomenon among the Aos.225

The rainfall seems to have been adequate in the Naga Hills and the
control of the weather was probably of little moment.226 The methods
which were adopted in cases of sickness and affliction conformed to the
same pattern throughout the hills: the 'medicine-man' of the Ao,227 the
Sema thumomi228 and the Angami themuma22* acted as wizard, medicine-
man, or diviner. These practitioners seem to have operated by the power
of tsungrem, teghami, and terhoma. The same remarks apply also to the
Lhota ratsen, who was 'possessed' by potso2*0 Nothing more than this
can be safely said, for the long and detailed discussion of magical rites and
practices has been much confused by the endeavours which our authorities
have made to interpret rather than to describe. Moreover, the use of
a number of different English words— 'god', 'gods', 'deity', 'deities',
'spirit', 'spirits', 'evil spirits'— to denote tsungrem, terhoma, teghami, and
other words, does not assist the elucidation of the facts.

Yet, in Dr. Hutton's opinion, there was some difference between the
cultural condition of the Semas on the one hand and of the Aos and
Angamis on the other hand, for he considers that whereas among the former
there was no distinction between 'magical' and 'religious' rites, 'religious
ceremonies as practised by the Semas are propitiatory rather than magical ;
direct magic seems to have more or less disappeared from the regular
ceremonies'. The facts are not stated on which this opinion was based,
and even if we assume that Dr. Hutton is using the words 'magical' and
'religious' in the sense in which his master, Sir James Frazer, uses them,
the word 'propitiatory' still lacks exact meaning. Moreover, even if this
word also were rigidly defined, there would still remain the insuperable
difficulty concerning the origin of the information. I am unable to under-
stand how we can rely, as a basis of research, upon any facts other than the

78 SELECTED EVIDENCE §55

place, occasion, and agency of the rites, and, though I do not doubt that
Dr. Hutton had good reasons for his opinion, I must pass over the evidence.
It is, however, a reluctant sacrifice, for the evidence has been patiently
and laboriously collected, and conveniently published. It is interesting
to know that the society which may have afforded a lesser sexual oppor-
tunity to its members occupied, according to the definitions which other
anthropologists adopt, a position in the cultural scale higher than that of
the other societies which extended a greater sexual opportunity ; but I am
reluctant to cite the phenomenon as a fact, for I am convinced that we can
classify uncivilized peoples accurately only according to their rites. A long
and careful study of these monographs has deepened the conviction.

55. Pre-nuptial Regulations of the Palaeo- Siberians. 231 Sir James Frazer
has remarked: 'The relations between the sexes among the Koryak are
much stricter and, judged by our standards, more moral than among the
Chukchee and other neighbouring tribes. Girls are expected to remain
chaste before marriage and the custom is on the whole observed. It is
deemed shameful if a girl is found with child before marriage. Young men
will not serve for such a frail one. She is sent away into the wilderness to
bring forth in pain and sorrow the fruit of her sin ; and she kills the poor
babe and buries it in the earth or in the snow.'232 We are told also that the
Koryak differed from the other tribes in exhibiting a 'tendency to mono-
theism'.233

Thus we seem to be confronted again by a perfect example of a reduction
of sexual opportunity accompanied by what many students would call a
higher cultural condition; and it would be simple to quote the above
opinions and to leave the matter there, trusting in the high authority of
those from whom they emanate ; but the reader who had the temerity to
consult the original works of reference would receive a different impression
of Palaeo-Siberian culture from that which is afforded by these extracts.
The Nagas of Assam seem to have differed both in their sexual opportunity
and in their cultural condition, but since the evidence in regard to the
former was based on a study of sexual conduct, and since the reports
concerning the latter were confined to 'beliefs', we found that it was
impossible to decide exactly wherein the differences lay. Among the
Palaeo-Siberians also there is alleged to have been a difference both in
sexual opportunity and in cultural condition, but an analysis of the evidence
shows that in regard to the former the facts do not support the conclusion,
and in regard to the latter a classification according to 'beliefs' has once
more obscured the nature of the practices. Indeed, Sir James Frazer has
never employed his eloquent pen to so little scientific purpose. Moreover,
Mr. Waldemar Jochelson has applied the word 'monotheism' to a 'belief
which cannot justly be so termed if the word is to retain any exact meaning.

The Koryak do not appear to have allowed a lad sexual access to the girl
for whom he was serving, but there is no report of any punishment being

§ 56 NAGA TRIBES OF ASSAM AND THE PALAEO- SIBERIANS 79

meted out to any couple who indulged their impulses. In olden times
cohabitation out of wedlock is said to have led to a family feud, but I am
not persuaded that the sexual act caused the feud. It seems more probable
that the girl's father was angry because the man had not performed those
duties which represented the Koryak method of obtaining a wife. Pre-
nuptial pregnancy, as Sir James remarks, was condemned, but the girl
was not punished or stigmatized, and no action seems to have been taken
against the father of the child. No inquiries seem to have been made con-
cerning his identity, and there is no reason to think that any girl refrained
from sexual intercourse owing to the social condemnation of pre-nuptial
children. If she happened to bear a child before she was married, she simply
went away before she gave birth to the monstrosity. Nothing more was
said or done. There was no demand for the tokens of virginity ; and if we
apply the word 'chastity' to such customs we shall deprive another English
word of any precise meaning. As compared with the Chukchee women,
the Koryak women are reported to have been somewhat prudish in the
matter of dress. We are told that they would not strip to the waist, as
the Chukchee women did, in order that their limbs might be free from the
inconvenience of clothes when they were at work. But it was only 'amongst
strangers' that they were so particular; and as we are specifically informed
that the Koryak men waged an active struggle 'against the disintegrating
influence of the Russians', it is apparent that the relative prudery of the
Koryak women was merely a protest and protection against the invading
white man. It cannot be understood as suggestive of greater care for
'chastity' than that displayed by the Chukchee women. Yet this is what
is implied by the manner in which the phenomenon has been described.234

Among the Chukchee, natural children were on a complete social
equality with those born in wedlock. In fact, Mr. Bogoras found it very
difficult to discover whether a child was what he calls 'legitimate' or not.
And I can well imagine that the Chukchee would be puzzled at the nature
of his inquiries, for they were a people among whom it was possible for
a woman to nurse at one and the same time her baby and her infant
husband. The conception of what we call 'chastity' was quite unknown to
them. There was, indeed, no word in their language for girl ; yep ayaakelen,
'not yet put in use', was the term applied to a young female who had not
experienced her first menses.235

Among the Yukaghir the young men and women indulged in sexual
intercourse as soon as the impulse was awakened in them. At the first
signs of puberty a girl was given a separate sleeping-tent, and she enter-
tained there as many lovers as she liked.236

56. Cultural Condition of the Palaeo- Siberians. The report that the
Koryak exhibited a 'tendency to monotheism' is even more misleading
than the statement concerning the 'chastity' of their girls. The latter was
founded on a fact of a definite character ; but the former rests on a less

80 SELECTED EVIDENCE §56

secure foundation. Indeed, it seems to be no more than a personal inter-
pretation by the observer of answers which he received to his direct
questions.

The word 'monotheism' has been applied to an alleged 'belief in an old
man who lived in the sky with his wife and children. In Mr. Jochelson's
monograph this old man is credited with the power, which he did not
exercise, of sending famine and abundance, but his chief claim to remem-
brance seems to have lain in the reported conviction that he taught the
Koryak the proper incantations against 'evil spirits'. In Miss Czaplicka's
opinion, the conception of this 'Supreme Being' is the result of contact
with members of the Russian Orthodox Church. 'That the Koryak con-
ception of the Supreme Being', she says, 'is not indigenous, or at least not
very old, may be judged from the very vague account of his nature and
qualities which was all that Mr. Jochelson was able to obtain.'237

Miss Czaplicka's opinion is worthy of record, but she has employed,
I think, the least powerful argument. She perceived that Mr. Jochelson's
report on Koryak beliefs was inaccurate, but she retained her faith in our
ability to classify uncivilized societies according to their beliefs. I have
already given (para. 4) my reasons for regarding all such classifications as
untrustworthy. Mr. Jochelson's monograph on the Koryak contains all
the faults to which I called attention, and which in my view are inherent
in the method. Actually the question of Koryak 'monotheism' does not
arise, for the evidence upon which the report is founded is unreliable.

The Koryak were zoistic. They erected no temples and paid no post-
funeral attention to their dead. Each family employed its own kamak
(wooden charm, or charms), as a protection against affliction and against
kola, 'evil spirit'. For this reason each family is said to have had its own
shaman.238 It is impossible to discover the native meaning of the words
that denoted the power (or powers) in the universe.239

The Chukchee also were zoistic. They saw around them the mani-
festation of a power which they called vairgin. According to Mr. Bogoras
the word signified 'substance' or 'acting force', but he translates it as
'being'.240 Every large natural feature and species of animal is said to
have possessed etin, which is translated 'master' or 'owner', but every etin9
or manifestation of etin, seems to have been also kele. Mr. Bogoras con-
siders that kele meant 'evil spirit', and this would be comprehensible were
it not for the fact that kele was also vairgin.1*1 The word for 'magic power'
was enen, a shaman being enenilit, one who possessed enen. The power was
acquired personally and could not easily be transferred. The enenilit
seems to have acted as wizard, medicine-man, and diviner. Incantations
were the only defence against the troubles of human life. We are told that
the more incantations a Chukchee pronounced over a charm, the more
powerful he thought it became.242

All the above words, vairgin, etin, kele, and enen, are translated as 'spirit*,
and sometimes it is impossible to tell what native term Mr. Bogoras is

§57 NAGA TRIBES OF ASSAM AND THE PALAEO-SIBERIANS 81
translating when he uses the word 'spirit', for the native terms are not
always quoted. Moreover, the study of his monograph is not rendered
easier by the fact that when he was among the Chukchee he formed a
simple theory concerning the first development of the religious concepts
among primitive or primeval men. The theory is placed at the commence-
ment of the second part of his book 'in order to make what follows easier
to understand'.243 No post-funeral rites were conducted by the Chukchee
in connexion with the dead.244

The Yukaghir neither erected temples nor paid any post-funeral atten-
tion to their dead. Thus the Yukaghir also were zoistic. They have been
under Christian influence for more than two centuries, and their concep-
tions, Mr. Jochelson says, are 'no more than a vague shadow or a faded
image of their ancient religion'.24* The 'master' or 'owner' of an out-
standing natural feature waspogil, which seems to have corresponded to the
Chukchee etin. The equivalent of the Chukchee vairgin was, perhaps, pon ;
but the report is very confused.246 A magician worked by the power eiti
( = Chukchee enen) ; he (or she) bewitched, cured, and divined. A magician
could also control 'evil spirits', kurul and yuoye, the former corresponding
to the Koryak kala and the Chukchee kele.2*7

Climatic conditions in north-east Siberia are such that the control of
the weather was not a matter which concerned the inhabitants.

57. Chart of Selected Evidence. I append a Chart (p. 82) of the Selected
Evidence which has been submitted in this chapter.

G

82

SELECTED EVIDENCE

§57

CHART OF SELECTED EVIDENCE
(21 SOCIETIES)

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment

of
affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

0

Transference and/or
exorcism

<M

C/3

<u

Ui

Ph

c

03
• •— <

O

bo

4->

03
<U

u
Ph

Controlled by magic

Tendance

3

O

Melanesia

A

f" 1. Loyalty Islanders

2. Tannese

3. New Britons

4. S.E. Solomon Is-
landers (Ulawa
and Sa'a) .

6. Fijians

1

Z
Z
M

M
D

2

+
1

+

+
+

3

=F

+
+

4

+ ?

5

+
1

T
+

+

6

+

7

+

8

=F

+
+

9

+
+

10

+

1 1

_ #

_ #
+

Africa

17. Bakitara

18. Baganda

19. Banyankole
31. Ibibio

^32. Yoruba

D
D
M
M
D

+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+

=F

=F
+

+

+

+
+
O

=F
+

0

+
+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+

+
+

+

+

+
#

#

+

63. Aztecs

D

+

+ ?

0

0

0

+

+

Poly-
nesia

^64. Maori

65. Tongans
^66. Samoans .

M
D
D

+
— ?

+

=F
+

+

+
+

+

-t-

+

=F

?
?

+
+

_ #

+
+

f 69. Ao Nagas
« J 70. Angami Nagas
2 ~1 7i- Lhota Nagas

(_72. Sema Nagas

Z
Z
Z

M?

+
+
+
+

T

+
+
+
+

_ ?
?

— *?

Palaeo-
Siberians

78. Chukchee

79. Koryak

80. Yukaghir .

Z
Z
Z

+
+
+

O
O
O

0
0
0

CHAPTER III

GENERAL SURVEY

A. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

58. The Plan of the Chapter. In the last chapter we compared the sexual
opportunity and cultural behaviour of a few selected societies of the same
racial extraction, living in a similar geographical environment. We found
that a reduction in sexual opportunity was accompanied by a rise in cultural
condition and that certain cultural patterns were coincident with certain
patterns of pre-nuptial sexual regulations. These coincidences are true
also of the remaining fifty-nine societies. It does not matter to which
branch of the human race they belonged, or in what geographical environ-
ment they lived: if they permitted pre-nuptial freedom, they were zoistic;
if their regulations compelled an irregular or occasional continence, they
were manistic ; if they insisted on pre-nuptial chastity, they were deistic.

I shall divide the survey of these fifty-nine societies into six sections:
(i) Melanesia and New Guinea, (2) Eastern Africa, (3) South Africa (Area
of Profound Mystery), (4) African Matrilineal Societies, (5) American
Indians, (6) Miscellaneous Societies. The recital of the relevant facts will
justify the entries in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I) from which we
made our original induction (para. 24), and by devoting a separate para-
graph to each society I shall endeavour to preserve the integrity of its
culture; but, in order to avoid the dull monotony which is the salient
feature of the evidence, I propose to facilitate an interpretation of the facts
by a gradual elucidation of the available data. So far as sexual regulations
are concerned we shall continue to confine our attention to pre-nuptial
regulations, for if the members of any society permit pre-nuptial sexual
freedom the character of their post-nuptial regulations does not seem to
affect their behaviour : if the young men and women have been allowed to
satisfy their impulses as soon as they reach puberty, their mental processes
have been shaped already into a zoistic mould ; if they have been compelled
to suffer an irregular or occasional continence, their mental processes have
been shaped into a manistic mould ; if pre-nuptial chastity (in my sense of
the word) has been the rule, the mental processes have been shaped into a
deistic mould. Later we shall discuss the post-nuptial regulations of those
societies which insisted on pre-nuptial chastity; but the discussion will
have nothing to do with a rise in the cultural scale, for, as I have indicated
(paras. 21, 22), none of the uncivilized societies had adopted such regula-
tions as would reduce the post-nuptial sexual opportunity of the males to
any appreciable extent. Indeed, among the eighty societies with which we
are concerned, there was not a single case in which pre-nuptial chastity-
was succeeded by a rigid monogamy. This combination has been adopted

1

84 GENERAL SURVEY §59

only by some of the civilized societies ; and those civilized societies which
have afforded the most limited post-nuptial opportunity have exhibited
the highest culture. The whole of human history does not contain a single
instance of a society which has advanced to the rationalistic condition
unless its females have been born into an absolutely monogamous tradition ;
nor is there any example of a group which has retained its high position
in the cultural scale after less rigorous customs have become part of the
inherited tradition of all its members. When marriage is a compulsory
lifelong association of two equal partners, and a woman knows no man
except her husband, and a man knows no woman except his wife, sexual
opportunity is reduced to a minimum. (Compulsory celibacy does not
limit sexual opportunity. It attempts to deny sexual activity. Its effect
upon cultural condition is devastating.) A study of historical peoples
reveals the fact that those societies which have adopted such customs as
most nearly approach this compulsory lifelong association (which has
never yet been achieved), and who have retained their rigid laws as to sexual
conduct for the longest period, have advanced in the cultural scale to the
highest position which any human society has yet reached.

Thus it is not with sexual regulations so much as with cultural details
that we shall be concerned when we embark on an elucidation of the
evidence. In fact, there is only one slight matter in regard to the former
which need be mentioned. I will deal with it at once. I will also explain
what I mean by 'Area of Profound Mystery'.

59. Societies which were both matrilineal and matrilocal. I have framed
my definitions of pre-nuptial sexual opportunity upon the answers to three
questions: (1) whether or not, outside the exogamic regulations and the
prohibited degrees, the young males and females were permitted complete
sexual freedom; (2) whether or not, by limiting the sexual qualities of a
betrothed girl to her betrothed, or by fining or punishing the father of a
pre-nuptial child, or by insisting on other customs of a similar character, the
elders compelled an irregular or occasional continence ; (3) whether or not
the tokens of virginity were demanded when a marriage was consummated.

A social objection to a pre-nuptial child seems to have arisen from the
fact that the child belonged to no definite social group. This objection
prevailed in some patrilineal patrilocal societies and in some matrilineal
patrilocal societies, but I do not know of a case in which the members of a
matrilineal matrilocal society insisted on the destruction of pre-nuptial
children. The demand for the tokens of virginity is also a matter on which
such people would have no decided opinion. Moreover, I cannot imagine
their tolerating the reservation of a girl to her betrothed.

(By a matrilineal society I mean a society in which a child is a member of
its mother's social group. The term, as I use it, does not refer to succession
or to inheritance.)

It is plain, then, that when we come to consider the regulations of a

1

§61 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 85

matrilineal society in which the husband went to live among his wife's
people, the criteria we have adopted may be valueless. Under such condi-
tions I must be content to relate the facts as they have been recorded.
Fortunately, among our eighty societies there is only one case in which
there is a complete lack of data, that of the Khasis of Assam; their pre-
nuptial sexual opportunity cannot be assessed. All the other societies,
matrilineal or patrilineal, matrilocal or patrilocal, can be classified according
to the above criteria. It is superfluous to remark that the evidence in regard
to the culture of the Khasis cannot be accepted as supporting or opposing
any interpretation of the facts which may be submitted. I have thought it
well, however, to include so famous a tribe within the scope of my inquiry.

60. The Area of Profound Mystery. If we draw a line due south from
the northern end of Lake Nyasa, and another line due west, and extend
these lines until they reach the southern and western coasts respectively
of the African continent, we shall have marked off that part of South Africa
which I call the Area of Profound Mystery. Here were the old kingdoms,
Luena and Lunda, which are famous in ancient literature but about which
we are so ignorant; they were noted for their 'debased and immoral' life,
and for their great woman chiefs. Here also were the Barotse, who have
migrated in recent historical times, and other famous tribes whose customs
and institutions are little known. Here are the ruins of Zimbabwe, and of
other buildings of a similar character; and hither the Arabs penetrated a
few hundred years ago. Within this area, too, Chaka once operated, and
who is ignorant of the revolutions which he caused in Zulu life and in
Zulu sexual behaviour ? The Hottentots and the Bushmen, too, lived here ;
and what do we know of them ? So many and so great changes have taken
place in the area south and west of our lines that we cannot be surprised
at the contradictory nature of such facts as are known to us, and there
seems to be little hope that our certain knowledge will ever be increased.

Of the societies that lived in the Area of Profound Mystery, I discuss the
Awemba, Baila, Baronga, Basuto, and Amazulu.

61. Comments on Uncivilized Culture. The meagre descriptions which
we possess of uncivilized customs may be compared to a sudden and rather
indifferent snapshot of a runner whose starting-point and destination are
unknown to us. We have a glimpse of him as he proceeds, but we do not
know whether he has always been running or whether he will continue
to run. Moreover, we do not know why he is running. He may always
have proceeded along the same path; on the other hand, he may have
followed a devious route. Previous to the taking of the photograph, indeed,
he may have turned round and travelled in an opposite direction. We
cannot tell. The only reliable evidence we possess concerning him is an
instantaneous, almost unexpected, coup d'oeil.

The culture of uncivilized people was inherited by them from their

86 GENERAL SURVEY §61

forefathers, and if we attempt to look back along the stream of time we
shall grope in a thick fog of uncertainty. This culture had been affected by
a multitude of forces of which we are ignorant. Moreover, it changed and
changed again, sometimes partially, sometimes completely. The changes
may have affected the whole society ; on the other hand, a few individuals
may have attempted a futile revolution. The subversion of the old order may
have been completed in a few generations; contrarily, the culture of the
society as a whole may have remained, after a period of stress and to all
outward appearances, exactly as it had always been. Every human society,
civilized or uncivilized, is essentially a dynamic unit ; uncivilized culture,
like civilized culture, is by no means a fixed phenomenon.

To this continual ebb and flow we may apply the term 'evolution', but
we must remember that when we use the word in this context, we mean
that hitherto human culture has been in a state of flux. This state of flux
is not necessarily permanent ; indeed, there is reason to believe that under
certain circumstances the cultural destiny of any given society can be
controlled. Such control, however, will not be possible until we have
formulated a scientific knowledge of human affairs, for it is only in that
manner that we shall discover the laws which govern the display of mental
and social energy, and so the change from one cultural condition to
another. To this subject I will return (paras. 159, 160, 175). Here and
now my point is that we shall not gain a scientific knowledge of human
affairs unless we eliminate all personal opinion and philosophy. For this
reason we must cease to employ the word 'evolution' in any sense which
illustrates, or has been dictated by, a personal theory.

Many students of human affairs appear to have assumed that the
evolution of human culture is an orderly progression which proceeds in
well-defined stages from a definite point, and I do not exaggerate when I
say that, employed in this sense, the word 'evolution' is the bugbear of
social anthropology. The idea seems to be that primitive or primeval man
was placed at the starting-point, and that all human societies have proceeded
for a certain distance along a road of progress. Usually a rider is added to
the effect that, in the opinion of the modern white man, the race of modern
white men has progressed farther along that road than any other race of
men ; thus the modern white man may claim to be the chosen instrument
of the evolutionary forces. It is a comfortable philosophy; unfortunately
it is not based on facts. We do not know anything about the culture of
primitive or primeval man (in my sense of the word 'culture') and it is
unlikely that we shall ever discover its nature. If we place that hypo-
thetical organism at the foot of a cultural ladder at the top of which stands
twentieth-century white man in self-assumed glory, and then arrange
uncivilized societies on the intermediate rungs, we shall make nonsense of
the facts as they have been reported and can be observed. All we can say
definitely is that human culture can be divided into certain patterns.
These patterns do not follow one another in any determined order; they

§61 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 87

merely repeat themselves in history and in uncivilized life. The change
from one pattern to another is the result of a change in ideas : the world
and its attributes are conceived in a different manner ; opinions alter ; new
conceptions oust the old notions. As a result of this change in opinion,
activities are revolutionized; and, since the definitions of the cultural
patterns are based on activities, a change in the cultural pattern must
necessarily follow. The new opinion is neither more true nor more false
than the old opinion. It is still a mere opinion. It represents what the
members of the society believe at that particular time. And just as the
physicist studies the behaviour of material things, and translates into
scientific language the necessity which controls that behaviour, so the social
scientist, having studied the various opinions of men, and the behaviour
which is based upon them, endeavours to translate into scientific language
the necessity which governs a change in those opinions. The opinions of
the modern white man are not free from the influence of this necessity,
and, far from being the criteria by which we can judge the opinions of
others, they form part of the material on which the social scientist works.

The English words which in the past have been employed to represent
the opinions of uncivilized men and women — 'spirit', 'evil spirit', 'demon',
'sprite', 'god', 'deity', 'divinity', 'Supreme Being', &c. — not only lack
precise connotation, but also carry with them a meaning with which they
have been endowed, at least in part, by the tradition inherited from our
forefathers. The reader who has perused the notes on the last chapter
will have appreciated the difficulties which have arisen from such transla-
tions. In our endeavour to present native thought in our own language, we
have not only broken the fundamental laws of exact scholarship, but have
also introduced, sometimes accidentally, sometimes almost wilfully, a totally
erroneous impression of uncivilized culture.

In the first place, exceedingly learned but inherently dangerous com-
parisons are sometimes made between the conceptions of uncivilized men
and those of the Hellenes, Romans, Egyptians, and Babylonians. Technical
terms from Aristotle's Metaphysics have even been submitted as modern
equivalents of native terms. West African culture has been stated in this
romantic manner and affords a good example of what I mean. The Ibibio
words ndemm and mbiam have been spelt with capital letters, as well as
in the lower case, and we are not told the evidence which would justify
such phrases as 'Mother of God' (applied to ete abossi) and 'First Cause'
(applied to obumo). The native term which is rendered 'wicked ghost or
devil' is not quoted, and such words as 'doctors', 'magician-priest', &c,
are employed freely without definition.248

Secondly, in some of the most reliable monographs, different English
equivalents of the same native word are used in different passages. Canon
Roscoe does not quote the native word which the inhabitants of Uganda
used in reference to natural phenomena, and which he translates 'spirits'.
He renders the Bantu word mandwa both as 'medium' and as 'priest';

88 GENERAL SURVEY §62

and sometimes it is impossible to tell whether he is referring to the same
man or to different men. The alternative renderings are given in different
books, and in different passages of the same book. Mayembe is 'god',
'fetish', and 'shrine', and, if we are not careful, we shall conclude that the
natives used three different words when actually they used one word.
When Canon Roscoe uses the English word 'god', it is often far from clear
whether he is referring to lubare, muchzvezi, mayembe, or muzimu.2*9

The difficulties which arise from this defective material will be apparent.
I wish to accord all possible praise to those enthusiastic workers who have
done their utmost to discover and to record the facts of uncivilized life,
and my criticism of their published works does not imply anything but the
profoundest regret that those facts have not been stated in a manner
which, in my view, is vital to a proper understanding of the subject.
Fortunately, such scholars as J. H. Driberg and E. W. Smith have stated
in a more succinct and accurate manner the cultural details of those African
tribes about which they have written, and as a result our study of those
tribes is facilitated ; but on the whole African ethnography is not of a very
high quality. There are, indeed, very few uncivilized societies which have
been studied in that detailed manner which we must demand if we are
to elucidate the nature of a cultural change. All our eighty societies afford
evidence for the original induction, but only a quarter of that number can
be discussed when we begin to interpret. Three conditions are vital to
a detailed study of the ideas of an uncivilized people : the first is the quota-
tion of native terms; the second is the explanation of the context or
contexts in which those words were used; the third is complete open-
mindedness on the part of the observer.

The last is a matter on which I have already commented. Some observers
have been determined to fit their conclusions to a more or less generally
accepted frame, and, as one plods through their writings, it often seems
that they decided upon the nature of the frame before they collected
the evidence on which their conclusions were to be based. The Tylorian
'animism', indeed, has received such a wide and popular currency that I must
refer to it once more before the common basis of the zoistic, manistic, and
deistic cultural patterns can be appreciated.

62. 'Animism' again. It was part of Tylor's theory that 'spirits' were
invented by primitive man as an explanation of natural phenomena. The
existence of 'spiritual beings', he considered, had been divined by the
human reason. 'The savage theory of the universe', he remarks, 'refers
its phenomena to the wilful action of pervading personal spirits. Spirits
are personified causes.'250 Sir James Frazer accepted and extended this
theory. In a recent work which no doubt reflects his considered opinion,
Sir James suggests that when animism is replaced by polytheism, 'the
unlimited number of indwelling spirits is gradually reduced to a limited
pantheon believed to control the various departments of nature': 'After

§63 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 89

man had peopled with a multitude of individual spirits every rock and hill,
every tree and flower, every brook and river, every breeze that blew and

every cloud that flecked with silvery white the blue expanse of heaven '251

There is no need to finish the quotation. The point I wish to make is that
among the eighty societies with which we are concerned there is no evidence
that 'every rock and hill', &c, was peopled with an indwelling spirit.
Indeed, it is certain that these uncivilized men did not think in that manner.
The ubiquity of 'spirits' is a false inference from the fact that the word
translated 'spirits' was applied to many unusual, supernormal, uncom-
prehended natural phenomena. To the undeveloped intelligence of the
savage these outstanding phenomena seem to have possessed a common
quality. It is the word which denoted this quality which cannot be trans-
lated into a civilized tongue. No civilized equivalent exists.

The conception of and reaction against the strange quality in anything
unusual or beyond comprehension seems to be the basis of all human
culture, civilized or uncivilized. And any one who possesses this key to
the understanding of human conceptions will not be surprised, indeed
he will predict, that whenever there is an advance in the knowledge of the
physical universe, a revolution in ideas must necessarily follow. The
word which uncivilized men used to denote the quality in anything unusual
or beyond comprehension was used in a variety of contexts. It was applied
to an unusual or uncomprehended sickness as well as to unusual natural
phenomena. It was also used in reference to a corpse or the dead or ghosts
or some ghosts. (The evidence in connexion with the dead is a little com-
plicated.) It was also applied to an unusual man, to a man in an unusual
condition and to a man of unusual ability.

I will re-examine the societies which we discussed in the last chapter
and restate their culture in the light of these observations. From this
examination the Banyankole, Bakitara, Baganda, and Ibibio will be
omitted, for, as I have already said, the terms which they employed have
been neither elucidated nor translated in a consistent manner. The Nagas
and the Palaeo- Siberians also must be excluded, because (1) the manner
in which they used their words has not been elucidated, (2) their culture
has been recorded in the light of foregone conclusions which I find
unacceptable.

In my re-examination of the remaining societies I will discuss separately
(1) the power in the universe, (2) the place in which it was manifest,
(3) the agency through which a right relation was maintained with it.

63. The Power. To any question which the Tannese could not answer
they replied, <uhngen\ The term was applied to anything which was
beyond the comprehension of a Tanna man, e.g. a watch. The Loyalty
Islanders used haze under similar circumstances. The two words, indeed,
are said to have possessed an identical meaning. Usually uhngen is trans-
lated 'God'. Mrs. Hadfield renders haze both as 'spirits' and as 'evil

go GENERAL SURVEY §63

spirits'. Possibly the latter is an inference from the fact that the Loyalty
Islanders applied the word to certain forms of sickness.252

The native use of the New Briton word tebaran has not been described.
We are told no more than that tebaran was 'in caves, wells, rivers, and some
parts of the roads'. It would be interesting to know how the natives
identified those parts of a road where tebaran was manifest. I conjecture
that if anything unusual happened at any particular spot, the place was
immediately tebaran. Tebaran has been translated as 'spirits' and as
'ghosts'.253

In the South-east Solomon Islands the natives used akalo in reference
to the souls of the dead and to the power which was manifest in certain
natural phenomena: thus akalo ni matawa, akalo of the sea. Akalo also
denoted 'weirdness', and was applied to anything weird. 'Weird' is a good
word, for it suggests the influence which an unusual or incomprehensible
phenomenon would have exercised upon the minds of the inhabitants.254

To the Fijians 'spirits' were manifest 'in every remarkable spot', but
nowhere else. They owed their presence 'to the unusual appearance' of,
e.g., a rock or tree. 'If anything mysterious were to happen in connexion
with a rock or tree', it was constituted as 'divine'. The native word was
kalou. Kalou denoted anything superlative, marvellous, or beyond Fijian
comprehension.255

Among the Yoruba the word orisha was applied to white men (and their
possessions?), to anything sacred or holy, and to the power which was
worshipped in a temple.256

I have already discussed the Maori atua (para. 49). It was applied to
anything strange or unaccountable; to anything ugly or disagreeable; to
any uncommon animal, or any common animal of unusual power; to any
artificial production or secretly powerful thing beyond Maori compre-
hension, such as a watch, magnet, or compass; to the white man and to
the various articles of his equipment.257 The Samoan aitu was used in
similar contexts, being used in reference to the white man's ships as well as
to the power which was worshipped in a temple.258 The Tongan equivalent
was otua. Anything beyond Tongan comprehension, such as a cuckoo
clock, was otua.259

These words were also used in reference to the dead or some dead men.
Mr. Ray remarks that in the Loyalty Islands 'a ghost or departed spirit
was also sometimes called a haze9. Mr. Ray clearly considers that in this
connexion the natives were thinking of an entity, but I am not satisfied
that the 'a' in 'a haze9 is not an inference, due to the animistic theory.
The fact seems to have been that certain corpses or ghosts were haze,
simply. The Tannese uhngen also was applied to the dead.260 Both these
societies were zoistic. By the manistic New Britons and South-east
Solomon Islanders tebaran and akalo were applied to dead men. The
deistic Fijians used kalou in reference to the dead and to the power which
was worshipped in a temple.261 The Yoruba word orisha has been translated

§65 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 9I

'deified departed one'.262 This use of orisha is important, for the Yoruba
are said to have conducted few rites in honour of the dead. The Maori
atua, the Samoan aitu, and the Tongan otua were used in reference to
the dead.263

It is plain that there is no English equivalent for these words, and hence-
forward I shall take no notice of the translations which have been made,
unless they are necessary to the exposition of the facts. It may be taken
for granted that most of the native words have been rendered as 'god',
'Supreme Being', or 'spirits'. In place of these misleading and inaccurate
substantives I shall submit (paras. 66-8) some new descriptive terms by
means of which the nature of the native 'beliefs' may be more conveniently
denoted.

64. The Place. The places in which the Loyalty Islanders and the
Tannese carried out their rites have not been described. Nor are we told
in what places the New Britons conducted their ancestral tendance. In
the South-east Solomon Islands (Ulawa and Sa'a) the offerings to akalo
were made in the places where akalo was manifest, i.e. in the relic-cases in
the houses, in the special relic-houses, tawau, in the canoe-house, or in a
special 'altar' or 'sanctuary'. These were 'cut-off' places (Lat. templum;
Gk. temenos), forbidden to intruders.264 The Fijian and Samoan temples
were called respectively 'house of kalou' and 'house of aitu\ That is to
say, the Fijians and Samoans maintained a right relation with kalou and
aitu in a kalou- , or azta-house or place. In a similar manner the Maori
maintained a right relation with atua in an atua-p\ace, that is, in a place
where atua was manifest, an 'unusual' place; they called it a tuahu. Such
a place was tapu, because atua was manifest there.265

A right relation, then, seems to have been maintained with the 'unusual'
in an 'unusual' place; thus the common basis of the three cultural condi-
tions is becoming apparent. The development of the altar and the temple,
in fact, can be traced to a common source, the conception of 'something
unusual'. These items of divine equipment, however, have had a very
different history, and their association in modern times must not allow us to
confuse them. Uncivilized people were always careful to distinguish them;
and the course of their individual development is not difficult to follow ;
but an inquiry into the matter is handicapped by the manner in which
hitherto uncivilized culture has been studied. Observers have concentrated
on 'beliefs' to such an extent that sometimes they have forgotten to describe
the place whither the natives went in order to conduct a rite ; seldom have
they inquired how the place was chosen. I shall discuss the subject more
fully in a subsequent paragraph (para. 151).

65. The Agency. A Loyalty Island magician received his power from
his magic stone, which was called haze. The reports, however, are a little
confused, for, although in some passages a te<?-stone seems to have been

92 GENERAL SURVEY §65

any stone of unusual shape, apparently a stone could be made haze by
a man who was haze. In the latter case we are not told how the man came
to be in that condition. In Tanna a magician acted by means of uhngen.
We are told that the New Briton magician received his power from 'spirits' ;
we may conclude therefore that he was a magician because he possessed
tebaran, or something which was or contained tebaran.266 In the South-east
Solomon Islands no magician could act by his own unassisted power;
he depended upon the akalo that he owned.267 So also in Fiji, where the
possession of or by kalou was the factor which decided whether a man
was a priest or not.268 The Yoruba priests went through a special course
of training in an organized seminary, but their final acceptance depended
on their 'possession' by orisha.269 The power of the Maori tohunga,
'skilled man', was ascribed to his possession of or by atua. So long as he
manifested that power, he was mana. Likewise the Samoan taula-aitu
and the Tongan taula-otua were 'possessed' by aitu and otua respectively.270

The double use of the English word 'possess' will obscure the argument
unless we take care to distinguish between the possession of e.g. atua and
being 'possessed' by atua. In the former case no difficulty arises, for the
facts are plain; the man was credited with the possession of 'unusual'
power either because he had given practical proof of his ability or because
he was the owner of an 'unusual' stone or other article. In the latter case
we must distinguish between the fact which was observed and the observer's
interpretation of it. The fact was that the man writhed and foamed in
a manner which we, having been brought up on the Jewish Bible, associate
with the phrase 'he hath a devil' ; and I suspect that sometimes an observer
may have had this phrase so much in his mind that he concluded at once
that this was what the natives meant. But it is at least possible, I think,
that in such cases no possessive agent was in the native mind and has been
invented by us, being the result of our interpretation of the native words.
Of course the natives may have thought that such a man was 'possessed' by
atua because he was obviously 'unusual' and because they therefore had
to invent the agent which they hypothesized as responsible for all unusual
things; but it would be interesting to know whether they said 'He has
(or is) atua\ or whether they said lAtua\ simply. If the latter was the case,
the possessive agent has certainly been created by us. And I am inclined
to think that this is true of zoistic societies. The evidence, however, such
as it is, must be accepted as it stands.

A magician, or priest, then, seems to have been simply a man who
possessed or was possessed by the power in the universe. This subject also
is fully discussed in a later paragraph (para. 147).

Sometimes it is said that the priest developed out of the magician, and
at one time I myself believed this to be the case. I approached the subject
from the usual pre-conceived 'evolutionary' point of view, and was puzzled
by what appeared to be a difficult problem. It was not long, however,
before I perceived that the difficulty lay not in the problem but in our

§65 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 93

method of stating it. I now understand that no such development has
taken place. The idea has been read into the facts, not out of them. The
truth seems to be that the priest and the magician are one and the same
person, operating in a different place, living in a different cultural pattern.

What is the essential difference between a priest and a magician ?

A magician employs his own instruments which he himself has selected
and possibly has rendered powerful ; he can use those instruments when
and where he likes. The equipment of a priest is used also by his col-
leagues; usually he utters his oracle in the temple. In a number of cases
the reputation of a magician is gained by trial and achievement, or by his
succession to magical instruments which have already proved themselves
powerful when a previous owner possessed them ; his power lasts as long
as it is manifested. The priest's power, on the other hand, is permanent
and abiding ; sometimes he owes his position to his membership of a special
group or clan. The power of the magician is peculiar to himself; that of
a priest is shared by all the other priests who serve the same god.

Another difference has been suggested, and is often emphasized. It is
claimed that whereas a magician controls his power, a priest conciliates or
supplicates a power greater than he is. The distinction is nice, and appeals
to a logical cultivated mind ; but it is quite unacceptable, for it is based on
criteria which are unascertainable.

Let us suppose that we travel to a distant land and live among an
uncivilized people. How could we judge whether a man were a magician
or a priest ? It would be impossible for us to answer the question by study-
ing only the conceptions of the natives, for there is no reliable method of
becoming acquainted with them (para. 4). We could not trust the answers
to our questions, for there is no reason to think that the natives could
make an intelligible reply. Even if they succeeded in communicating to
us some parts of their creed, we should have to be careful lest we reported
their replies in a manner which was influenced, if not controlled, by the
tradition in which we ourselves had been trained. As a matter of actual
fact, we could not carry out a field research if we adopted such an inconse-
quent method of inquiry. We should have to watch the actions of the man
and judge him, in the first instance, by his equipment and by his methods.
Since, then, we judge whether a man is a magician or a priest according to
the place and manner in which he acts, the development of the priest
from the magician is a matter which cannot arise. The priest is a magician
who is a member of a deistic society. Indeed the priest and the magician
are one and the same person operating in a different manner and in a differ-
ent place. The source of their power is identical, the possession of or by
the power in the universe.

The conception of 'evolution' which some scientists have been deter-
mined to read into human affairs has been responsible for other suggestions
in regard to magicians which are equally unacceptable. It has often been
said that as a society proceeded up the cultural scale, or 'evolved', the

94 GENERAL SURVEY §65

various magicians became organized into separate orders, wizards, medi-
cine-men, diviners, rain-makers, &c. Unless this mistaken view is cor-
rected without delay, it will be impossible to understand correctly the
nature of a change from the zoistic to the deistic cultural condition, or
from the latter to the rationalistic condition. I therefore propose to devote
a few pages to its consideration.

In support of his submissions in reference to the evolution of sacred
kings out of magicians, Sir James Frazer has remarked: 'Social progress,
as we know,' — and here is explicit evidence of the pre-conceived idea —
'consists mainly in a successive differentiation of functions. . . . Magicians
or medicine-men appear to constitute the oldest artificial or professional
class in the evolution of society. As time goes on, and the process of
differentiation continues, the order of medicine-men is itself subdivided
into such classes as the healers of disease, the makers of rain, and so forth.'271
Although Sir James produced no specific example of such subdivision,
and was content to notice the 'general trend' of the supposed evolution,
this hypothesis at first seemed so probable that at one time I assumed its
truth. In support of what I then considered a truism I collected all the
available evidence from the records of the eighty societies with which I
decided to concern myself. It soon became apparent, however, that Sir
James Frazer's plausible conjecture was only another attempt to rationalize
the facts of uncivilized life. Just as I had been disillusioned in regard to
the classification of simpler peoples according to their beliefs, so also was
I compelled to abandon the idea that the various branches of the magical
profession were differentiated as a society ascended in the cultural scale.
Just as a study of native terms had revealed that the ubiquity of 'nature-
spirits' was a false inference from an inaccurate translation, so a study of
the terms employed to denote the various branches of the magical pro-
fession showed that the alleged differentiation had not taken place.

I append, so far as they are available, the native terms which were used
in reference to the wizard, the medicine-man, and the diviner by the
twenty-one peoples with whom we dealt in the last chapter. The letter
Z, M, or D after the name of each society refers to its cultural condition
(Z = zoistic, M = manistic, D = deistic).

For the meaning of 'wizard', 'medicine-man', and 'diviner', see para. 9.
I must apologize for the imperfect character of the Table. The numerous
uncertainties illustrate the difficulties that face a student who desires to
know the native terms which his author is translating.

Leaving aside for one moment the comparison between the wizard and
the medicine-man, the most cursory examination of the entries shows that
the diviner is not always differentiated from the medicine-man in the most
advanced societies. In Tonga and Samoa the taula-otua or the taula-aitu
acted in both capacities; they were deistic people. Among the deistic
Yoruba, on the other hand, all diagnoses and predictions were made by
the priests of Ifa. The three Uganda peoples, Bakitara, Baganda, and

§65

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

95

Table of Native Terms denoting Various Types of Magicians

Wizard Medicine-man Diviner

Loyalty Islanders (Z) tene haze tene haze tene haze

Tannese (Z) Native terms not given. See para. 31

(tene agagara
tene papet tene agagara

tene pinapet

SE. Solomon Islanders Contradictory information. See para. 33
(Ulawa and Sa'a) (M)

1-4 ■ « 1 t~\ «— v ry fill

r ljians \u )

1 r>y aiu or moete ^priest)

mbete

mbete; dautradra

\ vaka-ndraunikau ( ?)

Bakitara (D)

Not given

Not given

A special 'medicine

Baganda (D)

By aid of lubare

basawo (pi.)

man'
mandwa (?)

Banyankole (M)

Not given

bafumu (pi.)

j bafumu;

\ omulaguzi

Ibibio (M)

'Doctors'

'Doctors'

abia idiong ( ?)

Yoruba (D)

'Doctors'

T Doctors'

Priests of Ifa

\ 'Priests'

Maori (M)

tohunga (makutu)

tohunga

tohunga {matakite)

Tongans (D)

By aid of otua

taida-otua

taida-otua

Samoans (D)

?

taula-aitu

taula-aitu

Ao Nagas (Z)

Apparently any one

'Cp. Sema thumomV 'medicine-man'

Angami Nagas (Z)

themuma

themuma

themuma

Lhota Nagas (Z)

Not given

ratsen

ratsen

Sema Nagas (M ?)

Not given

thurnomi

thurnomi

Banyankole, distinguished between the magician who diagnosed a malady
and the medicine-man who administered a cure ; their cultural conditions
varied. The manistic Maori seem to have distinguished between the various
kinds of tohunga, but I doubt if we could say that among them the branches
of the profession were clearly differentiated. It is more probable that the
qualifying term was merely descriptive of those activities for which the
tohunga, 'skilled man', was famed at the time to which the report refers.
A man who was a tohunga makutu, 'wizard', on Monday could quite easily
and logically be called tohunga matakite, 'diviner', on Thursday, if he had
made a successful prediction on Tuesday.

No sense can be made of this evidence if we approach it with the idea of
social evolution in our minds ; the facts cannot be rationalized by applying
civilized logic to their interpretation; and we cannot generalize. In many
societies, if a man announced that he would make rain, and rain then fell,
he was henceforth regarded as a rain-maker. If he had been a healer of
disease before this successful debut, he then enjoyed a double reputation;
but a man famed as a healer might cease to be regarded as a magician at all
if his charms failed to effect the desired cure. On the other hand, a chance
success by an amateur might cause his immediate promotion to a high
position in the magical fraternity. In other societies, which were in the same
cultural condition or stage of social evolution, a rain-maker might not lose
his reputation if he failed to produce the desired result, for he might
announce that other magicians were stultifying his efforts by creating doses

96 GENERAL SURVEY §65

of sunshine. In some deistic societies, moreover, certain weather-gods
might retain their illustrious names in spite of their manifest impotence,
because their failure to control the elements according to the wishes of the
people would be ascribed to the intentional or involuntary sin of the sup-
plicants, although the success of a petition would be hailed as positive proof
of the god's power.

By selecting such evidence as conforms to the idea of social evolution
and overlooking the facts which conflict with it, a case can easily be made
out for the theory that a difTerentiation of the various branches of the
magical profession takes place as a society advances up the cultural scale ;
but if we select a number of societies and tabulate the words which the
natives used, the fallacy of the hypothesis is soon revealed.

As an illustration of his submission Sir James Frazer quotes the fact
that the Todas called the wizard and the medicine-man by different names,
pilikoren and utkoren, respectively. The differentiation between the wizard
and the medicine-man, however, is not a distinction of the same character
as that between the medicine-man and the diviner or the rain-maker. It
is not a professional distinction. When a society makes a definite line of
demarcation between the wizard and the medicine-man, it merely dis-
tinguishes between maleficent and beneficent activities.

In some societies the men who inflicted disease were not distinguished
from those who cured it, and a magician who possessed the power of healing
was equally ready to employ his art in the infliction of an ill which he also
had the power to prevent. In these cases witchcraft was one of the ordinary
risks of life. In other societies, which were in the same cultural condition,
the two arts were separated; there was a continual struggle between the
two schools. In a third class of societies, witchcraft was utterly condemned.
If a man was suspected of having been engaged in anti-social practices, he
was tried, and, if found guilty, condemned and often killed.

Examples of each type could be cited from all over the world, and it
seems impossible to make sense of the facts by pre-supposing a social
evolution of the type Sir James Frazer had in mind. For instance, in East
Africa the possibility of witchcraft was a risk which every Kikuyu or
Kamba considered to be part of his everyday life, but by the Baganda and
the Bakitara witchcraft was utterly condemned. The Banyankole, however,
did not punish the practice. From some points of view the social condemna-
tion of witchcraft seems to be evidence of cultural advance, but the scholar
who carried out a detailed research in order to make an authoritative pro-
nouncement on the subject would have to be very careful about his defini-
tions. For example, although the Baganda condemned witchcraft, a
Muganda who wished to inflict injury on his enemy both could and would
visit a priest who would ask his god to curse the applicant's enemy.
Similarly, a Tongan who was suffering from anti-social impulses would
request the aid of an otua through the agency of the taula-otua. In Fiji
a wizard could act either by his own power or by the power of kalou, and

§67 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 97

openly flaunted his responsibility for a death at the funeral of his victim.
All these three societies were in the deistic cultural condition.

I mention these facts in order to show that they do not fit any of the
evolutionary frames to which we have delighted to attach them. The dif-
ferentiation of the various branches of the magical profession is not evidence
of social advance, and when a society advances up the cultural scale such
differentiation does not necessarily take place. The condemnation of anti-
social magical activity which in certain parts of the world seems to be
characteristic of societies that are more culturally advanced does not appear
to have been due to the cultural advance. It was the method rather than
the practice which was condemned, for in the most advanced societies anti-
social impulses seem to have been indulged, though in a manner which
differed from the usual methods of the wizard.

In my examination of the remaining fifty-nine societies I shall not inquire
if the medicine-man was distinguished from the diviner or from the rain-
maker; I shall simply record what in the native opinion constituted the
source of the magical or priestly power. It will be clear that the magician
and the priest are one and the same person, operating in a different place
and living in a different cultural pattern. The source of their power was
the possession of or by the power manifest in the universe.

We are now in a position to formulate some new definitions by means
of which uncivilized conceptions may conveniently be described. I must
beg that they be regarded as mere descriptions and not as classifications.
It is impossible to classify uncivilized societies according to their beliefs.

66. Dead Level of Conception. If the members of a zoistic society applied
the same word to (i) the power in the universe, (2) a corpse, ghosts, or
certain ghosts, (3) the source of magic power, I shall say that they were
at a dead level of conception. The Loyalty Islanders and the Tannese were
at a dead level of conception.

No society can be at a dead level of conception unless it is zoistic, but it is
possible for a society to be zoistic without being at a dead level of conception.

Throughout the literature some difficulty arises in connexion with the
word translated 'ghost'. We are not always told whether it was applied to
all ghosts or only to special ghosts. If it were applied only to special ghosts,
we are not always informed how the selection was made. If it is reported
to have been applied to all ghosts, we can never be sure that the alleged fact
is not an inference from its application to special ghosts. Apparently there
is no certain solution of the difficulty and we must make the best use of
the evidence which we possess. I conjecture that in most cases the word
was applied to the corpse and /or to the ghost of an 'unusual' man. To this
point I will return (para. 149).

67. Confusion between the One and the Many. Sometimes a manistic
society employed the same term in reference to (1) the power in the universe,

H

98 GENERAL SURVEY §68

(2) ghosts, or certain ghosts, and did not distinguish between an individual
ghost and 'the dead'. I shall say that the members of that society were
guilty of a confusion between the one and the many.

The source of magic power has no place in deciding whether this de-
scriptive term is or is not applicable.

68. Temporary Distinction between the One and the Many. If the mem-
bers of a manistic society used one term to denote a man who was recently
deceased, and another term to denote 'the dead', or if they tended a recently
deceased man only for a short time, and for not more than two generations, I
shall say that they made a temporary distinction between the one and the many.

This term applies to the Maori and to the inhabitants of Ulawa and Sa'a
(SE. Solomon Islands).

In this case we judge by the native words or by the native rites.

69. Permanent Distinction between the One and the Many. If the members
of a manistic or deistic society remembered an individual dead man for
more than two generations and paid some post-funeral attention to him
during the whole of that time, I shall say that they made a permanent dis-
tinction between the one and the many. This applies to the Fijians.

In this case we judge by the words and the rites, the dual criterion being
necessary so as to avoid the confusion which might arise in reference to the
so-called 'mythological heroes'. Apparently these were remembered for
more than two generations, but no post-funeral attention was paid to them.

I have defined these descriptive terms with care because in the next
chapter I wish to separate the societies that distinguished certain phenomena
from those that confused them. I also wish to assess the contribution which
an extension of memory has made to a change from one cultural pattern
to another. The general reader, however, need not trouble to remember
any of the descriptive terms except the first. The three other terms have
only a technical interest. The important facts are these, namely, that in
some cases a dead man was not remembered at all ; indeed he may not have
been buried, so little did the people care about him when he was dead. In
other cases a dead man was remembered for a little time, and then was
forgotten, becoming merged, as it were, in 'the dead'. In a third class of
societies the cult of a dead man was continued for generation after genera-
tion. We have seen an example of these differences among the three Uganda
tribes. Many more will come to our notice.

70. Native Brains. In the preceding paragraphs, I have spoken of
uncivilized men and women as 'undeveloped', and have assumed that if
their mentality were to be developed, they would become, or at any rate that
they are capable of becoming, rationalistic. It is convenient, and apparently
necessary, to produce some evidence in support of this assumption.

For my own part I cannot think that it can be disputed by any one who

§70 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 99

has had personal experience of life among uncivilized men ; but Professor
Levy-Bruhl has published an opinion to the contrary, so I must submit
some evidence in support of my assumption.272

Professor Levy-Bruhl has maintained that the institutions, customs, and
beliefs of primitive people imply a mentality which is 'oriented differently
from our own'. 'By designating it "prelogical"', he says, 'I merely wish to
state that it does not bind itself down, as our thought does, to avoiding
contradictions'.

If by 'prelogical' Professor Levy-Bruhl merely meant that sometimes the
native thinks and acts illogically, there would be no point in commenting
upon his suggestion, for no one would gainsay such a commonplace ; but
when he says that the native mind is 'oriented differently from our own',
he seems to imply that the mentality of uncivilized peoples is of a totally
different character from our own, whereas the truth seems to be that it is
of a similar character but undeveloped.

Professor Malinowski seems to have been referring to the opinions of the
learned French anthropologist when he said: 'My experience in the field
has persuaded me of the complete futility of the theories which attribute
to the savage a different type of mind and different logical faculties. The
native is not "prelogical" in his beliefs, he is a-logical, for belief in dogmatic
thinking does not obey the law of logic among savages any more than
among ourselves.'273 Concerning the Loyalty Islanders Mrs. Hadfield has
remarked: 'They are certainly not wanting in mental equipment.'274 Mr.
A. I. Hopkins states that the Solomon Islanders 'have brains and ability
with which in due time they may assimilate and not merely copy a higher
culture than their own'.275

According to Professor G. Elliot Smith, 'we know the Australians to be
a people of far greater mental power and initiative than the extreme sim-
plicity and crudeness of their material culture would suggest'.276 But a
definite piece of evidence has a greater value than the most insistent
declaration, so I make the following quotation: 'The Australian aborigines
possess natural qualities which render them capable of civilization. Their
general intelligence is quite up to that of the European. An Aboriginal
School took the highest place among the National Schools for three suc-
cessive years. A full blood Aboriginal made quite a name for himself as a
scientific inquirer. He was not only a student of Newton ; he was also the
author of a very practical invention for improving sheep shears by com-
bining curvilinear and straight movement.'277 M. Junod says that he was
amazed at the rapidity with which the native brain worked, and he expresses
his astonishment at the power of memory which the Baronga exhibited.278
Mr. Gouldsbury and Mr. Sheane state explicitly that according to their
experience 'the Bantu is not hopelessly deficient in logical faculties and
reasoning powers'. 'Up to the age of puberty', they declare, 'black children
educated with white show much the same intelligence.'279 Duff Mac-
Donald anticipated the conclusions of Professor Levy-Bruhl, and answered

ioo GENERAL SURVEY §70

them before they were written. 'Many facts which I shall lay before the
reader', he declares, 'will seem so strange that he may doubt whether
these savages have the same minds as Europeans, whether they reason or
think in the same way at all. After a man has placed himself in their
circumstances, however, and has tried to see and feel as they do, he will
understand all their strangeness. He will even see that it would be still
more strange if their reasonings and conclusions had been different.'280

The American Indians cannot be omitted from this paragraph, because
it is well known that their intelligence was keen and logical. They now take
their part in modern American life as white men, and are members of
modern legislative assemblies. I do not suggest, of course, that member-
ship of a democratic assembly is prima facie evidence of a developed and
cultivated mind, but the fact will illustrate my contention that there is no
inherent difference between the mind of an uncivilized man and the mind
of a civilized man. Peter Jones mentions an Ojibwa who passed first class
out of Cobourg College and wrote original poems.281

Concerning the Hawaiians and Tahitians, Ellis has said: 'That their
mental powers are not inferior to those of the generality of mankind has
been more fully shown since the establishment of schools . . . they acquired
the first rules of arithmetic with an equal facility [as the reading of books]
they certainly appear to possess an aptness for learning and a quickness
in pursuit of it.'282 Who will doubt, if he knows New Zealand, that Elsdon
Best was right when he declared that 'the Maori is mentally acute and pos-
sesses keen powers of comprehension'? 'Quickness in learning', he adds,
'is a marked native characteristic.'283 The same verdict has been pro-
nounced concerning the inhabitants of other Pacific Islands. For instance,
Sir Basil Thomson writes : 'Fijians educated in Sydney have been proved to
be equal to the average ; Tongan boys who have never left the Islands write
shorthand and solve problems in higher mathematics.'284

The evidence is the same from all over the world. The mentality of
uncivilized man is of the same type as the mentality of civilized man, and
those who maintain that it is possible to develop a mentality by mere
education alone would do well to reconsider their position in the light of
the facts revealed in this treatise.

This, however, is not the whole of the evidence.

We have many examples of the power of reason being applied by
'primitive' men to their own institutions. Mutesa, the famous Muganda
king, took an intelligent interest in a wide range of subjects, and delighted
in theological and philosophical discussions. He changed the status of his
own gods and introduced other reforms into his society.285 Finau, a ruling
Tongan chief, made no attempt to hide his disbelief in the established
institutions of his people, and suffered for his openly expressed doubts.286
The revolution in Hawaii to which I have referred (para. 48) was the out-
come of a genuine rational scepticism, and the lady who was discovered as
a stowaway on Captain Cook's second voyage was certainly an incipient

§71 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 101

rationalist. 'She laughed', Forster tells us, 'at the prejudices of her country-
men with all the good sense of a citizen of the world.'287

Similar examples of a rational unorthodoxy could be cited from many
other areas, but I am content to submit these meagre illustrations of a point
which no field-worker would hesitate to grant. One further comment,
however, is necessary. A cultural advance is never uniform throughout
a society. It is seldom that all the members of a rationalistic society are
rationalists. Indeed many members of such a society lag so far behind their
fellows that their cultural condition can be compared to that of the peoples
whom we call uncivilized. When Sir James Frazer speaks of 'simple folk',
he refers not only to savages and primitives in the popular sense of those
terms, but also to the less enlightened members of civilized societies.288
Professor H.J. Rose has remarked that 'the British and Welsh countrysides
preserve for those who have eyes to see them very many customs and pre-
judices which pre-suppose savage mentality'.289 Professor W. McDougall
puts the matter in clear terms when he says that 'the interval between the
modern man of scientific culture and the average citizen of our modern
states is far greater than that between the latter and the savage'.290

There is no reason to suppose, therefore, that the mentality of uncivilized
peoples is different from our own; on the contrary, they are capable of full
development if and when the conditions are satisfied which renders such
development possible. Moreover many members of our own society exhibit
the same tendencies as those which, when observed among dark-skinned
men and women, are said to illustrate the theory that the mentality of the
latter is 'oriented differently from our own'.

71. Summary of the Foregoing. I will summarize the contents of the
foregoing paragraphs.

1 . The evidence afforded by a study of the remaining fifty-nine societies
will be submitted in the same manner as that of the twenty-one societies
discussed in the last chapter, but an attempt will be made to elucidate
those cultural details which will assist an interpretation of the observed
phenomena.

The sexual regulations of some matrilineal matrilocal societies cannot be
fitted to the frame of reference which I have adopted ; thus their culture
will not assist an interpretation of the facts. Many other societies also will
have to be excluded when we discuss the meaning of the evidence, for
either their culture has been fitted to an unacceptable frame or the contexts
in which they used their words have not been explained.

In Africa there is a geographical area which is ethnographically mysterious .

2. Human culture can be divided into definite patterns which are based
on a study of human behaviour, i.e. on rites. There is an intense variety
within these patterns. A change in a cultural pattern is due to a change in
ideas. Behaviour changes when opinions alter.

3 . The basis on which human culture appears to rest is the conception

102

GENERAL SURVEY

§72

of, and reaction against, the strange quality in anything unusual or beyond
comprehension. Opinions change concerning the nature of the something-
beyond-comprehension, and then a revolution takes place in regard to (a)
the conception of the power in the universe, (b) the place in which, and (c)
the agency through which, a right relation is maintained with that power.

I apply the following descriptive terms to the conceptions of uncivilized
men and women : Dead Level of Conception ; Confusion between the One
and the Many; Temporary Distinction between the One and the Many;
Permanent Distinction between the One and the Many. Of these the first
is the most important.

4. The word 'evolution' cannot be employed in reference to human cul-
ture unless it refers to the ebb and flow of the whole cultural process.
Hitherto human culture has been in a continual state of flux, but there is
not, and there never has been, any 'evolution' in the sense of an orderly
progress which proceeds in well-defined stages from a definite point.
Uncivilized societies cannot be placed upon the intermediate rungs of a
cultural ladder between primeval man and twentieth-century white man.

There is no evidence that the magical profession has 'evolved' into
separate orders as the culture of a society advanced. The priest has not
been 'evolved' out of the magician. The source of magical and priestly
power is the same, i.e. possession of or by the power which is manifest in
the universe. The difference between a magician and a priest lies in (1) the
nature of the power, (2) the place or places in which they operate, (3) their
equipment. Since we can never obtain a certain knowledge of (1) apart
from (2), (2) is the only criterion by which we can distinguish the two men.

5. By virtue of their inherent nature the members of the uncivilized
societies discussed in this treatise possessed and possess the capacity to
achieve the highest culture. The less enlightened members of our own
society are on a similar cultural level.

B. MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA

72. Banks Islanders. We are told that among the Banks Islanders
'considerable laxity of intercourse between boys and girls undoubtedly
existed, and unchastity was not very seriously regarded'. W. H. R. Rivers
says that it was usual for the girls to make the first advances. When an
unmarried girl wished to have sexual relations with a certain man, she
communicated her desires to his paternal aunt. Pre-nuptial children (nat
gaegae, child of the thicket) are said to have been rare, but abortion and
infanticide were common.291

The power in the universe was vui. The word seems to have denoted
anything big or weird. Thus, gat was a vocative meaning 'You fellow',
but ne vui gai, 'You exceeding fellow'; lama meant 'large', but vui lama
'exceeding large'. Dr. Codrington states that 'whenever some impressive
touch of natural awe comes upon the native mind it apprehends the presence

§73 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA I03

of vui> . When a native saw 'some new or wonderful foreign work' he cried
'vui\ Whenever vui was present, mana was manifest.292

Vui was also in certain stones or animals : 'Any man may find a stone for
himself, the shape of which strikes his fancy, or some other object, an
octopus in his hole, a shark, a snake, an eel, which seems to him something
unusual. He gets money and scatters it about the stone or on the place
where he has seen the object of his fancy.' The place was then rongo,
sacred', owing to its association with vui. Or a man might happen on a
boulder or on a rock, and, struck by its appearance, he would conclude
that vui was there : 'The stone was then rongo, and the place in which it lay
was rongo ; the man constituted himself the master of the sanctuary ; it was
his marana within which none but himself or those brought in by him
could come.'293

Most men had such a stone or such a sanctuary. The man who possessed
it was mana, and became rich and influential; his neighbour would hear of
his success and come to him in order to obtain a share of his power ; he
might hand on his knowledge to a successor. There was no priestly order,
no sacred building, no public ceremony. The place where the man made
his offering was also called his tano-oloolo, the place of his offering. The
distinction between the marana and the tano-oloolo is not made clear.294

The magician, gismana, was a man who possessed a vui stone or a marana.
To such a man application was made in times of stress and sickness. He
assisted his fellows by manipulating his vui on their behalf. The idea that
vui which was in certain places and things could be extracted by the owner
of that place or thing was the basis on which the whole life of the Banks
Islanders was organized.295 A ghost was tamate, but there was no tendance
or cult,296 though perhaps in the inheritance of a marana we may see the
germ of the cult that existed in the South-east Solomon Islands (para. 33).

The weather was controlled by vui stones. Certain round stones brought
sunshine; other stones made rain; others again collected or dispersed a
wind. The inhabitants had implicit belief in the power of those who pos-
sessed these stones, and on one occasion a party of indignant citizens
attacked the village of a sun-controller because he was causing a drought.297

Thus the Banks Islanders, who permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom,
were in the zoistic condition ; but they were not at a dead level of concep-
tion. The word tamate, which is translated 'ghost' (sing.), seems to have
been used under such circumstances that other observers might have trans-
lated it as 'ghosts' (pi.) or even as 'the dead'. We have no right to conclude
that this was one of its meanings, however, and I make the observation in
order to point out that the choice of the singular or of the plural renderings
is sometimes due to the character of the observer more than to the native
usage.

73. Trobriand Islanders. No difficult problem arises from the study of
the Trobriand Islanders. Professor Bronislaw Malinowski has described

104 GENERAL SURVEY §73

their culture and their customs so fully and so fluently that they have
become a locus classicus of social anthropology. 'Everything which vitally
concerns the native', we are told, 'is accompanied by magic; all economic
activities have their magic; love, welfare of babies, talents and crafts,
beauty and agility — all can be fostered or frustrated by magic; disease,
health or death are also the result of magic or of counter-magic.'298

Professor Malinowski defines magic as 'an attempt to govern the forces
of nature directly by means of special lore' : 'It is a specific power, essentially
human, autonomous and independent in its action.' I have been unable to
discover the native term for magic power, which is said to have been derived
from the possession of spells, which could be transferred to a successor:
'This [magic] power is an inherent property of certain words, uttered by
the man entitled to do it through his social traditions and through certain
observances which he has to keep. The words and acts have this power in
their own right, and their action is direct and not mediated by any other
agency. Their power is not derived from the authority of spirits or demons
or supernatural beings. It is not conceived as having been wrested from
nature. The belief in the power of words and rites as a fundamental and
irreducible force is the ultimate basic dogma of their magical creed.'299

Success in all economic pursuits depended upon the performance of
effective magic : magic dominated the kula, the system of barter conducted
with the inhabitants of adjacent archipelagoes ; a special gebobo magic had
to be sung when the gebobo or main cargo compartment of a ship was being
made ; the kaloma spells had to be recited when the people fished for the
spondylus shell; the lilaua, a bundle of representative trade goods, had its
special song; ka'ulanai was the magic of safety; wayugu denoted the songs
that had to accompany the lashing of a canoe.300 And so on.

In a similar manner, all misfortunes of an incalculable or unusual char-
acter were thought to be due to sorcery. Anti-social activity of any descrip-
tion was balubwalata, a generic term which covered 'all forms of evil magic
and witchery'. It made pigs run from their owners, alienated the affections
of a lover, made a canoe sluggish in the water, afflicted garden produce,
and caused rain and famine. A great deal of trouble was caused to the other
magicians by the activities of the bwagau, who indulged in balubwalata?01
There was no tendance or cult: 'They are completely devoid', Professor
Malinowski says, 'of any fear of ghosts, of any of those uncanny feelings
with which we face the idea of a possible return of the dead ; all their fears
and dread are reserved for black magic.'302 There were no temples.

Concerning the pre-nuptial sexual regulations of the Trobriand Islanders,
Professor Malinowski has written at length. Boys and girls were initiated
into the mysteries of sexual life at an early age ; it was not long before they
were carrying on regular amours. Both sexes were in the habit of organizing
expeditions (ulatila, male ; katuyausi, female) in search of amorous adven-
tures; adolescents entertained their sexual partners in the bachelors' hall.
Such pre-nuptial alliances were usual, but the parties were not allowed to

§74 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA 105

eat together.303 The girl who was delivered of a pre-nuptial child was
regarded with disfavour, but she was not punished. As a rule such a child
was adopted by a married member of her family, the identity of its mother
being kept as secret as possible. Contraceptives were rarely used, Professor
Malinowski says, but abortion seems to have been practised. The dislike
of pre-nuptial children is said to have been due to their fatherless condition.
The islanders were matrilineal, but marriage was patrilocal.304

Thus the Trobriand Islanders were in the zoistic condition; and they
permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom.

Before passing on to New Guinea I wish to notice an important con-
tribution which Professor Malinowski has made to the study of social
anthropology by insisting that the Trobriand Islanders possessed a certain
amount of empirical knowledge. Such common troubles as coughs, colds,
aches and pains, which may have been contracted by exposure, over-
eating, over-strain, or bad food, were not regarded as due to supernormal
causes. Similarly no spells were recited over the little canoes which were
paddled only in the calm sea or in the lagoon, for these did not face the
supernormal dangers of the open sea.305 In the same way, when we were
discussing the treatment of sickness among the three Uganda societies, the
Bakitara, Baganda, and Banyankole (paras. 37-40), we saw that they did
not assume the anger of a ghost unless the sickness did not yield to treat-
ment. Moreover, the propitiation or transference of the ghost did not heal
the disease; it removed the supernormal cause.

This point is important, for it reveals the fact that the methods of treat-
ment which the Trobriand Islanders adopted were based on the amount
of knowledge they possessed or had inherited. Their faith in their medicine-
men was due to nothing but their ignorance. I do not deny that this faith
may have assisted their recovery, but I submit that the limited knowledge
they possessed prevented many recoveries that might have been made if
that knowledge had been more extensive.

It is worth noting that the Trobriand Islanders regarded the disease or
death of a pig as disease or death, simply, that is, part of the inherent
nature of things ; but they considered that a grave human disease or a human
death was due to sorcery.306

74. Kiwai Papuans. Among the Kiwai Papuans, who lived at the mouth
of the Fly River in Papua (British New Guinea), young lovers used to meet,
especially at night. It was regarded, Dr. Landtman says, 'as the natural
course of things that sexual intimacy took place between lovers when they
had a chance'. This sexual freedom seems to have been unlimited, but
since no girl could marry a boy who did not possess a sister whom he could
give in exchange for her, parents were inclined to watch over their daughters
'with extreme care'. This exchange of daughters was a common method
of arranging a marriage, and if, as happened sometimes, a couple had the
temerity to arrange their own marriage, a fight always took place between

I00 GENERAL SURVEY §74

the girl's people and the boy's people. I can find no definite report in
regard to pre-nuptial children.307

The pre-nuptial regulations of the Kiwai Papuans therefore, though they
permitted pre-nuptial freedom, appear to have been such as might have
resulted in a reduction of sexual opportunity if these ideas of parental
control, based on economic considerations, were to have been put into
practice. There seems to have been present among these natives the germ
of the idea that a betrothed girl should confine her sexual activities to the
man whom her parents had chosen for her. The Kiwai Papuans were in
the zoistic cultural condition, but not at a dead level of conception. They
used a different word to denote 'something unusual' from the one they used
in reference to a ghost ; and just as an irregular or occasional continence
might have been compelled without any undue revolution in the social
order, so the nature of some of their rites suggests that they could have been
manistic without any undue revolution in their ideas.

Dr. Landtman remarks: 'They have no systematized ideas as to the
supernatural world in which everybody believes, and no priests. No public
cult exists ; no prayers are said or offerings made in which a larger or smaller
group of the population participated. The conception of spiritual things
differs somewhat from one group, or even individual, to another. Practices
and observances vary still more.'308 'The common name for anything
mysterious' (these are Dr. Landtman's own words) was ebihare (obihare,
obisare); 'any inexplicable noise' also was ebihare; sometimes sacred objects
and medicines also were called by that name.30^ 'An animistic interpreta-
tion' is given to the word by Dr. Landtman, and this inference may have
been responsible for the character of the report concerning the alleged
'Collected Groups of Land Beings', etengena {same, Daudai), ororarora
(Kiwai Islands), the latter being said to have been 'the common name of
a rather indefinite group of beings'.310 It is clear that these words have not
been translated literally, but since we are not told the contexts in which
they were used, we can draw no definite conclusion about them. Perhaps
the conceptions differed in different districts. Anyway, 'every man was his
own priest and also sorcerer'. Other people.joined in his simple rites so
long as it seemed to be of any avail to do so, the details of those rites being
revealed to him in dreams; If he failed, his companions tried some other
form of magic.311 Magic, indeed, was all-powerful. Such activities as
agriculture, hunting, harpooning of dugong and turtle, fishing, and fighting
had to be accompanied by the proper incantations and observances. And
it was as possible for a man to destroy another man's luck as to ensure his
own.312

The usual word for 'ghost' was oboro; another word for 'ghost', marakai
(markai), was applied also to white men. The phrase oboro-tama, 'skin of
oboro\ i.e. clothes, however, suggests that oboro was not applied exclu-
sively to the dead, for apparently it was used in regard to native apparel as
well as to the more extensive garments of the white man. Yet another

§75 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA 10y

word, urio, is translated as 'ghost', though usually as 'soul' ; so it seems that
the full native usage of these words, as well as of etengena and or or ar or a, is
not known to us.313 The living could always control the dead by means of
simple magical expedients. No warrior feared the ghost of a man whom he
had killed, and although the dead were capable of giving advice in dreams
(most Kiwai magical observances seem to have been revealed in dreams)
there was no tendance. Sometimes pieces of food were cast aside for the
dead, but such attentions were individual, irregular, and impulsive; they
were not carried out for any particular purpose.314 Yet the germ of the
ideas which prompt tendance appears to have been present, for the ghost
of a man who had been killed by a crocodile was called sibara-adiri. In
order to lay this fearsome thing, 'the people built a small hut at the place
where the man met his death and put fire inside'.315

The cause of sickness was a matter which the people seem to have been
reluctant to discuss. An illness which was not due to natural causes was
ascribed to sorcery or to 'spirits'. I have already pointed out that in Dr.
Landtman's report a number of different words are translated as 'spirits'
and that their native meaning is uncertain, so it is impossible to say what
word the natives used or to discover the other contexts in which they used
the word which they applied to a sickness. We must simply accept the
report as it is written. 'Spirits' could be kept away by beating drums or by
placing a gope in front of the house. A gope was a piece of wood on which
a human face had been designed : 'gope he look ; he watch ; sick he no can
come'. Internal diseases were treated by methods of a 'magical character'.
Witchcraft was givari. The givari dobo acted as wizard and as medicine-
man, each givari dobo having his own particular methods. 'All the big men'
were givari dobo. Perhaps that is why they were 'big men'.316

Various 'medicines' were employed in weather-control. Sometimes an
old practitioner was entrusted with this important work, but each depart-
ment of weather-control had its specialist, though his operations were not
always as simple as that of the magician who dispersed the rain-clouds by
speaking through a hole in a banana leaf.317

75. Mafulu. Instead of pursuing an easterly course along the southern
coast of Papua, and examining the tribes in geographical order, I propose
to dart straight across the Gulf of Papua into the mountainous interior.
The Mafulu were a tribe who lived there at a point due north of Port
Moresby and due east of the mouth of the Fly River.

Dr. A. C. Haddon has expressed the opinion that the Mafulu 'are essen-
tially a Negrito people, modified to some extent by Papuan and possibly
Papuo-Melanesian influence'.318 The evidence concerning their cultural
condition, scanty though it is, is important. It is yet another instance of the
coincidence of pre-nuptial sexual freedom and the zoistic cultural condition.

Among the Mafulu, Mr. Williamson says, unmarried boys and girls 'are
allowed to associate together, without any special precautions to prevent

#

108 GENERAL SURVEY §76

misconduct, and a good deal of immorality exists'. 'It may certainly be said
that sexual morality among men, women, boys, and girls is very low.' I can
find no mention of their attitude towards pre-nuptial children. Sometimes
a couple were betrothed as children, but the event did not reduce their
sexual opportunity.319

These people neither erected temples nor paid any post-funeral attention
to their dead. Mr. Williamson does not give the native words which he
translates 'spirit', 'ghost', and 'magic man'; but he tells us that 'any place
which has something specially peculiar or unusual in its appearance is likely
to be regarded as the abode of a spirit'. The people seem to have paid no
attention to such places except by walking quickly when they passed them
and by throwing down a piece of grass which had been plucked for the
purpose. As soon as a person was dead, all the men of the village shouted.
'The shout frightens away the ghost.' 'There are no prayers, incantations,
or other ceremonies for the purpose of placating or intimidating or in any
way influencing the ghost.' The dead are said to have become a plant
sometimes, or a shimmering light on the ground.320 Perhaps the truth was
that the Mafulu applied the same word to some dead men, to certain
plants, and to strange light-effects.

Very few incantations seem to have been used by the Mafulu except
when they went hunting or fishing ; these were of a spasmodic and impulsive
character. The 'magic man', whose power came from 'spirits', was thought
to be responsible for 'all serious ailments occurring up to certain ages'.
The same men also attended the sick, employing for this purpose stones
or ashes which had been charged with the magic of their spells. The usual
protection against affliction was a charm or an amulet.321

The 'magic man' who dealt in weather-control merely prophesied the
probable behaviour of the weather. The people, we are told, did not 'expect
him to prevent or bring about rain or in any way hold him responsible
for the weather'.322

76. Pur art. We return to the coast. The culture of the Purari, and
especially that of the Koriki, one of the four tribes which constituted the *
group, possessed many individual characteristics. Fascinating though these
peculiarities are, they must be passed over, for they represent that variety
within the pattern which is an integral part of all uncivilized life but with
which we are not concerned. The Purari were zoistic, but there was current
among them the germ of those ideas which seem to be responsible for the
change to the manistic condition. Fortunately, our chief authority on
Purari culture, Mr. F. E. Williams, speaks throughout in native terms. His
excellent monograph was written in order to describe Purari life as he found
it. He was not concerned with fitting Purari culture to any theoretical
frame.

The power in the universe was itnunu, a word which Mr. Williams makes
no attempt to translate. Sometimes it was qualified according to the place

§76 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA 10g

of manifestation: thus, irimunu, imunu of the bush, erimunu, imunu of the
water, kaieimunu, imunu of the sky. 'Although he uses these suggestive
names', Mr. Williams observes, 'the sensible adult does not believe the
universe to be peopled with a multitude of creatures or spirits called imunu.
On the whole it is safe to regard the word imunu as adjective rather than
substantive. It stands for a quality or a blend of qualities.' 'The essential
feature of the complex', Mr. Williams says, was that the native was in
touch 'with some power which he does not understand and admits that he
does not understand.' The zmwww-quality was manifest in 'certain tangible
objects' which were 'admittedly beyond his understanding'. Such objects
exhibited 'a dangerous potency'. 'The attributes of sacredness, secrecy,
and preciousness are', Mr. Williams thinks, 'possibly derivative.'323

In these passages Mr. Williams is stating in plain terms that the funda-
mental basis of Purari conceptions was the 'something-beyond-comprehen-
sion' which I have already suggested (para. 63) is the basis on which the
three uncivilized cultural conditions rest.

The Purari considered that the dead were of no account: 'When a man
is dead and gone, he is done with.' A man 'dies finish'.324 Yet there was
one curious custom which must be noted, namely the Kairi ceremony, so
called after the man who was reputed to have instituted it. It is reported
to have been general throughout the Purari, but it has been observed
only among the Koriki.

Some few months after the first burial, the skull of a dead man was
exhumed and carried to the house of a relative. The head was kept in the
back of the house and a bowl of food might (but this is uncertain) be placed
near it for a short time. The food is said to have been for the a'avaia, 'soul'
or 'ghost'. When it was decided to hold the Kairi ceremony, all exhumed
heads were taken to the ravi, men's house ; they were decorated and then
placed in a row. A great feast was held and food was offered to the heads ;
pigs and dogs were slaughtered once more when the skulls were reinterred.
Then the ceremonial leader cried: 'Depart now for good and all. Never
return to our village. All these bodies of pigs and dogs are for you. Now
I bury you under the ground. You are done with for ever.'325

I do not think that we should be wrong if we interpreted this action as
evidence that the idea which might have promoted tendance existed. The
custom cannot be called tendance, for the offerings were not definitely
post-funeral; nor was it practised universally; but it seems only a short
step from the Kairi ceremony to placing food upon a platform or in a grave-
house. The ceremony is noteworthy also because it provides a valid
instance of a new rite which was introduced into a society by a single
individual.

The treatment of sickness consisted of either common-sense cures or
magical performances. Special objects, ruimunu, imunu of the palm spathe,
were used as charms to defend pigs against disease. The wizard, ivavi, does
not seem to have been feared greatly; the people were indifferent to the

no GENERAL SURVEY §77

fate of their body refuse and clippings. Opinions varied concerning the
cause of death, which might, or might not, be due to ivavi. The dapuy
medicine-man, indulged in magical cures which seem to have been invented
ad hoc, and the Kaieimunu (the word was applied to some wicker-work
figures as well as to the sky; see n. 323) might reveal the cause of a stub-
born sickness, and even bring it about.326

If rain held off, a keen gardener would belabour a large tree (imunu-tree ?)
with a stick, and continue daily until rain came ; this method of rain-making
had never been known to fail. Professional rain-makers were rare (Mr.
Williams was acquainted only with three), and for the most part the Purari
seem to have thought that rain and sunshine came of their own accord.
Rain-making seems to have been regarded as an affliction rather than a
blessing, for we read that 'rain-making was not a common charge; should
there be a downpour, a man does not leap to the conclusion that it has been
precipitated by some vile sorcerer'.327

The zoistic Purari are said to have 'severely deprecated loose conduct
in unmarried girls', but 'there was certainly opportunity for sexual gratifica-
tion placed before the young men'. Youths visited their betrothed at night.
I can find no statement concerning pre-nuptial children, but abortifacients
and contraceptives, both magical and mechanical, were common. The
report, however, may apply only to married women. We are told also that
'the unmarried girl was allowed no loose conduct', and that no unmarried
girl was allowed to take part in the amina ceremony, during which married
people had sexual relations with pre-arranged extra-matrimonial partners.
Probably the phrase 'the morals of the Purari were very lax' refers to this
ceremony. It is not definitely so stated, but it seems that unmarried girls
who were betrothed usually confined their sexual activities to their be-
trothed. Child betrothals were common.328

The reported care of the girls is not evidence of occasional compulsory
continence, but it is clear that a girl might have been required to reserve
herself for her betrothed without any undue revolution of the social order.

77. Koita. Among the Koita, who lived in the neighbourhood of Port
Moresby, girls were 'habitually unchaste' ; continence was almost unknown.
Many girls received their lovers at night in their parents' houses, and
although it was customary for the youth to take his departure before day-
light, nothing but a little chaff resulted if he over-slept. Marriage was
neither suggested nor desired by either party. A proposal of marriage might
be made by the girl, and her lover might assent ; in that case, the nocturnal
meetings continued. If, however, the boy did not wish to marry, he
assented at the time and then sent his special friend, henamo, to say that
he did not desire to marry after all. As a rule, sexual relations then ceased.
Illegitimate children were rare, and, although abortion was practised, it
was less common than might have been supposed.329

The word for 'soul' was sua. When a man was sick or died, his sua left

§78 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA XI1

him. If the proper funeral rites had been carried out, the sua of a dead
man was absolutely harmless. No post-funeral attention was paid to any
dead man, and after the final feast a surviving brother cried : 'We have
eaten for andin remembrance of the dead. Now let us worry no more about
him since he has ceased from among us.'330 There were no temples.

A power called tabu is said to have been manifest in certain places, which
were identified by the occurrence of sickness or death after camping, eating,
sitting, or urinating there. Tabu is reported to have existed also in a hill
surrounded by dense jungle, in certain snakes, in a snake-hole, and in a
large tree. The reports, however, are scanty. Charms and magic stones
created fertility, assisted love affairs, and controlled the weather; they
also assisted all forms of hunting and fishing.331

The incantations which were sung over a sick man constituted his cure.
The native terms for 'sorcerer' and 'medicine- woman' are not given. If the
labour was difficult, and the ordinary methods of treatment had failed,
a medicine- woman attended a confinement.332

Thus the Koita were pre-nuptially sexually free, zoistic, and in no way
remarkable. We will pass on to the Mailu, who lived along the coast still
farther east.

78. Mailu. Among the Mailu the young boys and girls were free to
choose their lovers. No girl, we are told, was a virgin when she was
betrothed. The custom of having a lover was vivi\ usually the girl took the
initiative. Marriage was neither expected on the one side nor intended on
the other. Professor Malinowski passes a more gentle judgement on the
native conduct than does the Rev. W. J. V. Savile, and it is from him that
we learn of the blame which attached to a girl who changed her lover too
often. He says also that as soon as a girl was betrothed her sexual activities
ceased until actual marriage. Illegitimate children appear to have been
rare, but contraception and abortion are said to have been common.333

The Mailu maintained a right relation with the powers in the universe
(apparently these were rather vaguely conceived) by means of spells, uura.
The power of the spell was the basis on which their practices were founded :
'Apart from the spell practical magic is ineffective.' Each individual pos-
sessed his own spells for his fishing, gardening, and hunting; he handed
them on, with their tapu attached to them, to a successor. The rainfall
seems to have been adequate and regular, and I can find no mention of
weather magic. Mr. Savile, however, emphasizes the part which the
'unknown' played in Mailu life.

The people had to observe gora and sora (tora), social and individual
tapu. The former included those things forbidden by the will of man as
well as those interdictions that rested upon a supernatural sanction. The
nature of those sanctions among the Mailu is somewhat obscure. One of
the main purposes of the more common forms of gora seems to have been
to protect the fruit of a cocoa-nut tree over which an individual possessed

112 GENERAL SURVEY §79

exclusive rights. The word sora (tor a) was also applied to the things for-
bidden to the owner of a particular spell. The efficacy of the spell depended
upon the observance of these taboos.334

The native words for 'soul' and 'ghost' are uncertain; at any rate, they
are variously reported. 'Whether or not the natives are afraid of the dead,'
Professor Malinowski remarks, 'at least immediately after death, must be
left open'; but he was told, he says, 'unanimously and emphatically', that
ghosts were 'absolutely innocuous'. Mr. Savile also is explicit on the point :
'Ghosts of the dead are apparently unknown to our people.' 'We know
nothing of ghosts,' the people declared, 'they belong to another world.'
Thus there was no tendance and no cult. If, indeed, the Mailu had had
any such intention, they had ample opportunity to put it into action, for
two or three months after burial the head was cut off from an exhumed
corpse and placed in a basket which was kept in the house. While it was
there it was affectionately regarded but not propitiated or conciliated.335

According to Mr. Savile, 'all sickness and death was attributed to bar an
or karaveni\ the wizard and the witch. No care, however, was taken of
body refuse or clippings. The counter-magic of the vara, medicine-man,
was called capu ; like the barau, the vara relied upon spells. It is interesting,
and perhaps important, to note that the man who was vara to the members
of his own clan was barau to the members of another clan, and vice versa.336
It is such facts as these which militate strongly against the idea of social
evolution which I criticized in para. 66. The fact that the Todas applied
different terms to the wizard and the medicine-man has been quoted by
Sir James Frazer in support of the idea that a differentiation of the various
branches of the magical profession takes place as a society evolves. The
Mailu also used separate words for the two men, but the words did not
denote two branches of the magical profession. The activities of a vara were
the same as those of a barau.

Thus the Mailu were another zoistic people, and once more we have to
note the coincidence of that cultural condition with pre-nuptial freedom.

The last New Guinea society with which we deal is that of the Orakaiva.
The Orakaiva inhabited the northern district of Papua.

79. Orakaiva (Binandele-speaking tribes). Mr. F. E. Williams has written
his reports on the Orakaiva from the point of view of Government Anthro-
pologist. Admittedly it is his duty, as Government Anthropologist, to
assist 'the material and moral well-being and the social progress of the
inhabitants', and it is incumbent on him, if such are his views, to state
a case for native peasant proprietorship, and even to declare that Chris-
tianity should be introduced in 'a very plastic and adaptable form'; but
from the point of view of a student who wishes to learn the character of the
native culture it is unfortunate that in his study of the Orakaiva Mr. Wil-
liams discarded the methods he adopted so successfully in his monograph
on the Purari. That excellent monograph is a model of exact description

§79 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA n3

based on personal observation; Mr. Williams was content to record the
results of his researches without theorizing about them ; but in his reports
on the tribes which inhabited the northern division of Papua he has inter-
laced his inferences with the facts. Interpretation of 'mental attitudes'
accompanies, and almost replaces, the bare record ; and a clear understand-
ing of Orakaiva culture is almost impossible.

This is particularly the case with the passages in which Mr. Williams
describes the attention which may have been paid to the dead. These rites
are of vital importance to us, and a mere description of the native practices
would be difficult enough, for they are baffling and puzzling; but when we
have to extract the facts from a maze of psychological interpretation the
task is unenviable. Mr. Williams tries to 'account for a belief; he makes
little attempt to describe either the belief or the rite based upon it. He
describes 'the mental and moral attitude towards the dead' ; the rites which
were conducted in honour of the dead are only implied or mentioned en
passant. These rites may have deserved the label 'hocus-pocus' which
Mr. Williams attaches to them, but it is important to know exactly what
they were, and I am not sure that it is possible to separate the inferences
from the facts. Nor am I alone in doubting whether the precise truth has
been reported. Mr. Williams himself seems to realize that the character
of his statements has been influenced by his interpretations. For instance,
we are told that when a man was dead, he was sovai. For this reason the
word sovai is translated both 'ghost' (sing.) and 'spirits of the dead' (pi.) ;
we are told also that sovai was conceived as (i) immaterial but retaining
human characteristics, (2) taking the concrete form of a beast, reptile, or
fish, (3) a semi-human monster inhabiting the bush; but, Mr. Williams
adds, 'it might be nearer the truth to say that there are imaginary monsters,
fiends, hobgoblins, to whom the name sovai was extended, and who are thus
identified with the spirits of the dead'. The confession is welcome, for it
reveals that Mr. Williams was conscious of having confused the meaning
of sovai with the phenomena to which it was applied, but I confess I cannot
estimate the amount of inference which the report contains. Can it be
merely that the word sovai was applied to the dead (or a corpse), to some
animals, and to some quality which was manifest in some natural phenomena ?
Has the application of sovai to a dead man caused Mr. Williams to translate
it as 'ghost' and then to conclude that all the other phenomena to which
it was applied were 'identified' with the dead ? I confess to grave doubts on
the matter, and these doubts are increased when I read that most of the
sicknesses which were ascribed to 'ghosts' were caused by sovai in some
animal form. Can it be that the sickness was sovai, simply? The applica-
tion of the same term to different phenomena does not involve their
identification, and though Mr. Williams declares that the beliefs were
'confused and indefinite' I am not sure that the confusion does not exist
only in his translations and interpretations.

During recent years the northern district of Papua has been the scene of

1

H4 GENERAL SURVEY §79

spasmodic outbursts of religious fanaticism. Newly invented cults (pro-
ducts of an individual mind, be it noted) have spread like a prairie fire, and
have been extinguished with all speed by an active Government. Nineteen
years ago the baigona-cult (snake-cult) was in vogue ; the influence it exer-
cised was still apparent when Mr. Williams visited the area. One of the
salient points of the baigona-cult was that 'a great variety of animals and
reptiles were held sacred'. We are not told the native word which is trans-
lated 'sacred,'. It may have been sovai, for apparently the baigona magicians
were the only men who could cure a sickness which had been caused by
sovai; they expelled it from the body. When the baigona-cult was stamped
out by the Government another cult, the taro-cult, arose from its ashes
and spread in its turn. The taro-cult was inaugurated by a man who
claimed to be possessed by the 'spirit of the tar 6' and the cult is reported
vaguely as the 'worship' or 'placation' of the taro. The native term for the
'spirit' of the taro was asisi (atiti), which is also translated as 'soul', 'shadow',
or 'double'. When it was applied to a man it is said to have referred to the
double which was seen, or had experiences, in dreams.

Such are the bare facts in regard to these two cults. Now Mr. Williams
says that (1) the converts to the taro-cult changed its significance and trans-
formed it from a 'worship' of the taro into the worship of the 'spirits of the
dead', (2) the word asisi was supplanting the word sovai as the term for
'ghost'. But there are difficulties. The word sovai was used only by the
Aiga tribe (whom Mr. Williams seems to have known better than the other
tribes); in Binandele the word was bind, Wasida emtahi, Hunjara siango.
The taro-cult originated near the mouth of the Mambari River in the
Binandele country. Every native must have known that atiti was the Binan-
dele form of asisi and that bind was the Binandele form of sovai. How then
can Mr. Williams say that asisi was supplanting sovai} If Binandele
influence were responsible for supplanting an Aiga word, surely the new
word would have been bind, not asisi. Again, is it not curious that the
converts to a new cult should change its significance in the manner which
Mr. Williams suggests ? Can it be that his translations are responsible for
this strange phenomenon ? I have suggested that sovai did not mean 'ghost',
and that it was merely applied to the dead, as well as to some animals and
other phenomena. Thus I am inclined to accept his statement that asisi
was supplanting sovai, but not as meaning 'ghost'. I think that his sugges-
tions (1) that asisi was changing its meaning into 'ghost', (2) that the taro-
cult was changing its form and becoming a worship of the dead, are both
inferences from a false translation of sovai as 'ghost'.337

These comments will illustrate the amount of inference and inter-
pretation which is contained in Mr. Williams's report. The following
description of Orakaiva culture is offered, and should be received, with
reserve.

After a corpse had been exposed on a sloping platform, bahari, it was
placed in a grave, use. Then 'an elderly man' exclaimed: 'Go now . . .

§79 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA II5

where there are neither mosquitoes nor marsh-flies, but where there are
tar os and pigs. Send us pigs and send us taws and we shall make a feast
in your honour.' After the final mortuary ceremony the chief man of the
village cried out the names of all the recently deceased men and bade them
go down into the sea and turn into sovai creatures, crocodiles, sharks, or
water-snakes. We are not told the native words of this speech, and I cannot
tell how much inference the report contains, but 'after this, the sovai* (here
meaning 'ghosts') 'would be afraid to remain in the neighbourhood'.338

This suggests that the living controlled the dead by mere word of mouth,
but I have found a passing reference to two practices which suggest a
nascent tendance, (i) Pent—- some young men used to perambulate the
village carrying a pig on a pole or some cooked food in a dish. They beat
drums as they proceeded. At every house they either laid the pig for a
moment on the verandah or left there a morsel of cooked food. It is said
that this ceremony was designed to placate sovai, which were thought to
be haunting their old homes. We are not told whether the custom was
regular and universal, or whether it was carried out only after a display
of sovai malignancy. 'In the main', we are told, 'it was only the more
recently deceased dead who were thought to frequent the village.' (2) The
following casual mention of a rite, which might be important, accompanies
a photograph: 'Both in the gardens and in the villages may be seen small
platforms, harau, of food offerings, sometimes with miniature ladders of
the most fragile construction, to assist the sovai in climbing up.' We are
not told whether the practice was regular or whether Mr. Williams came
across an isolated instance and was impressed by it.339

On this evidence, did the Orakaiva practise ancestor-tendance ? I confess
that I am unable to answer the question. I incline to a tentative affirmative.
I can extract from the reports no more reliable facts in regard to the treat-
ment of the dead.

The weather was controlled by magic, but no magician could affect the
sunshine or the rain which had been manufactured by a fellow worker ; his
powers were limited to the control of the natural elements. Sometimes
garden magic and other forms of magic were revealed in dreams by the dead.
As a rule the failure of any crop was attributed to witchcraft.340 Sickness,
ambu, is said to have been regarded as intrusive, so the methods of treat-
ment were necessarily expulsive. A sickness due to witchcraft (inta, kai>
saruka) could not be cured by counter-magic; the wizard had to be pre-
vailed upon to relent. 'Natural' illnesses were treated by the Orakaiva in as
'natural' a manner as their conceptions of the natural allowed, but, as I have
already said, only a baigona could treat a person who was afflicted by sovai.
Usually, we are told, it was the sovai animals, which the baigona wizards
had made sovai , which caused such affliction.341

In regard to sexual matters, Mr. Williams discusses sexual conduct
rather than sexual regulation and has described the conduct of the Orakaiva
in exceedingly vague terms. Some checks seem to have been placed upon

Il6 GENERAL SURVEY §80

the young people, but I am unable to say what they were. 'Young people
do not give their passions an entirely free rein' is as explicit a statement
as I can find. During the initiation ceremony, we are told, 'morality is
loosened'. The phrase is not helpful. Apparently there was some promis-
cuous intercourse between the men and women who had been initiated on
a previous occasion. The following passage also applies to this subject:
'There is no actual prohibition against sexual freedom before marriage
but it is nevertheless regarded as the proper thing to abstain.' Mr. Wil-
liams considers that it is at least 'partly true' that unmarried boys and girls
slept together 'for nothing'. 'I am convinced', he says, 'that a great deal
of the love-making, even the sleeping together, is innocent.'342 Maybe;
but we can hardly evaluate the sexual opportunity of the young people
from such declarations.

I will summarize the information which is afforded by a study of these
eight societies.

80. Summary and Chart. Let us leave the Orakaiva on one side for a
moment and consider the other seven societies, Banks Islanders, Tro-
briand Islanders, Kiwai Papuans, Mafulu, Purari, Koita, and Mailu. Pre-
nuptial sexual freedom was permitted among them, and they were without
exception in the zoistic cultural condition ; that is to say, they neither erected
buildings in which they maintained a right relation with the powers in the
universe, nor paid any post-funeral attention to the dead. This is the one
definite fact which emerges from an analysis of the facts.

It would be wrong, of course, to conclude that the pre-nuptial regulations
of all these societies were identical; they merely conformed to the same
pattern. The evidence is not sufficiently exact to warrant a closer analysis.
At the same time, indications are not lacking that some differences existed
between them. The system of early betrothal and girl-exchange which was
in vogue among the Kiwai Papuans may have caused the young people to
place some checks upon the impulses which they might have indulged if
the relations between the sexes had been regulated in a different manner ;
and it is plain that the Purari girl, and therefore also the Purari boy, was
not afforded the same complete sexual opportunity which was enjoyed, for
instance, by the Mafulu youths. The strength of this evidence is not great,
and we cannot place these two societies in a different category from the
others, but if I were asked to select from these seven societies those which
showed signs of reducing the pre-nuptial sexual opportunity of their mem-
bers, I should choose the Kiwai Papuans and the Purari. And then, from
the knowledge which these researches have afforded me, I should predict
that in all probability their customs would reveal signs of a cultural advance
in the sense in which I am using the term.

(Parenthetically, I think that the indefinite character of our knowledge in
regard to the sexual regulations of uncivilized peoples is due, in no small
measure, to our tendency to study only sexual conduct. Most natives are

§80 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA H7

sufficiently quick-witted to realize that a white man is not reluctant to make
a moral judgement, and, though we may not be flagrantly censorious, there
are few of us who can discuss sexual conduct with complete detachment.
The native is soon conscious of this mood, and the paucity of our informa-
tion may be due to a reluctance on the part of the native to discuss the
matter with those whose standpoint is so different from his own. If our
inquiries were to be directed towards regulations rather than conduct, we
should not only increase the quality of our data, but also find, I think, that
we possessed some valuable evidence which was capable of more exact
classification.)

It would be equally wrong to conclude that the cultural practices of these
seven societies were similar because they were in the same cultural condi-
tion; they merely conformed to the same pattern. Here again the evidence
could have been more minutely examined if the actions of the natives had
been described at greater length and if their opinions had been less fully
interpreted and adjudged. Yet it is possible to select from the seven
societies those of which the reported practices were of such a character as
to reveal where the differences in those practices lay. It is to the Kiwai
Papuans and the Purari that I refer. If the ideas that prompted the atten-
tion which the Kiwai Papuans paid to sibara-adiri, and which were respon-
sible for the inauguration of the Kairi ceremony among the Purari, were
given a slightly extended operation, probably there would ensue such post-
funeral rites as would have to be classified as tendance. No such ideas were
current among the Mafulu, for instance, who experienced no sexual checks
of any kind ; and though I have no desire to emphasize the importance of
these vague indications the coincidence is sufficiently remarkable to deserve
mention.

It is noteworthy that the Mafulu should regard the body of a 'chief (the
term is too vague to justify the omission of the inverted commas) as worthy
of a special ceremony. If Mr. Williamson has interpreted its meaning
correctly, the custom might be a good starting-point for an inquiry into the
identity of those men who have been the subject of post-funeral attention.
I suspect that in the majority of cases there has been tendance only of those
men whose manner of birth, life, or death was in some way supernormal.
The attention which the Kiwai Papuans paid to sibara-adiri supports this
suggestion. I discuss the subject later (para. 149).

None of these societies was at a dead level of conception; but the words
applied to the dead (or to corpses) are confusing ; and there is no information
concerning the contexts in which the words were used. Moreover there
is some danger that the meaning of a word may have been confused with
the phenomena to which it was applied. Bad translations also complicate
our studies. The descriptions of Banks Island culture, for instance, have
been confused by the employment of such question-begging terms as
'sacrifice' and 'prayer' ; and we do not know the contexts in which the word
tamate was employed. I suspect also that the Trobriand Island word

Il8 GENERAL SURVEY §80

baloma may have been used under a variety of circumstances of which we
are ignorant. The Kiwai oboro and the Purari a'avaia cannot be elucidated
without further evidence. It seems doubtful whether the translation of the
Koita word sua as 'ghost' is accurate, if by that term we understand the
new identity which is thought to be assumed by a man after death.

It is only among the Banks Islanders and the Purari that the term is
given which reveals the source of magic power. This was vui and imunu,
respectively. In each case the word was applied to 'something-beyond-
comprehension'. Among the Trobriand Islanders and the Mailu, of whom
Professor Malinowski has written, the possession of spells gave their owners
magic power ; but we are not told the word which the natives applied to the
power which the spells contained. Similarly, the knowledge revealed to
him in a dream must have possessed in the eyes of a Kiwai Papuan a power
for which he had a name ; but the word is not given. No information of
any certain character is available on this point concerning the Koita and
the Mafulu.

Only in three cases can we come to any definite conclusion concerning
the nature of the power in the universe. In each case the power was
manifest only in anything unusual or supernormal, i.e. Banks Island vuiy
Kiwai ebihare, and Purari imunu. In the opinion of the Mafulu, too,
'spirits' existed only in places which were 'specially peculiar or unusual'.

In regard to the Orakaiva, who are in many ways the most interesting
people of the eight, there is only one observation to make: more evidence
is required. The interpretation of mental attitudes which has obscured the
facts on which it was based ; the casual mention of such important rites as
those connected with the harau; the revolutions caused by the successful
inauguration of the baigona-cult, and its successor, the taro-cult; the
strange conclusions submitted to us concerning the use of the words sovai
and asisi; the differences which seem to have existed between the four
tribes, Binandele, Aiga, Wasida, and Hunjara; the fact that most of the
available information appears to apply almost exclusively to the Aiga,
whereas the new cults seem to have originated among the Binandele ; the
scanty reports concerning the pre-nuptial regulations of the various tribes
— all these things, and many more, necessitate a suspension of judgement.
This is peculiarly unfortunate, for the Orakaiva may be a living instance of
a society which is changing its cultural condition as the result of a spon-
taneous outburst of energy on the part of a minority of its members. They
are of terrific anthropological importance; and no doubt we shall be given,
in due course, more details concerning their rites and regulations, together
with a description of the place in which, and the circumstances under
which, the evidence was obtained. As it is, I incline to think that they
exhibited a nascent tendance. The verdict, however, is subject to
revision.

The control of the weather does not seem to have been a matter of great
moment to the people of Papua, but this opinion may be a false deduction

§81 MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA U9

from the somewhat fragmentary nature of the evidence. In order to create
rain, wind, or sunshine the Banks Islanders relied on vui stones, the
Trobriand Islanders on 'magic'.

The facts may be stated diagrammatically thus :

MELANESIA AND NEW GUINEA

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

i

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

IO

ii

Banks Islanders

Z

+

+

+

+

Trobriand Islanders

Z

+

+

Kiwai Papuans

Z

+

+

+

Mafulu ....

Z

+

Purari ....

Z

+

Koita ....

Z

+

+

Mailu ....

Z

+

o

o

Orakaiva ....

M?

+

+

T?

_ ?

C. EASTERN AFRICA

81. Comments on the African Evidence. The comments which I have
made in regard to the nature of some anthropological material must not be
misunderstood. They are born of a conviction that social anthropology can
be a more exact study ; any criticism I may make must be interpreted in the
light of a desire for greater precision both in thought and in expression.
One of the outstanding characteristics of Oceanic anthropology is the
intensive study of limited areas; in this manner Oceania has become the
most important of all anthropological areas. The sound technique adopted
by the Cambridge Expedition to the Torres Straits, the genius of R. H.
Codrington, and the enthusiastic, scholarly enterprise of such energetic
organizations as the Polynesian Society, are the foundations on which a
mass of reliable material has been assembled. Oceanic culture is compli-
cated, but the student who is willing to plod through the literature can
learn its character. Unfortunately the same remark does not apply to
many other parts of the world.

When we turn to Africa, for instance, we are confronted with a very
different state of things. There are few African tribes which have been

120 GENERAL SURVEY §81

studied with the care and patience which have been bestowed upon the
Trobriand Islanders, the Purari, and the Kiwai Papuans; Africa has not
yet secured its Dr. A. C. Haddon, who will energize its field-workers,
advise concerning expeditions, and encourage despairing observers; and
although Sir A. B. Ellis played the part of a Codrington to the Gold and
Slave Coasts, the remainder of the continent was not blessed by the atten-
tion of an early and scholarly interpreter. Of the twenty-one African
societies with which we are concerned, only a few are really well known.
Indeed sometimes we must rely upon the testimony of those who did not
speak the language of the people about whom they have written. Native
conceptions have been separated from the rites based upon them; these
conceptions have been described in the language of Christian philosophy ;
in some cases native incantations have even been translated into the
rhythm and phraseology of a Christian evangelical hymn-book. I do not
deny the value of this literature. My point is that it has a romantic rather
than a scientific interest.

African religion is popularly known as ' ancestor- worship'. The verdict is
neither more true nor more false than most generalizations about uncivi-
lized peoples. Strictly speaking, however, the term 'ancestor- worship'
enjoys a wider currency than the facts warrant. In Africa, as in Melanesia,
the people occupied varying positions in the cultural scale, and, though the
majority of our twenty-one African societies were in the manistic condition,
there were several examples of deistic, and one of zoistic, culture. The
idea that the religion of the African was a form of 'ancestor- worship' has
become so common that these differences are sometimes overlooked. There
is, indeed, a great danger that a rite will be described as 'ancestor- worship'
simply and solely because it takes place in Africa. Moreover, the alleged
ubiquity of ancestral practices has caused some writers to apply the term
to certain parts of the burial ceremonies, which, if they had been observed
in any other part of the world, would almost certainly have been called by
another name. Sometimes we read of a 'developed ancestor- worship' ; but
no attempt is made to define the word 'developed'. It is imperative,
therefore, that the definitions which we have formulated should be remem-
bered and applied.343

Since we classify our societies according to their rites, there will be no
need to describe, or even to notice, those nebulous conceptions of otiose
'Supreme Beings' which have been credited to the Bantu mind. The mere
fact that no rites were conducted in their honour excludes them from the
scope of this treatise. I make, however, some comments on them in the
notes.

Of the twenty-one societies, the Banyankole, Bakitara, Baganda, Ibibio,
and Yoruba (paras. 37-9, 41-2) have been discussed. The remaining
sixteen will be studied in three groups :

1. Eastern Africa: Shilluk; Dinka; Lango; Akikuyu; Akamba; Nandi;
Masai.

§82 EASTERN AFRICA 121

2. Area of Profound Mystery : Awemba ; Baila ; Baronga ; Amazulu ; Basuto.

3. Matrilineal Societies: Wayao and Anyanja (near Lake Nyasa); Daho-
mans and Ashanti (West Africa).

The native terms are easy to remember. The most important words in
the study of the first group were jok (jwok), mulungu, and ngai.

82. Shilluk (Shullas). The Shilluk, or Shullas, were a remarkable
people; their customs are of great importance. They were manistic, yet
almost deistic.

The manner in which the Shilluk ret, 'king', succeeded to the leadership
of the society, and the strange way in which he was killed lest he should
become old and decrepit while holding the reins of office, have played a
large part in Sir James Frazer's submissions concerning the 'divine king'
and the 'dying god'; but there is reason to believe that the cult of the ret
had not the importance in Shilluk life with which sometimes it has been
credited, and we must consider the practices of the society as a whole if we
are to estimate accurately its cultural condition.344

The power in the universe was jwok. The word is said to have been
applied to sickness, a sudden or violent death, and 'any being with more
than natural powers'. In reference to jwok, the Shilluk used the word
lamo, 'to conjure'; thus an exertion of magic power or influence is im-
plied. In reference to their dead ret, however, they employed the term
kwacho, 'to ask for, to beg'; this implies a cult of the dead. The term for
a magician was ajwogo, 'one who was dependent on jwok\ According to
Professor Westermann, it was through the agency of the ajwogo (pi. ajwuk)
that the people approached Nyakang, and other dead ret. The ajwogo
could procure or prevent rain, protect cattle by charms, heal sickness,
'perform miracles', and kill men by witchcraft. When possessed by jwok,
an ajwogo 'became ecstatic'.345 Professor Seligman states that the ajwogo
'have in them the spirit of dead kings'. (In spite of the fact that ajwogo
possessed a plural form, ajwuk, Professor Seligman often employs the
singular form in a plural context.) Throughout the literature on the Shil-
luk we read of 'the spirits of dead kings' and 'the spirits of the dead', but
our authorities never quote the native word which they are translating.
A comparison of Professor Seligman's report with that of Professor
Westermann suggests that the word was jwok. This conclusion is supported
by Professor Seligman's remark that 'the entry into the body of the spirit
of their kings was the commonest cause of sickness'. Usually, as we have
seen, the cause of sickness was thought to be jwok, and it seems almost
certain that when Professor Seligman speaks of 'the spirit of dead kings'
he is referring to jwok.346

Usually the ret, who used to be an autocrat, is called a 'king'. It is prefer-
able, however, to speak of the ret, simply. Nyakang is reputed to have
been the first ret, and since his day there are said to have been twenty ret,
representing eleven generations. The grave of a ret was called kengo, as

122 GENERAL SURVEY §82

opposed to that of a commoner, which was roro. The word kengo was
applied also to the house erected over the grave of a ret, and, moreover, to
the other houses of a similar character erected in honour of the ret in other
villages and districts. In all kengo, the power of the dead ret was thought
to be manifest.347

Thus the cenotaphic kengo was a building which was specially erected
for the maintenance of a right relation with the dead ret. Since it was
known to the natives as a 'grave', and not as a 'god-house', it does not come
within our definition of the word 'temple'; but clearly it is a border-line
case, and the Shilluk kengo is an important link in the chain of evidence
which reveals the development of the temple from 'something unusual'.
A kengo was always kept in good repair, whether it was a real 'grave' or not ;
no one was allowed to enter its enclosure except those who took care of the
building and kept it clean. It was like an ordinary house, but smaller and
more slender, though larger and more elaborate examples were not un-
known. Nyakang and his son Dag are said to have possessed more kengo
than the other ret, but every ret seems to have been honoured by attentions
at his kengo. Since, however, the researches of our authorities have not
been exhaustive, it is impossible to say over how large an area the cult of
any particular ret extended.348

The people who looked after the kengo are reported to have been (1) old
women, (2) wives of the dead ret, (3) bang ret (pi. oting ret), servant or
servants of the ret. The women seem to have been the only permanent
personnel. The bang ret was prominent because the dead ret was manifest
in him. We have seen that the ajwogo was a person who became ecstatic,
was 'possessed' by a dead ret, and acted as the agency through which the
people approached the ret. According to Dr. Oyler, the bang ret also, 'ser-
vant of the king', was 'possessed' by a dead ret. 'The beginning of the
possession', he says, 'is indicated by hysteria. When a person first shows
these signs, they send for a recognized servant of that king. The spirit is
able to tell the people what king he represents.' If the patient was curable,
the spirit was said to have been 'driven out'; but if the possession was
complete and permanent, measures were taken to initiate the man 'into the
order of the servants of the king'. We are not told what those measures
were, but they are immaterial, the point being that the power of the ajwogo
and of the bang ret had an identical origin, jwok. Thus the source of magical
power among the Shilluk was the possession of or by the power in the
universe. The difference between an ajwogo and a bang ret seems to have
been this : they were both ecstatic, but while the cause of the ecstasy of the
former was said to have been jwok, simply, the cause of the ecstasy of the
latter was the possession of his body by the 'spirit' {jwok) of a particular
dead ret.

The identification of the two men follows also from their activities. The
ajwogo protected the cattle, treated sickness, and 'performed miracles';
the bang ret cast birds out of people, divined by cowrie shells the identity

§82 EASTERN AFRICA I23

of the 'spirit' (}jwok) which was drawing away the spirit of a sick child,
held converse with the family dead, transferred sickness to a sheep which
then was placed in the river and carried away by the current, and killed
the sacrifices which were offered to the dead ret at his kengo. His chief
work, indeed, was to cure disease, and the passage in which this state-
ment occurs is worth quoting verbatim : 'An indication of the fact that the
power of Nikawg [i.e. Nyakang] among the Shilluk is not as great as their
professions would indicate is furnished by comparing the servants of
the king with the witch-doctors. They work along the same lines, but the
power of the witch-doctors is greater. The chief work of the servants of the
king is to cure disease. The so-called cures are nearly always of a magical
nature.'349

Nyakang, Dag, and the other dead ret, but especially Nyakang, were
approached in times of sickness and stress, when a drought caused the
cattle to die and the crops to fail, and at harvest time ; but the attentions
paid to them and the petitions addressed to them were neither paid nor
addressed to them exclusively. Other powers also manifested themselves
to the Shilluk, viz. 'the ancestors and the dead chief of the village'. These
were regarded by many members of the society as equally deserving of
sacrifices and equally able to grant the desired boon. In fact, Nyakang
appears to have been merely primus inter pares. First-fruits may have been
reserved for him ; offerings may have been made to him in times of sickness
and distress ; food may have been placed in his kengo ; but 'similar offerings
were made to the other kings and might be made to an ancestor'.350

Tendance seems to have been usual and regular. Dr. Oyler says: 'Food
was placed often on the grave of a deceased person to appease or reward
the dead. Sometimes food was placed in the house of the deceased. Food
was not placed on the grave for a long period except on the grave of strong
leaders and kings. In the case of kings they are fairly regular in taking
food to the graves. In the case of ordinary people they usually only remem-
ber to take them when they are asking for help. When the dead are hostile
they may be appeased by having honour shown to their memory. Practi-
cally all their prayers are addressed to the spirits. Prayers are largely
addressed to the dead kings. They have the right to pray to the dead chief.
They can pray to a deceased person and other relatives.'351

I think that the curious phraseology of those sentences reveals the truth
of Shilluk culture. Some people did one thing, some did another. They
paid attention to their ancestors, and to their great leaders who were dead,
as well as to their dead ret; and they made a permanent distinction between
the one and the many. The attention paid to ancestors was perhaps tendance,
but that paid to Nyakang and other ret seems to have been also cult.

These remarkable people did not insist on the tokens of virginity; an old
man of the tribe estimated that only one or two out of every ten brides
were virgins when they were married ; but pre-nuptial sexual freedom was
not permitted. Any man who caused a girl to become pregnant before

124 GENERAL SURVEY §83

she was married was fined, whether she was betrothed or not. If she
was betrothed, a heavier fine was inflicted. Even a betrothed man could
not have intercourse with his future wife as and when he liked: 'he must
produce witnesses to testify that it had been voluntary on the part of the
girl and that her parents had not objected'. Unfortunately we are not told
what happened if the parents did object. If children were sick when they
were young, the mother was accused of having had pre-nuptial relations
with another man than her betrothed.352

The following statement is a fair summary of the regulations. 'Pre-
nuptial free intercourse as it exists among the Dinka and Nuer is not
permitted. Among the Shilluk woman is respected and excesses are not
permitted. All breaches of the rule of chastity, in the married state or
otherwise, are punished.'353

83. Dinka. We do not know much about a group of tribes called the
Dinka, but I have included the people in this survey because they afford a
good illustration of a manistic society which made a temporary distinction
between the one and the many. The Dinka inhabited a large area which
stretched from a point 300 miles south of Khartoum to a point within 100
miles of Gondokoro ; to the west they extended to a point many miles west
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal province. In the available reports the English word
'spirit' seems to be used as the equivalent of more than one native word
(e.g. atiep and jok); the native word jok is translated by several different
English words ; and a great deal of confusion has been caused by this method
of presenting the evidence. The following summary is as lucid and concise
as I can make it.

The part of a man that left him when he was asleep was called atiep.
When a man died his atiep was thought to frequent the house and village
wherein he had lived. No post-funeral offerings were made to an atiep
unless they were demanded in a dream. The atiep of a father or of a mother
would appear in a dream and ask for food ; then a pot of dura flour and fat
was placed in a corner of the hut. The Dinka thought that if this duty
was neglected, the atiep would cause sickness. In order that such misfor-
tune might be prevented the family dead were tended; but the rites of
tendance were not carried out for any extended period ; the Dinka remem-
bered their family dead only for a short time. Professor Seligman says:
'Atiep are' — sometimes atiep is translated by him as a plural word — 'at their
strongest immediately after death ; they become gradually weaker and may
be safely forgotten.' Another word which has been translated 'spirits of the
dead' is jok, but since jok was a singular word, the plural of which among
the Lango (para. 84) was jogi, and among the Shilluk (para. 82) jwuk, 'the
dead' is a preferable English equivalent. 'Sometimes', we are told, 'the
spirit of a recently dead person is spoken of as a. jok, but this term is usually
reserved for the spirits of long dead and powerful ancestors.' The word
iok was applied not only to the powerful dead but also to sickness, child-

§83 EASTERN AFRICA 125

lessness, death, and misfortune, to 'the spirit of the founder of any clan',
and thus, presumably, to any Dinka hero or great man. Shrines were built
for atiep and for jok, but this was done only when a demand for such atten-
tion was made in a dream. In the villages near the Shilluk country 'a few
roughly trimmed sticks were thrust into the ground from which hung
a number of beads, gourds, and fragments of sheep bones'. Apparently
these were erected to jok; we are not told how the places were selected.
Sometimes the shrines consisted of a trunk of a small tree ; in some of the
Tain villages a hole was dug which was filled with mud, and in the mud a
pair of horns was fixed. Such a buor is said to have been made for the atiep
of a father, 'not only to propitiate the spirit of the dead but as a resting-
place for the spirit (atiep)' . Sometimes a hut was erected over a grave, but
this practice was uncommon, the only attested instances being those erected
over the graves of the four sons of the Dinka hero, Deng-dit (lit. 'Great
Rain'). Shrines were erected to Deng-dit in many places, those at Luang
Deng, Luong Ajok, and Lau being the most famous. Near these shrines
the rain-making ceremonies took place. If Deng-dit appeared in a dream
(but not otherwise), a 'sacrifice' was made, but the attention paid to Deng-
dit was neither so regular nor apparently so efficacious as that paid to jok,
'and in some cases', Professor Seligman says, 'in which the appeal was
nominally made to Deng-dit, its form seems to imply that he has been
confused with the jok\ This confusion between Deng-dit and jok was
apparent also in the offerings at a buor. 'There is often the greatest con-
fusion', we are told, 'as to whether these buor are built for Deng-dit or for
the jok; in fact, the two are often spoken of as if they were identical.'

Thus the Dinka made offerings to three separate powers, atiep, jok, and
Deng-dit. Atiep was the 'spirit' of a dead relation who was forgotten after
a little while; jok is said to have been 'the powerful dead'; Deng-dit was a
dead hero. But the dead hero and jok were confused, and sometimes it was
impossible to tell to which of them an offering was made. Moreover the
word jok, which was applied to, and has been translated as, 'the powerful
dead', was applied also to sickness and affliction.

Sometimes a Deng-dit shrine had a special keeper ; apparently it was to
this man that the hero appeared in a dream. We are told neither his native
title nor how he succeeded to his post. He may have been a tiet, for this
term was used to denote a man who could communicate with atiep and jok.
The power of a tiet, we read, was 'due to a spirit, always, we believe, to an
ancestral spirit, that is immanent in the tiet\ that is, to atiep and/or jok.
The chief occupation of a tiet was to diagnose the cause of sickness ; usually
this was due to jok, atiep, witchcraft, or some intrusive cause. The native
terms for wizard and medicine-man are not quoted. The treatment of
disease seems to have consisted of counter-magic, extraction of the foreign
body, or an offering to atiep or jok.

I am not clear whether the reported rain-making ceremonies were
annual festivals, or whether they were carried out only when rain was late

126 GENERAL SURVEY §84

or came in too small quantities; but the rain-maker was an important
institution, and, as a rule, seems to have volunteered to die for his people
rather than grow old and incapable. Another hero, Lerpiu, is reported to
have been addressed when rain was needed, thus: 'Lerpiu our ancestor,
we have brought you a sacrifice; be pleased to cause rain to fall.' This
address is mentioned only casually; it may have been do ut abeas. The
native words are not quoted.354

In regard to sexual regulations there is little reliable evidence. The
Dinka do not appear to have objected to pre-nuptial pregnancy; a pre-
nuptial child belonged to its mother's father until she married, when it
accompanied its mother to her new home. In some groups the husband
was not necessarily the father of the child. We are not told whether or not,
in these groups, the real father was punished in any way, but in the groups
of whom Captain Cummins has written, sexual intercourse 'with an
unmarried woman was punished by confiscation of the man's property and
the girl became his wife without further ceremony'.355 It seems unlikely
that in other groups the procreative male would have been allowed to
escape punishment, but information for the whole area on this important
point is lacking. We must conclude that such regulations existed as com-
pelled an irregular or occasional continence ; there are not enough data for
a more exact pronouncement. There was no demand for the tokens of
virginity. W'e have seen (para. 82) that some pre-nuptial intercourse was
permitted which was forbidden among the Shilluk.

84. Lango. The power which manifested itself to the Lango was jok.
Mr. J. H. Driberg is too good a scholar to attempt to translate a word which
clearly has no English equivalent. 'Anything strikingly unusual or super-
natural in character', he says, 'is commonly attributed to jok.' An abnormal
child was atin ajok, a child with jok quality ; whirlwinds and eddies were
jok. Jok was always being found in new places. If a village headman
dreamed that jok was in a certain tree, the tree was tabu: 'The tree having
become sacred and possessing jok, the headman then approaches it to
obtain advice. He goes to the tree at dawn, alone and unattended, and
standing at a safe distance asks the tree's advice and counsel.' Perhaps the
tree would demand a shrine. 'This is then built under the tree, a diminutive
hut consisting of a grass roof supported on four posts about one foot high,
the hut being no more than eighteen inches in diameter.' Food and drink
were placed in this abila. There was no 'nature- worship'. The tree was
not sacred qua tree, but because jok was manifest there: 'No shrine was
ever built without divine instruction.' People would come and sit at a jok
resort, and virtue would be afforded them. Such a place might have its
special ministrant and owner. For instance, a man called Wot Odur
possessed a shrine on Mount Agoro. The pilgrimages to the spot ceased
when he died.

Jok had various manifestations. Thus, min jok was associated with

§84 EASTERN AFRICA 127

hunting, fishing, and rain-making ; jok adongo with trees, jok lango with
sickness, jok orongo with human souls, and so on; but 'the subdivisions of
jok in no way affect the oneness of the conception'. The same power was
manifest in every case. Jok was also dangerous ; and no one must approach
a^'o^-place too closely; thus, 'All hills are vaguely connected with jok, and
for this reason villages are never built on hills.' Abnormal, superlative
events of every description were connected with jok; rich harvests, un-
seasonable weather, diseases, accidents, failures, losses, and tribulations
were due to jok or to the neglect of jok, or perhaps were jok, simply. But
a man could keto jok, ' frustrate jok\ by common forms of magic.356

The tipo was that part of a man which had adventures in dreams. A tipo
did not descend into the grave when a person was buried. It was often
harmless, especially if the funeral ceremonies had been carried out in the
proper manner. Occasionally, however, it was malevolent. When this
happened, the term chyen also was applied to it, but the two words seem
to have been used indiscriminately. 'After the funeral ceremonies the tipo
becomes merged into jok, but does not entirely lose its personality, at least
for a considerable period. It either fades away, becoming one with jok, or
else, though merging into jok, continues to retain its individuality as an
ancestor-spirit and demands that an abila, shrine, be built for it.' The tipo
shrine was identical in appearance with the shrine which was built for jok.
The tipo (chyen) took up its residence therein, and from time to time
offerings of food, beer, &c, were made, the tipo making its requirements
known to its descendants either personally, by calling them at night, or
by 'inflicting minor misfortunes'. This attention was paid only to those
immediate ancestors who demanded it either by appearing in a dream or
by inflicting sickness, killing live stock, or destroying crops. It was discon-
tinued after the death of the man who built the shrine.

A malicious tipo (chyen) could be laid by being caught in a pot which
then was buried in a swamp ; in that case the tipo was finished with for
ever and became at once 'an integral part oijok'; its malpractices ceased
forthwith. On other occasions the body of a man whose tipo insisted on
haunting his heir was disinterred and reburied in a swamp without further
ceremony. This method also disposed of the danger for ever.35?

Thus the Lango were in the manistic condition, carried out an irregular
tendance of the dead, and made a temporary distinction between the one and
the many. They did not consider that all ghosts needed attention; nor was
it always necessary to conciliate a troublesome ghost by offerings of food and
beer; sometimes it could be controlled by magic.

The ajok, wizard, was severely condemned by society, and if caught was
punished and even killed. The ajoka, 'seer, diviner, medicine-man', was
consulted in time of stress. He or she revealed the identity of the tipo
which was the cause of the trouble, and gave advice concerning the steps
which should be taken to appease it. He or she could be possessed by jok,
and then became ecstatic. When a ghost was laid it was the ajoka who

128 GENERAL SURVEY §85

carried out the ceremony. It will be noticed that both ajok and ajoka
are compounds oijok. Pure magical means were also adopted to cure and
prevent disease.358

Every five years there was a special ceremony, aworon, the main purpose
of which was to instruct the young men in the mysteries of rain-making.
It lasted three days, and the youths were taught also 'the duties of citizen-
ship, the lore of hunting, the art of fighting, and the traditions of their race'.
The actual rain-making ceremony which took place every year was called
either lamo kot, 'to consecrate the rain', or myelo kot, 'to dance the rain'.
Some individuals were credited with the power of controlling the elements,
and a special title was applied to such a person, won kot> 'owner of the rain'.
Apparently any old man could be accused of withholding the rain. Should
the rain ceremonies fail, an ajoka was consulted.359

By this time we are becoming so familiar with the coincidence between
the three patterns of uncivilized culture and the three patterns of pre-
nuptial sexual regulations that the reader may have decided already the
manner in which the Lango dealt with what we call the 'sex question'.
The pre-nuptial regulations of the Lango compelled an irregular or occa-
sional continence. There was no demand for the tokens of virginity; pre-
nuptial intercourse, Ink, was 'often preliminary to marriage'. Luk was not so
serious an offence as adultery; it was, however, an offence, 'compoundable
by the payment of cattle or goats to the injured party, the girl's guardian'.
If pregnancy resulted, the amount of the fine was increased; this payment
secured for the man the option of marrying the girl. If he married her, the
sum was reckoned as part of the bride-price, but he secured the child only
if he married its mother. Little opprobrium was attached to luk ; no stigma
was attached to the pre-nuptial child or to its mother.360

If we may assume that Captain Cummins's statements (para. 83) apply to
the Dinka generally, it seems possible that the Dinka took a more serious
view of pre-nuptial pregnancy than the Lango did, for the Dinka inflicted
a heavier fine upon the father of the child. Thus it may be permissible
to argue that a Dinka might hesitate on an occasion when a Lango would
indulge. In that case we can place the Lango, Dinka, and Shilluk in order
of decreasing pre-nuptial sexual opportunity, for we have already seen
(para. 82) that the Shilluk regulations were more strict than those of the
Dinka. The value of these comparisons, however, is not high.

85. Akikuyu. The Lango, Dinka, and Shilluk are linguistically classified
as Nilotic. Our next two societies, Akikuyu and Akamba, are Bantu. They
were in a similar cultural condition. I propose to discuss the Akikuyu in a
summary manner and the Akamba at greater length.

Among the Akikuyu pre-nuptial chastity was neither demanded nor
expected. Kikuyu parents disapproved of pre-nuptial pregnancy, but a
pre-nuptial child was permitted to live. The father of such a child was
fined ten goats, but for any second child born under similar circumstances

§85 EASTERN AFRICA 12g

a smaller compensation, say five goats, was all that was required. The man
could always marry the girl by paying the usual bride-price ; in that case
no fine was imposed. The girl was not punished in any way, and the
interest of the parents was purely material.361

The powers in the universe were ngai and ngoma. Usually ngoma is
translated as 'spirits of the dead'. Ngai was responsible for, or to put the
matter in more accurate terms, the word ngai was applied to, anything
superlative or supernormal, riches, rain, thunder, healthy children, good
wives, death, illness, and cattle disease; and also to the sun and Mt. Kenya,
which to the Kikuyu mind were 'all the same thing'. Fig-trees, mugumu,
are said to have been 'dwelling-places' of ngai: that is to say, ngai was mani-
fest in fig-trees. So also were ngoma, who were 'like ngai\ Food and drink
were placed near such trees by passers-by. We are told that ngai and ngoma
were confused by the natives, so it is impossible to say whether the offer-
ings were made to ngai or to ngoma, 'spirits of the dead'. Clearly the rites
cannot be definitely classified as 'ancestor- worship'. It is plain, however,
that the Kikuyu confused the one and the many.362

(The confusion between ngai and ngoma has been reported by W. S.
and K. Routledge in the passages to which I have referred, e.g. 'Drink
offerings were made to ngoma as well as to ngai. It is a little difficult to
say at times for whom the sacrifices were intended. Possibly the distinction
was not always clear to the natives.' Dr. L. S. B. Leakey, however, has
informed me in conversation that the distinction was always clear to them.
I am therefore in a quandary. As Dr. Leakey has not yet published a
report on the Akikuyu, whom he knows so well, I think that we must make
the best use of the material which is at the moment available, but probably
it would be wiser to disregard the Kikuyu evidence when we interpret the
data. There is one difficulty which future publications may solve. The
word ngai, it is agreed, was an importation from the Masai, but the Akikuyu
must have used some other word in some of those contexts before they took
over the Masai word. For my own part, I should expect that this other
word was ngoma and that the Akikuyu were at a dead level of conception ;
but there is no direct evidence. It would certainly be dangerous to think
that a new conception, as well as a new word, was borrowed from the Masai.)

The choice of a sacred tree, muti mugu, 'tree of magic power', i.e. a ngai
tree, seems to have been in the hands of 'certain notable medicine-men'.
I cannot find the native term for a 'place of sacrifice', which would corre-
spond to the Kamba ithembo (para. 86). A sacrificial fire was termed ichua.
A tree was the usual 'place of sacrifice', but some village shrines existed.
These sometimes consisted of three stones, each weighing 30-40 lb. The
ceremonies performed thereat might be communal or private.363 The Aki-
kuyu did not fear their dead. Only leading citizens were buried; the
bodies of ordinary people were thrown out to the hyenas. Perhaps this is
the reason why hyenas are reported to have contained, or to have been
called, ngoma. ^

K

I3o GENERAL SURVEY §86

The power of the medicine-man, mundu mugu, came from ngai, or was
due to his possession of ngai. He diagnosed the causes of affliction, purified
those who had become defiled, thahu, as the result of 'sin', and manufac-
tured charms both to cause and to prevent affliction. In the available
literature he is variously called 'clever man', 'wise man', and 'man of God'.
The anti-social activities of the mundu mugu seem to have been different
from those of the murogi, wizard; but the distinction is not explained.
Witchcraft, orogi, was regarded as one of the ordinary risks of life.365 No
Kikuyu rain-makers are mentioned by any of our authorities, and their
failure to quote the native terms in regard to the Kikuyu attitude towards
the elements detracts from the value of their statements.366

86. Akamba. The pre-nuptial sexual regulations of the Akamba were
of the same pattern as those of the Akikuyu, but they inflicted a lesser fine
on the father of a pre-nuptial child. The amount of this fine is variously
reported; usually it appears to have been a goat. Apparently this was the
only check to absolute sexual freedom (outside the exogamic regulations).
Pre-nuptial pregnancy was disliked, but not punished; girls in that condi-
tion usually resorted to abortion. Youths visited their lady-loves at night,
but no Kamba insisted on receiving his satisfaction from the same girl on
every occasion. If a man entered the hut of his lady-love and found that
her bed chanced to be occupied by another woman, he does not seem to
have objected or to have considered it unusual. Nor did the Akamba
inflict any definite punishment on the man or woman who broke a sexual
taboo. Intercourse between brother and sister (own or classificatory ?) was
not punished ; the parties merely had to be purified from the defilement
caused by their indulgence.367

Though it is clear that, so far as sexual opportunity is concerned, we
must place the Akamba in the same general category as the other four
African tribes which we have just examined, it can scarcely be said that
their regulations demanded the same continence as was experienced by
the latter. I have already noted that some evidence exists by means of
which we can arrange the Lango, Dinka, and Shilluk in that order according
to the degree of limitation imposed upon them. Following the same course
of reasoning we can place the Akikuyu below the Lango, for whereas the
father of a pre-nuptial child was fined 'cattle and goats' among the latter,
the penalty among the Akikuyu was only ten goats. The Akamba practice
seems to have varied, and though in some places the fine was only one goat,
the evidence is not sufficiently exact to warrant our placing the Akikuyu
and Akamba in two separate categories according to the degree of the
sexual limitations which were imposed upon them. Moreover, these tribes
gradually merged one into the other and in some places there must have
been such real convergence that some practices cannot be said definitely to
have belonged to the one or to the other.

I do not wish to over-emphasize the comparative evidence, the value of

§86 EASTERN AFRICA I3I

which is not great, but it would not be out of harmony with the facts to
present the pre-nuptial sexual opportunity of these five societies in this
order of limitation, commencing with those whose members suffered the
least serious checks: (i) Akikuyu and Akamba, (2) Laneo (7) Dinka
(4) Shilluk. ^

The Akamba cannot be classed as zoistic, but they were only just manis-
tic. They confused the one and the many. In fact, they were in precisely
the same cultural condition as their neighbours, the Akikuyu. Just as the
latter are said to have confused ngai and ngoma, the power in the universe
and ' the spirits of the dead', so the Akamba definitely confused mulungu
{ngai) and aimu. They used these terms under precisely the same circum-
stances as those under which the Akikuyu are said to have employed the
former words. In some parts of the country ngai was substituted for
mulungu. The word aimu is the same as mizimu, which was used by the
Bakitara, Baganda, and Banyankole to denote 'ghosts' (paras. 37-9).368

The confusion between mulungu (ngai) and aimu, which is apparent in
every passage in which the native terms are quoted, is reported in such
explicit terms as this : 'In spite of the fact that there really exists a difference
between mulungu and aimu, the expressions are often used indiscriminately;
mulungu — ngai is used in the same sense as aimu.' Moreover we read such
phrases as 'mulungu, viz. the aimu\ and 'mulungu, i.e. the aimu1. That is
to say, there was little difference in the Kamba mind between the concep-
tions which we denote by (a) the power in the universe, (b) 'the spirits of
the dead'. Thus any attempt to separate them is absurd and misleading.36?

Mulungu (ngai) was manifest in high mountains, the sun, a multitude of
'solitary places', and in some trees, especially fig-trees. Mulungu is also
said to have meant 'luck, good fortune, chance'. If a 'prophetess' (the
native term is not given) dreamt that ngai was in a tree, the tree was sacred ;
a small hut was erected on the spot. This accords with the Lango practice
(para. 84), but in the reports on the Akamba the hut is not described. A
man with the power of divination said that '(his) ngai had taught him'.
An offering made to ngai or aimu on a journey is reported as having been
made to 'some well-known deceased caravan leader'.370

A place where ngai or mulungu or aimu was manifest was called ithembo.
There were many ithembo ; and since it was not possible to tender offerings
to mulungu in the sun or on high mountains, it is not surprising that an
ithembo was often a fig-tree. Indeed 'practically every large tree and grove'
was an ithembo, in addition to those revealed in a dream as being of that
character. In fact, 'at the sight of or on meeting anything new or unusual
the Akamba generally offered sacrifices'. Offerings were also made at the
grave of a medicine-man or other prominent person. None of the so-called
private and public sacrifices to mulungu (ngai) can be distinguished or
separated from the sacrifices to aimu; and although many of our authori-
ties have made an attempt (often a ludicrous and pathetic attempt) to mark
off Kamba 'ancestor- worship' from the attention to mulungu (ngai), they

1 32 GENERAL SURVEY §87

always confess that the Akamba insisted on confusing them. In this
connexion, however, it must be remarked that although some of the natives
may have been conscious of the separate existence of the aimu, 'spirits of
the dead' (and it is impossible to tell how far the rationalizing inferences
of our authorities have influenced their final statements), the 'spirits who
have existed for a time are believed to disappear and to be replaced by new
ones, which vanish in their turn'.371

The man who treated affliction was the mundu mue, the so-called 'wise
man', who manufactured protective charms, prophesied, told fortunes,
pronounced whether or not the time was favourable for sowing and
reaping, prescribed for and treated sicknesses, and gave advice in all the
perplexing situations of life. He must not be confused with the mundu
mwoi, the anti-social wizard, whose activities he countered by his white
magic. 'Incorrigible witches' are said to have been put to death, but witch-
craft was regarded as one of the ordinary risks of life; no mundu mwoi,
male or female, was interfered with unless he or she was a public as well
as a private danger. Every one was careful to hide his clippings. The
power of the mundu mwoi seems to have been learnt from a living practi-
tioner, although sometimes a dead magician's grave would be opened up
by an aspirant and part of the dead man's flesh used as 'medicine'. The
reports concerning the origin of the power of the mundu mue have not
been accurately expressed, but it is plain that any one whose manner of
birth was abnormal was immediately marked down as a future mundu mue.
We are told also that a medicine-man acted 'by the help of aimu , and
prophesied when he was possessed by aimu. Since aimu = mulungu (ngai),
magic power seems to have come from or to have been due to mulungu
(ngai). We have already seen that a man divined by virtue of mulungu
(ngai), and when Mr. Dundas says that the mundu mue had a 'familiar
spirit', and adds that 'apparently he can also commune with this spirit',
the native word translated 'spirit' must be mulungu (ngai).372 There were
no rain-makers in Ukamba. Rain is said to have been called mulungu
(ngai).373

87. Nandi. Before summarizing the most interesting and important
evidence afforded by these five African societies, I propose to discuss the
Nandi and the Masai. Usually these tribes are classified as Nilo-Hamitic,
together with the Turkana, Suk, Dodotho, Didinga, and other tribes of
which we know very little. Perhaps monographs on the latter people will
be forthcoming in the future ; in that case we may hope that their culture
will be described from a more objective point of view than has been the
case with the Nandi.374 Indeed, if the Nandi had not already gained a
certain anthropological reputation, I should have excluded them on the
grounds of inadequate information.

Sir Claude Hollis, who is our chief authority on the Nandi, did not ask
himself, 'What powers manifest themselves to these people ? How do they

§87 EASTERN AFRICA I33

maintain a right relation with these powers?' He seems to have asked
'What is their name for God?' The beliefs of the Nandi, he tells us, were
Vague and unformulated'. He adds: 'The supreme deity was Asista, the
sun, who dwells in the sky. He created man and beast and the world belongs
to him ; prayers are addressed to him, he is acknowledged to be a benefactor
and the giver of all good things, and offerings are made to him in return.'

For a Vague and unformulated' belief this is very good indeed. I wish
I could feel that it had been formulated by the Nandi and not by Sir Claude
Hollis.

Sir Charles Eliot also seems to doubt if we can accept the statement at its
face value and is by no means convinced that Sir Claude has interpreted
his data correctly. 'Though we are told', he remarks, 'that he [Asista]
created man and beast and that the world belongs to him, yet when we
examine the myths collected by Mr. Hollis, we find instead of this general
statement a number of inconsistent legends which have a rude and primi-
tive air.' In reference to the proceedings described as 'sacrifices', Sir
Charles observes that 'it is not clear that the animal is in any way offered
to asista\ Moreover Mr. Huntingford has maintained that asista was not
the only 'supreme deity'. Apparently that honour must be accorded also
to cheptalil and chepopkoiyo. 'Guardian' has been tentatively suggested as
a possible rendering of chepopkoiyo. 375

Thus the alleged offerings to asista cannot be accepted as an undeniable
fact, and when we examine the so-called 'prayers' of the Nandi, bad
scholarship reduces Nandi culture to chaos. The 'prayers' were uttered
when a cow was milked or a beast bled, when a child's middle incisors
were extracted, when pots were baked, when the warriors were away from
home, when a child was four months old, and on various other occasions.
The first word of the 'prayers' which have been reported is usually, but
not invariably, asis; we are left to conjecture that 'prayers' were offered
also to other powers. In that case their recipients, I presume, would have
to rank beside asista as 'supreme deity', in the sense in which Sir Claude
Hollis uses the term. It is in the translation of the specimens we possess
that the scholarship is questionable. After spitting at the new moon, the
Nandi sometimes said, nyo arawanni nemie, 'come moon good', tukua lakok
ak tuka, 'cover-for-us the children and the cattle'; similarly, at dawn they
sometimes cried, asis tukua lakok ak tuka, which is precisely the same
phrase except that asis, 'sun', has been substituted for arawanni, 'moon';
but we are asked to believe that whereas the former ejaculation was a mere
song ('0 kindly moon, thy influence benign, Withhold not from our children
and our kine'), the latter was a prayer to a supreme deity ('0 God, do Thou
Thine ear incline, Protect my Children and my Kine').

Nor is this an isolated example. The Nandi used to say, asis, iuitech,
and also moionni iuitwech lakwanni. The phrases are translated respectively
as 'God, protect us' and as 'O Stomach, protect for us the-child-this'.
Sir Claude has not seriously suggested that when the Nandi 'prayed' to

i

134 GENERAL SURVEY §88

their own stomachs on behalf of their unborn children, they regarded their
stomachs as 'God'; yet it appears that there would be an equal reason for
calling moionni 'God' as there is for rendering asista in that manner.376

Sometimes the Masai threw a twig to the new moon and cried, 'Give me
long life. Give me strength.' Similarly, the Nandi would cry to the sun,
'Give us health. Give us strength.' Sir Claude Hollis is our authority for
both these reports. In the former case the words are translated literally
as an ejaculation; in the latter case we are invited to believe that the cry
was a prayer to a Supreme Deity.377

Thus it is impossible to say what powers manifested themselves to the
Nandi; nor have we any reliable information concerning their rites.
Apparently they were manistic. Sometimes offerings were made to oiik
(sing, oiindet), 'ancestor-spirits', but few details are available, and we do
not know the area over which any practice extended. It seems to be clear
that some form of spasmodic tendance existed, but there is not enough
information to warrant a more exact opinion.378 The scanty reports suggest
that illness was thought to be due to witchcraft, ponik, or to the anger of
oiik. In the latter case the ghost had to be conciliated.379 Rain-makers,
uik (sing, uindet), existed, but they seem to have been powerless to cope
with a protracted drought.380 We are not told how a man became a
magician.

The Nandi allowed their unmarried girls to visit the warriors in their
huts and to live there with them. The only checks to unfettered intercourse
seem to have been the objection to pre-nuptial pregnancy and the fine of
an ox imposed on the father of a pre-nuptial child. The ox was given to
the child's maternal grandfather. The father of the child killed the ox,
took away the head, and left the carcass to the injured parent. Usually
pre-nuptial children were killed at birth ; a woman who bore such a child
was not allowed to look into a granary ; it was thought that she would spoil
the grain. Some girls tried to commit suicide if they found themselves
pregnant before they married.381

88. Masai. The sex life of the Masai has been the subject of much
comment. During the period of their service in the warrior class the
members of each age-group lived in a special village, manyatta, which was
occupied by them exclusively. Normally each warrior was accompanied
by his mother, his sisters, and half-sisters, and when a warrior was so
inclined (which was, we are told on native authority, 'very, very often') he
invited one of these girls, sister or half-sister of a member of his age-group,
to sleep with him. Her consent seems to have been taken for granted, and
the method adopted in the arrangement of these chance affairs shows how
lightly they were regarded. A few warriors gathered outside the village
and called to any girls who were in sight, saying, tasiukiu. Then each of
the girls selected one of the party, and her selection bound her to go and
sleep with him that night. No girl was allowed to refuse the invitation to

§88 EASTERN AFRICA I35

choose a lad, unless she was menstruating or had already engaged herself
to another lad for that particular night. Between the young warriors and
the young girls, in fact, there was free sexual intercourse, and it is difficult
to see how any circumstances could arise under which a young Masai
would be compelled to check his impulses. The girl may have been
betrothed when she was young; she may have taken to herself what is
quaintly termed a 'permanent lover'; but these things made no difference
to her conduct. She not only could, but she did, change her lover as often
and as freely as she liked ; and if we may judge from the method of selection,
it would appear that no lad was particular concerning the identity of the
girl who gratified his desire.

No uninitiated girl was allowed to bear a child ; she must either induce
abortion or be initiated at once. In the latter case the man responsible for
her condition (we are not told how he was identified) had to pay the costs
of the ceremony and give the girl's father a heifer and some beer. The
payment does not appear to have been regarded as a fine for placing the
girl in such a position ; the man is said to have paid the heifer 'because he
had prevented the father from having the honour of the feast of her initia-
tion'. This, of course, may merely be the native way of wrapping up an
unpleasant truth in smooth words ; the statement has little value as evidence.
The payment is mentioned by only one of our authorities. The man was
not expected to marry the girl.382

The power in the universe was ngai. If no attempt is made to translate
this untranslatable word, the conception is clear and comprehensible.
According to Hinde, 'Ngai embodies their apprehension of power beyond
human faculties of coping with. Thunderstorms, rains, the telegraph, a
railway engine, are all referred to as ngai; and the word represents the
incomprehensible of which they are vaguely conscious.' Thomson states
that Mount Kilimanjaro, and an active volcano, Donyo Engai, were also
ngai, or 'places' of ngai. 'I was ngai9, he adds, in a passage that has become
famous. 'My lamp was ngai. Ngai was in the streaming holes. In fact,
whatever struck them as strange and incomprehensible, that they con-
ceived had some connexion with ngai.9 The opinion of Sir Claude Hollis
seems to be that ngai was associated with the supernatural, and since
'supernormal' expresses more exactly the native meaning as he describes
it, we may conclude perhaps that in Sir Claude's opinion the natives
associated ngai with the supernormal.383

The Masai did not allow ordinary people to die in the village. They
dragged them out into the bush as soon as they showed signs of decease,
the corpses being devoured by hyenas and vultures. Some people were
buried, however ; medicine-men, rich men, old men, and women past child-
bearing are mentioned as being accorded the honour of burial. The reports
do not agree on the matter. No notice was taken of ghosts, menengai;
death seems to have been regarded as complete annihilation. There was
no tendance and no cult.384 Sickness was due to witchcraft or to ngai; the

I36 GENERAL SURVEY §89

power of the medicine-man was ngai or due to ngai.^ No rain-makers
are reported.386

Thus the Masai were not only zoistic but also at a dead level of concep-
tion. Of the seven societies we have just discussed they alone permitted
pre-nuptial sexual freedom.

89. Summary and Chart. The cultural facts of these seven societies
may be stated diagrammatically thus:

EASTERN AFRICA

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Shilluk

M

+

+

T

+

=F

+

+

T

#

Dinka

M

+

+

+

#

Lango

M

+

+

+

=F

*

Akikuyu

M

+

Akamba

M

+

=F

#

Nandi

• • • •

M

+

+

=F

#

Masai

Z

From a summary of their culture the Nandi must be excluded. Our
limited knowledge of their customs shows that they conformed to the rule
that the manistic condition is accompanied by irregular and occasional
limitations, and vice versa, but no further conclusion can be safely drawn.
We are left with the Masai, Akikuyu, Akamba, Lango, Dinka, and
Shilluk.

We have seen (paras. 84, 86) that the Shilluk sexual regulations were the
most stringent. The freedom enjoyed by the Masai places them at the
other end of the scale. So far as pre-nuptial sexual opportunity was con-
cerned, the remaining tribes occupied a position between the Shilluk and
the Masai ; and if the evidence is sufficiently reliable to warrant a conclusion,
we may say that the Dinka afforded a lesser sexual opportunity than the
Lango, and that the Lango afforded a lesser opportunity than the Akamba
and the Akikuyu. The last two tribes cannot be separated.

Their respective positions are thus: (1) Shilluk, (2) Dinka, (3) Lango,
(4) Akikuyu and Akamba, (5) Masai.

§89 EASTERN AFRICA 137

The power that manifested itself to the last four societies was in each
case the quality or power which was exhibited by the something-unusual
and the something-beyond-comprehension : to the Masai, ngai; to the
Akikuyu, ngai; to the Akamba, mulungu (ngai); to the Lango, jok. The
Dinka word jok had various meanings but only one has been reported ; it
has then been translated 'spirits of the dead'; but the word was used in
other contexts also (e.g. the 'spirit', jok, of the clan, sickness); and we are
ignorant of its real native purport. The Shilluk used the word jwok in
reference to 'any being of more than natural powers'. Since the word
'natural' cannot be accurately used in reference to any uncivilized people,
perhaps we may be allowed to substitute the word 'normal' in that context.

In every case the source of magic power was possession of or by ngai
(Masai), ngaiox mulungu (Akamba), ngai{ Akikuyu), jok (Lango), jok (Dinka),
and jwok (Shilluk). In all the tribes except the Masai, who paid no kind of
post-funeral attention to their dead, a magician is also said to have been
possessed by, or to have held converse with, 'the dead' or 'a ghost'. Thus
the various methods which have been adopted by our authorities to
describe the relation between the magician and the source of his magic
power do not conceal the identical character of that source.

Since the Masai are not reported as carrying out any rites (they seem to
have howled more than they celebrated) the question of the place in which
they carried out their rites does not arise. The place where the Akikuyu
and the Akamba maintained a right relation with ngai or mulungu was
simply a place where ngai or mulungu was manifest, that is, any place of
an unusual or supernormal character, or any place which, according to
a dream of a magician, a ngai-mzn or a mulungu-man, was a ngai- or a
mulungu- resort. It was the same among the Lango ; their rites were carried
out in a/o&-place, or any place which, according to the dream of a magician,
a/o&-man, was a/o&-resort.

Thus the reaction to the 'unusual' or the 'something-beyond-compre-
hension' is the basis on which rested (1) the conception of the power
in the universe, (2) the choice of the place where a right relation was
maintained with that power, (3) the agency through which the rites were
carried out. This simple conception of the world has changed into what
we call 'ancestor- worship', and if we are to understand clearly the nature
of the change from the zoistic to the manistic pattern, we must be able to
trace the line of thought which manistic natives must have followed when
they began to institute such attention as the Lango paid to a tipo, ghost,
or as the Dinka paid to an atiep and to a hero like Deng-dit. The Shilluk
cult of their dead ret must be directly explicable from the same premises.
Thus a more detailed examination of the important evidence from Eastern
Africa seems to be desirable.

The Masai denoted 'the dead' and /or 'corpses' by menengai, a compound
of ngai. (The prefix men- has not been explained.) The Akamba employed
a different word, aimu; moreover they confused aimu with ngai (mulungu);

138 GENERAL SURVEY §89

but they must have distinguished the dead from the power in the universe
in a vague kind of way, for otherwise they would scarcely have used two
words to denote them. Yet they did not distinguish one dead man from
another dead man, for they conducted their rites in honour of aimu (or ngai
or mulungu) and not in honour of an individual dead man. Even when
they resorted to the grave of a dead magician, their object, as is clear from
their actions, was not the dead man as an individual but the ngai which
had been manifest in him.

(The Akikuyu are said to have confused ngai and ngoma, but it has been
said also that they distinguished them. I omit them, therefore, in con-
sidering this point.)

The Lango, on the other hand, made a temporary distinction between
the one and the many, that is, between an individual tipo and jok. We
express this temporary distinction by saying that the individual became
'merged in jok\ but I suspect that we may be reading into the facts a
mental process which was not present in the native mind. The bare fact
seems to have been that a dead man was remembered and then forgotten.
When he was forgotten, he may have been jok either because he had
possessed jok when he was alive or because jok was applied to corpses. On
the other hand, neither of these alternatives may be the correct one. It
seems to me that our conclusion may be an inference from an answer
which a native gave to a question on a matter which had not previously
occurred to him. Just as a question about some inexplicable phenomenon
would be answered by the word jok, because it was in that manner that
they conceived of inexplicable things, so also the Lango may have used the
word in answer to an inquiry concerning the ultimate fate of the tipo. The
matter may not have occurred to them before the white man brought it to
their notice. Thus the phrase may have been used in the sense of our
careless and uninterested 'I don't know'. This is a pure conjecture on my
part, and there is no fact on which it is based. It would be interesting,
however, to learn from an accurate and scholarly observer like Mr. Driberg
the manner in which he came to the conclusion that the tipo was 'merged
into jok\

The Lango did not always regard a tipo as worthy of tendance. Just
as they could keto jok, 'frustrate jok\ and ward off the danger which was
inherent in jok, so they could frustrate a troublesome tipo by some common
form of magic. The very fact that they conceived of the tipo shows that
they made a distinction which was not made by the Akamba, who in their
turn distinguished what the zoistic and sexually unencumbered Masai always
confused. The Lango distinction, however, was not preserved for more
than one generation; the man who built an abila to his father did not
hand on his shrine to his son. Lango memory was active but short. The
only recorded case of an individual who was remembered as the source of
trouble or power is that of Atida, who appears to have been a noted female
ajoka, magician, probably a rain-expert. A living female ajoka claimed to

§89 EASTERN AFRICA I39

be her representative, but she did not honour Atida by the performance of
special rites.

When we turn to the Dinka, we find that these differences are accentu-
ated. Though the ordinary dead were tended only by the succeeding
generation, the Dinka hero, Deng-dit, 'Great Rain', was remembered and
tended by many subsequent generations. His shrines were fairly per-
manent (we do not know how permanent) ; sometimes they were cared for
by a special keeper who took over his charge from a predecessor. The
Lango Atida and the Dinka Deng-dit indeed seem to be social phenomena
of a similar character, the difference between them being that the cultural
advance of the Dinka had affected the manner in which such remembrance
was expressed, and also, apparently, the length of that memory. Yet there
was no Deng-dit cult, in the sense in which I am using the word 'cult'.
Unless Deng-dit appeared in a dream and demanded an offering, no notice
was taken of him. The only difference between him and the other dead
men was that, for some reason or other, he had been remembered.

Among the Shilluk there was a definite cult of the dead ret (kings), the
earliest of whom are said to have lived no less than eleven generations ago.
The Shilluk were also the only tribe to make a permanent distinction
between the one and the many. The place where they maintained a right
relation with Nyakang and his successors was at their graves (kengo), but
the energetic Shilluk were not content to build a simple house (kengo)
over the grave; they also erected other kengo to their heroes in places
where they had not been buried ; and the use of the word kengo in all three
contexts — grave, house over the grave, cenotaph in other areas — shows
that fundamentally there was no difference between the rites conducted
at the graves and those at the cenotaphic kengo. Now the Akamba, who
allowed their young people to indulge much more freely in pre-nuptial
sexual intercourse than the Shilluk did, continued their vague propitiation
of ngai under fig-trees, and did not think that it was worth while to erect
any monument over the graves of their great men. The Shilluk, on the
other hand, who refused to countenance such sexual behaviour, remem-
bered and honoured their tribal hero and his successors, and gave other
evidence of their social energy by erecting cenotaphs to him in other areas.
They even decorated the walls of these buildings with paintings.

The Shilluk also tended their more recently deceased ancestors, but,
unlike Nyakang and his successors, these were not regarded as capable of
bestowing benefits. There seems to have been a definite cult of Nyakang
(in my sense of the word 'cult') and it is natural that under these conditions
the power in the universe, jwok, should be neglected, for Nyakang could
control it. The reports concerning the relation between Nyakang and jwok
have not been accurately expressed, and, indeed, the matter is at first very
puzzling, but, as I remarked when discussing the Shilluk customs, there is
reason to believe that Nyakang had been (or had possessed) jwok when he
was alive. I suspect that if the Lango were to institute a cult of the dead

140 GENERAL SURVEY §90

in addition to their ancestral tendance, we should find that they would
remember some of their great tipo (jok-men) for a longer time, and that the
attention to these great tipo would oust jok from direct participation in
the Lango ceremonies. This, I believe, is what has happened among the
Shilluk, and we must beware of calling jwok one of those otiose sky-gods
with the conception of which the African mind has been credited. The
title of the magician, ajwogo, is evidence that fundamentally the Shilluk
conception of jwok was the same as the Lango conception of jok or the
Akamba conception of mulungu.

Arranged, therefore, in order according to the extent of their develop-
ment from a dead level of conception, these societies place themselves thus :
(1) Shilluk, (2) Dinka, (3) Lango, (4) Akikuyu and Akamba, (5) Masai;
that is, they are in the same positions as in the scale of the limitation of
sexual opportunity.

90. Preliminary Evaluation of the Foregoing Evidence. This short exami-
nation of East African behaviour will not mar, I trust, the distinction
which I am anxious to preserve between the facts and an interpretation
of those facts. I am still engaged in stating verbally the facts which are
represented symbolically in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I), from
which our original induction (para. 24) was made, and that induction will
not have been justified until the facts have been stated in words ; but, in
order that the very considerable material may be handled more easily and
that an interpretation of the evidence may be facilitated, it is convenient
to make a preliminary evaluation of the evidence which is accumulating in
regard to the native ideas.

I have already remarked (para. 61) that it is impossible to accept any
account of uncivilized ideas unless, first, the native terms are quoted, and,
secondly, the native usage of those terms is elucidated. Some of the
material on which we have been compelled to rely does not reach this
standard, and the societies to which it refers afford little evidence concern-
ing the nature of a cultural change.

Out of the thirty-six societies which we have discussed eleven must be
included in this category: Ibibio; Aztecs; Ao, Angami, Lhota, and Sema
Nagas; Chukchee, Koryak, and Yukaghir; Orakaiva; Nandi.

Of the remaining twenty-five, ten were zoistic: Loyalty Islanders;
Tannese ; Banks Islanders ; Trobriand Islanders ; Kiwai Papuans ; Mafulu ;
Purari; Koita; Mailu; Masai. The information afforded by a study of
these ten societies reveals the basis on which uncivilized culture rests, but,
except in the case of the Kiwai Papuans and the Purari, it will not assist
us when we try to understand what happens when, for example, a zoistic
society becomes manistic or deistic, or when a manistic society becomes
deistic or zoistic. Of these ten societies the Kiwai Papuans and the Purari
(paras. 74, 76, 80) are the most important, for the ideas that prompted them
to perform certain of their rites were of such a nature that their logical

§90 EASTERN AFRICA I4I

extension and application would have changed the culture from the zoistic
to the manistic pattern. Moreover, these natives have been studied care-
fully, and our information concerning them fulfils the two requirements
I have mentioned.

It is from the other fifteen societies that we can obtain the information
which reveals the nature of a cultural change. Nine were manistic: New
Britons; South-east Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a); Banyankole;
Maori; Shilluk; Dinka; Lango; Akikuyu; Akamba. Six were deistic:
Fijians; Bakitara; Baganda; Yoruba; Samoans; Tongans. Of the eighty
societies with which we are concerned, these fifteen societies are among
the most important. Together with the manistic Wayao (paras. 97-8),
and the deistic Dahomans (para. 99) and Ashanti (para. 100), they afford
the whole of the evidence which is available for a detailed discussion of the
nature of a cultural change. The information concerning the remaining
zoistic societies will help to reveal the foundations on which human culture
rests, and our study of other manistic and deistic societies will afford
corroborative evidence of the conclusions ; but these three African matrili-
neal societies, in addition to the above-mentioned fifteen societies, are the
only ones concerning which our knowledge is sufficiently reliable to warrant
a detailed argument being based upon it.

I will summarize the reasons why the eleven societies — Ibibio ; Aztecs ;
Ao, Angami, Lhota, and Sema Nagas; Chukchee, Koryak, Yukaghir;
Orakaiva; Nandi — must be excluded from the final argument.

The Ibibio (paras. 41 , 42) were manistic, and they compelled an irregular
or occasional continence ; but although in the reports concerning them the
native words have been quoted sometimes, the native usage of those words
has not been elucidated, and their culture has been described in such
terms (para. 61) as render the native usage almost impossible to under-
stand.

Concerning the Aztecs (para. 43) we do not know more than that they
were deistic.

The culture of the Naga tribes of Assam (paras. 53, 54) has been fitted
to an 'animistic' frame of reference; their sexual regulations have not been
described. We are assured, on the one hand, that the Semas afforded a
less extended pre-nuptial sexual opportunity to their young men and
women than did the Aos, Angamis, and Lhotas, and, on the other hand,
that according to the definitions which some anthropologists adopt, the
cultural condition of the Semas was higher than that of the other tribes;
but those definitions do not possess any single precise meaning, and since
they are based on 'beliefs' I am unable to accept the evidence on which
they are based. Furthermore, when I ask if the Nagas conducted any post-
funeral rites in honour of the dead, I find that the subject has been compli-
cated by an hypothesis concerning the relation between 'the dead' and
'fertility' which Dr. Hutton advanced after his visit to Jumuguri. There
is no need to repeat what I have said in that reference.

142 GENERAL SURVEY §91

The Palaeo-Siberians (paras. 55, 56) are next on the list. They permitted
pre-nuptial sexual freedom, and were zoistic ; but in their case, although
the native terms have been quoted, the native usage of those terms has not
been elucidated. Indeed Mr. Bogoras and Mr. Jochelson have employed
their data to illustrate their personal theories concerning the evolution of
the 'beliefs' of 'primitive' men. The sexual opportunity and the cultural
condition of the Koryak are said to have differed from those of the Chuk-
chee and Yukaghir, but an examination of the evidence reveals that the
alleged differences did not exist, the conclusion being due (1) to a false
inference from the destruction of pre-nuptial children, (2) to the loose
phraseology which seems to be unavoidable in any classification of 'beliefs'.

I have already discussed (paras. 79, 80) the Orakaiva at considerable
length. It is plain that we require more evidence before we can classify
either their rites or their sexual regulations.

Concerning the Nandi (para. 87) we know little, and the value of what
we know has not been increased by the manner of the reports. The native
usage of the native words has not been described.

Thus, although the reports on these eleven societies provide evidence
for the original induction (para. 24), the evidence is not of such a quality
as will help to elucidate the nature of a cultural change.

The same remark applies to the evidence which is available concerning
four of the next five societies, which lived in the Area of Profound Mystery,
the Baila being the exception.

D. THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY

91. Auoemba. The first mysterious thing about the Awemba is their
sexual regulations. It is generally agreed that the society was founded as
the result of a migration to the Tanganyika Plateau from Lubaland, a
certain Chitimukulu, a son of a Luban chieftain, having been forced to
flee from his own country because he had been intimate with one of his
father's young wives. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the
Awemba were governed by his seventeenth successor, Chitimukulu
Chitipankwa. Since the succession was in the female line, each ruler being
succeeded by his brother or by his sister's son, it is impossible to estimate
the period which had elapsed since the original Chitimukulu journeyed
eastwards, for we cannot tell how many generations are represented by the
seventeen rulers. Usually the successors of Chitimukulu are called 'kings',
but I have not been able to find the native word translated 'king'; nor are
we told the Bantu for 'son of God', a phrase applied to the 'king'. Perhaps
leza is the word which is 'God'.

To a female member of the two 'royal' clans sexual freedom was ex-
tended; she could choose any man as her consort, and he could not refuse
her. Moreover, if no child was born within a year of their mating, the
consort was dismissed. This sexual freedom was not enjoyed by the female

■

§9i THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY 143

members of the other clans. In Africa such differences between the sexual
opportunity of the 'royal' females and of the ordinary females were not
uncommon. In the kingdoms of Uganda and Dahomey, for instance, the
princesses enjoyed a similar freedom to that afforded to the Wemba prin-
cesses, but ordinary girls in Uganda and Dahomey were compelled to be
virgines intactae when they married ; and it is curious that only in deistic
societies do we find a parallel to the Wemba regulations. There were
differences in detail between the regulations of these societies; for instance,
the Uganda princesses were not allowed to bear children ; but no such dis-
parity between the conduct of the various females existed among such
tribes as the Akikuyu and Akamba of Kenya Colony, or among the Wayao
and Anyanja of Nyasaland ; and the facts suggest that the regulations of
the royal clans were those of the Luban tribe of which Chitimukulu had
been a member before he misbehaved. If this conjecture be correct, then
it may follow (1) that the Luban society had been in the same cultural
condition as the Baganda and Dahomans, i.e. deistic, (2) that the political
organization of this society was similar to that of these deistic societies,
for deistic societies are distinguished not only by their habit of erecting
temples but also by their peculiar political organization, which may be
loosely termed monarchical. (Zoistic societies have no such political
organization; usually their 'chiefs' are social elders or magicians.) Thus
the freedom extended to the Wemba princesses (but to no other females)
suggests that the founders of the tribe were at one time members of a
society which was in a higher cultural condition than that in which we
found the Awemba at the end of the nineteenth century. At that time they
were manistic.387

Concerning the regulations which controlled the behaviour of the Wemba
tribe in general, we do not know much. There is some reason to believe
that these had been relaxed before any record was made. For two complete
generations indeed the natives had been subject to the white man's influence
and teaching. Now the application of cultivated standards to uncultivated
people does not always produce the result which most white men expect.
Generally speaking, if native law and custom effectually limited the sexual
opportunity of the women, the practice of the white man's preaching
results in the extension of that opportunity, for the white man merely
forbids by ethical teaching what native custom has prevented; and usually
after a few years of white influence many sexual impulses can be gratified
which previously had to be contained. As Cullen Gouldsbury has remarked,
'no one is quicker than the native to notice the slackening of the old bonds' ;
and he emphasizes the revolution which was effected in Wemba society
by the knowledge that 'the white man would not enforce upon women
marriages which were repugnant to them'. We continually read such
sentences as these: 'Since the British occupation adultery has become
very common'; 'The marriage customs were formerly very strictly ob-
served'; '. . . the growing laxity in the observance of the marriage tie . . .'.

I44 GENERAL SURVEY §91

These remarks apply more to post-nuptial than to pre-nuptial regulations,
but the stringent character of the original regulations is always implied.
I do not discuss the desirability of the changes that were evidently taking
place. My point is that the sexual opportunity of the Awemba towards
the end of the nineteenth century may have been much greater than it had
been when the natives were autonomous.388

The precise character of the native regulations is obscure. Our know-
ledge of Wemba practice, indeed, is extremely imperfect, and it is difficult,
if not impossible, to estimate the definite limitations which were placed
upon the young men and women. If an elder married sister died or became
incapable, the man who had paid a bride-price for her could demand a
younger sister in her place. This may have had some influence on the
parental attitude to pre-nuptial intercourse ; but the custom is not unique,
having prevailed in other societies also. There was also a quaint custom
whereby a father was compelled to pay a goat as compensation to a lad
who had refused his daughter's offer of marriage.

The available accounts of the methods by which a wife might be ob-
tained do not agree. If we follow Mr. Coxhead, we must conclude that
Wemba marriages were often, if not usually, matrilocal. The lad went to
work in the house of his future father-in-law. At first he was on probation,
but was allowed access to the girl. If he was not satisfactory, she was
taken from him and he was sent away. Mr. Coxhead states that any
uninitiated girl who bore a child would be driven from the village, together
with her lover: 'The child would not be molested in any way.' We are not
told what happened if a girl became pregnant after initiation but before
marriage. Presumably the matter was unimportant.

According to Mr. Sheane, however, a bride-price was paid sometimes;
and the parents surrendered their daughter to the lad as soon as the price
had been paid in full. Meantime, the girl was reserved for him, being
carefully guarded in a special hut apart from the rest of society. There was
evidently a very close relation, so far as these natives were concerned,
between the bride-price and the girl's sexual qualities, for, if the man
succeeded in effecting an entry into the hut in which she was confined, he
was not required to pay any of the bride-price that might be outstanding.

Summarizing this evidence, we may say that possibly at one time Wemba
regulations were very strict. This, however, may apply not to pre-nuptial
but to post-nuptial customs. Our knowledge in regard to the former is
limited, and may refer only to recent times. The young men and women
seem to have been subjected to such regulations as would have imposed
a compulsory occasional continence, but the nature of those regulations
is obscure. According to one account, a betrothed girl was reserved for the
lad who had paid, or was paying, the bride-price.389

The Awemba were in the manistic cultural condition.

The powers in the universe were leza, milungu, mulenga, and mipashi.

Leza is a word which was current also among other Bantu tribes. It is

§9i THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY I45

difficult to understand how the evidence, such as it is, can be scientifically
handled, or even admitted, for, as I have said (para. 4), there is no reason
to suppose that a Bantu can describe his 'beliefs' with any more exactitude
than a European peasant can, or that a white man can report those beliefs
without a certain amount of subjective intrusion. It is sufficient for our
purpose to note that no rites were performed in honour of leza.3*0

The word milungu seems to be a plural form of mulungu, which we have
already met among the Akamba (para. 86), and which we shall meet again
among the Wayao and Anyanja (paras. 97, 98). In the appropriate litera-
ture 'they', i.e. the milungu, are called 'local guardian spirits' or 'nature-
spirits', but this interpretation is not acceptable even to its originator,
who adds: 'It seems safer to conjecture that the milungu are the mipashi
of very ancient chiefs exalted to the state of milungu, "Gods".' The sudden
transition from 'nature-spirits' to 'Gods' in this declaration is allowed by
its author to pass without comment, and he does not relate the evidence
on which he relies when he associates the milungu with the dead. The
opinion, however, is interesting, because among the other three tribes to
which I have referred mulungu was definitely applied to the dead, and it
seems possible that the plural form of the word may have been introduced
by the white man, who hitherto has been accustomed to regard 'primitive'
men as believing in a plurality of evil spirits. There is no evidence that
the Awemba used a plural form of mulungu. Indeed the only evidence that
the alleged milungu were 'nature-spirits' is that 'they resided in the hills,
mountains, and rivers'. I do not conceal my suspicion that the word
mulungu was applied to such outstanding natural phenomena by the
Awemba and that under the influence of the 'animistic' theory we have
decided that mulungu meant 'spirit'. Then, since mulungu was applied to
many different phenomena, the Awemba have been described as believing
in 'spirits', milungu. The animistic interpretation of uncivilized culture
has sunk so deep into our consciousness that we are apt to jump to a con-
clusion which further researches might invalidate. No attention seems to
have been paid to the alleged milungu?91

Mulenga is called 'chief of the milungu' ; thus inference has been piled
upon inference. I am unable to separate them from the facts. Mulenga
seems to have been applied to the ghost of a white man who is reported to
have come from Lubaland. He was credited with being the father of albino
children and with causing affliction. No rites seem to have been celebrated
in his honour, and I suspect that his name may have been derived from
mulungu. In fact, since he was a white man, I should expect him to be so
described.392

The mipashi were the 'spirits of the dead'. These were the object of
such rites as the Awemba conducted. Usually they are divided into two
classes, dead chieftains and the deceased members of the family. A chief,
or leading member of the royal clan, was buried in a special place, Mwaruli.
A hut, which was afterwards furnished, was erected over his grave, and

L

146 GENERAL SURVEY §92

two wives, whose duty was to provide the ghost with food and beer,
remained there. We are not told how long they stayed; perhaps not long,
for when the headman of Mwaruli village used to visit the hut, the reports
imply that it was deserted. If the headman dreamed of the dead man, he
went to the hut and made obeisance as if to a living chief, taking with him
on these solitary visits offerings of beer and tobacco which had been pre-
pared by the women caretakers. If there was a drought, and divination
revealed that the ghost of a chief was responsible, human and /or animal
sacrifices were made.393 No shrine was erected over the grave of an
ordinary man, who was tended in the hut in which his descendants lived.
If he appeared in a dream, a sacrifice was made to him, the dream being
regarded as a sign that he needed attention. 'For a religious Wemba man',
we are told, 'the cult of the spirit [sing, sic] of his nearest relations is con-
sidered quite sufficient. Out of these spirit relatives a man will worship
one whom he considers as his special familiar, for various reasons. For
instance, the diviner may have told him that his last illness was caused
because he had not respected the spirit of his uncle ; accordingly he will be
careful in future to adopt his uncle as his tutelary spirit. As a mark of
such respect he may devote a cow or a goat to one of the spirits of his
ancestors.'

I have quoted that sentence verbatim because it is fairly representative
of African ethnography. I make no attempt to elucidate it.

Thus there seems to have been some kind of tendance, but no cult,
among the Awemba. In some cases particular ghosts were singled out for
special treatment; but the occasion of the rites, the place in which, and the
agency through which, they were carried out, have been imperfectly
recorded. Tendance, however, was not the only manner in which a ghost
was dealt with. The exhumation of a dead body would finally dispose of the
ghostly power.394 The ghosts of suicides, wizards, waloshi, and murderers,
viwa (noa), were specially feared, but a medicine-man-diviner, nganga
(pi. bashinganga), was able to drive away their evil influence after he had
enticed them into a circle of powdered camwood.395

We are not told the source of magic power. There is no further informa-
tion about the control of the weather.396

92. Baila. From the uncertainties of these vague reports we pass to the
consideration of the Baila, who lived along the Kafue River, above the
Middle Zambesi. Their customs and culture have been described in one
of the most magnificent monographs which we possess. The Baila, indeed,
rank beside the Lango and the Purari as one of the few tribes concerning
whom an adequate knowledge can be gained without the necessity of
comparing numerous and conflicting authorities one with another. The
fine quality of the three monographs of which these three tribes have
respectively been the subject is a good augury for the future of social
anthropology.

§92 THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY i47

There was no word in the Ila language for Virgin' and no case of such
pre-nuptial continence was known; but a girl who became pregnant
before initiation was utterly condemned. Her child was a monstrosity
which was immediately destroyed. If its father was discovered, he was
fined one or two head of cattle; the girl herself ran the risk of being sent
away into the forest that she might fall a prey to wild beasts. If an initiated
girl conceived by a man other than her betrothed, her betrothed would
either claim damages or demand a release from his bargain. In the latter
case every effort was made to induce her lover to pay the bride-price and
marry her. Should he refuse to do so, he was expected to supply the
young mother with some of the necessities of life and thus 'help rear the
child'.397

The Baila, therefore, had adopted such regulations as would compel
an irregular or occasional continence. The Baila were in the manistic
cultural condition.

The powers in the universe were mizhimo, ghosts, and leza. The word
muzhimo (pi. mizhimo) is said to have been applied to all ghosts. 'Theoreti-
cally', we are told, 'their number is indefinite. All the deceased members
of a man's family are his mizhimo, but in practice it is mostly only those
who have recently passed over that are thought of.' Just as all living men
were subject to moods, so the tempers of mizhimo were unreliable: 'Any
omission to do them reverence will be visited on your head or on the head
of some one dear to you.' It was necessary, therefore, to placate them by
offerings. As a general rule, a circle of sticks, mabwabwa, was planted round
the grave ; these took root and grew, and in a few years time there was often
a grove of trees to mark the place: 'Over the grave and within the circle
of sticks, a small hut is erected, consisting simply of a few short uprights
and a roof of grass. Sometimes these "temples" are situated other than
over the graves. It is at these temples that offerings and prayers are made
to the ancestral spirits.'398

Such, at any rate, is the published report, but there are some puzzling
details, for we are told in other passages that in every native hut there were
'sacred places' on either side of the main doorway and at the base of the
central pole. Since it seemed improbable that the family mizhimo would be
individually tended both in the hut and at the graveside, I communicated
with Mr. E. W. Smith, who has been kind enough to write to me as follows :
'It is, I should say, a general rule to plant a circle of sticks around the grave
but certainly not all graves are found surrounded by mabwabwa. Some-
times the sticks do not take root and grow; sometimes they are neglected,
cattle overrun them, &c. More care is taken when the grave is of a chief
or other important person, and probably if the matter were gone into it
would be found that the existing mabwabwa marked the graves of notable
people.'399

This is an important qualification of the report contained in the published
monograph. It is clear that the Baila remembered and paid attention to

148 GENERAL SURVEY §92

the more recently deceased members of their immediate family, but,
whereas all graves were not tended, the graves of notable citizens were
preserved in such a condition that a 'sacred grove', which became part of
the inherited tradition of subsequent generations, was formed. It is doubtful
if in later days all these groves were associated with the individuals whose
burial had occasioned their planting, but certain mizhimo enjoyed a greater
permanence than the majority. Mr. Smith and Mr. Dale submit a list of
twelve of these 'demi-gods', as they call them, three of whom were pre-
eminent, Malumbe, Munyama, and Shimunenga. Apparently all three men
were immigrants. In most communities, however, the great mizhimo to
whom attention was paid were not those who were the most ancient:
'They lived so long ago that the people prefer others who were more
recently in the flesh among them.' In each district there was a sacred
isaka (isoko) which was sacred to some well-known muzhimo*00

An examination of the occasion on which and the place in which atten-
tion was paid to the various mizhimo reveals that these attentions partook
of the nature of tendance. When a Mwila had been successful in a hunt,
he threw morsels of meat on every side in order that none of his mizhimo
might feel neglected. Conversely, if he was unsuccessful, a diviner would
probably discover that a deceased member of his family was angry. Ghostly
displeasure was manifest also in sickness. In both cases offerings of food
and drink were placed on either side of the doorway, according to the
identity of the ghost responsible for the affliction. The family mizhimo
were kept in a good temper also by having their names given to spears,
canoes, slaves, or dogs.401 These family mizhimo, however, had no power
outside the family circle, and it would not be out of harmony with the
evidence to say that a ghost was credited with the power to cause trouble
only to those who had been subject to his authority during his lifetime.
Thus the headman of a village would tend his ancestors not only on his
own behalf but also on behalf of the whole settlement. Within the small
hut which was built inside the mabwabwa, a pot was sunk into the ground
as a receptacle for beer offerings. Unfortunately, the manner and occasion
of the rites which took place at the mabwabwa have not been described in
detail. Apparently the headman was the agent; presumably he was also
a descendant of the dead man ; so it is possible that he repaired to the
mabwabwa under those circumstances in which more ordinary people
made offerings within the hut in which they lived. The only reported
occasions on which an offering was made on behalf of the community
were (1) the removal of the village to a new site, (2) at the maize harvest.
The sense of other passages, however, suggests that other offerings were
made on other occasions which have not been related.402

The mabwabwa of the greater mizhimo, such as Shimunenga, were tended
more elaborately. The sticks had grown into trees; thus a grove of con-
siderable dimensions had been formed. A regular custodian was on duty;
his office seems to have been hereditary. We do not know how the original

§ 93 THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY i49

appointments were made, but perhaps the immediate descendants made
sure that one of their number tended their illustrious relation in a manner
suitable to his reputation. Offerings were made by this custodian, who was
the only man who dared to penetrate the grove. The specific occasions
of the offerings have been mentioned only casually, but the beginning of
the sowing season and the killing of a lion seem to have been events which
were always celebrated. The custodian was assisted in his duties by
'mediums' who fell into a trance and revealed the will of the dead man or
the cause of his displeasure. I cannot single out any one of these attentions
as being definitely cult, but the available data are not considerable, and it
is exceedingly difficult to be certain on the point.403

The term leza was associated particularly with the weather and sky-
activity. No temples were erected to leza ; no offerings to leza are reported.
A more noteworthy conception was musamo, a mysterious power, dangerous
to handle, which was employed by magicians. Mr. Smith and Mr. Dale
dwell upon the subject at great length, and they consider that it is 'at the
basis of the Baila conception of the world'. They call musamo 'hidden,
mysterious, super-sensible, pervading energy powers, potencies, forces',
and state that 'it is especially strange, unusual things, uncommon sights,
new-fangled habits, strange foods, and ways of doing things that are
regarded as manifestations of the hidden powers'. All strange, unusual
things were tonda, taboo.404 It was their ability to manipulate this power
which differentiated the banganga, medicine-men, the basonzhi, diviners,
and the balozhi, wizards, from ordinary men. In the treatment of sickness
there was no trace of exorcism or transference, even when a ghost was
responsible ; it was merely necessary to satisfy the desires of the neglected
ghost. Other treatments were by musamo, 'medicine', 'magic power'.405
Rain was connected with leza, 'but the rain-making process', we are told,
'is definitely dynamistic in character; they employ the mysterious powers
in musamo to compel the rain to fall'.406

93. Baronga. Among the Baronga, the young boys and girls used to
indulge in gangisa immediately after puberty. The word gangisa is derived
from ganga, 'to choose a lover'. In a manner which is reminiscent of the
Masai tasiukiu (para. 88), each girl was requested to choose her mate; and
apparently she could not refuse to do so. Pre-nuptial pregnancy seems to
have been condemned, but we are not told the procedure which was
adopted when a girl gave birth to a pre-nuptial child. 'If this happens,'
M. Junod says, 'the parents will say: "You have spoiled our daughter.
You must buy her in marriage." ' The compulsion implied in this passage,
however, does not seem to have been a general characteristic of Baronga
life, for apparently the man could refuse, in which case the child belonged
to the family of its mother. Nothing further seems to have happened.

I can find no statement in regard to the prevalence of abortion or
contraception among unmarried girls; indeed the whole report concerning

150 GENERAL SURVEY §93

pre-nuptial regulations is very unsatisfactory. It would be strange if a
society which regarded pre-nuptial pregnancy as the 'spoiling' of a girl did
not have a recognized punishment for the man who was responsible, but
M. Junod does not seem to have inquired into the economic details.
Probably some regulations existed of which we are ignorant.407
The Baronga were manistic.

The sumptuous language in which their 'ancestrolatry' has been
described does not conceal the lowly character of their rites. M. Junod 's
book is a romantic picture of Bantu life rather than a cold scientific mono-
graph, and it is difficult to separate his inferences from his facts. 'Any man',
he says, 'who has departed this earthly life becomes a shikwembu, a god.'
He then divides these 'gods' into 'national gods' and 'family gods', and
informs us that the offerings to these divinities were individual and national.
The former concerned a man and his immediate descendants; the latter
concerned the whole clan. The words 'clan' and 'nation' are used inter-
changeably.

I am not satisfied that the so-called 'national offerings' were not simply
the offerings made to dead chiefs by their descendants. I think that their
'national' character may be an inference. Just as all the members of the
clan had been subject to the authority of the 'chiefs' when they were alive,
so any untoward affliction for which the ordinary ghosts were not held
responsible may have been ascribed to the ghosts of the 'chiefs'. We are
requested to distinguish also between 'simple offerings' and 'sacramental
ones, accompanied by the famous tsu'; and many other expressions are
employed which on a first acquaintance are very impressive. Indeed, an
unwary student runs the risk of being profoundly affected by the strange
mysterious religion of this (according to M. Junod) brilliant but misguided
people. The promise of this highly-coloured picture, however, is by no
means fulfilled. The 'famous sacramental rite, tsu\ was simply 'an emission
of saliva'. The man spat. The august priest who plays so prominent a
part in the reports was merely the eldest brother, who performed the sacri-
ficial duties on behalf of the members of the family: 'There was no sacer-
dotal caste.' And an examination of the rites themselves reveals that the
'worship of the gods' consisted of common forms of tendance in which
the Baronga sometimes confused the one and the many, and sometimes
distinguished them.

The offerings consisted of 'most of the things which rejoice the heart of
a human being', that is, food, tobacco, drink, or pieces of cloth. Sometimes
an animal was killed ; but here a Muronga was apt to cheat, for after he had
killed a chicken, he might ask the ghost to accept 'this ox'. The precise
character of the offering depended upon the advice tendered by the diviner,
who also informed an applicant where he should make his offering. A
diviner was not always consulted, however; if a man dreamt of an ancestor
in an unpleasant manner, he proceeded at once to hang some tobacco on
the wall or to pour some beer outside the door. There was, in fact, no

§93 THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY i5!

special or recognized place where psikwembu were tended. The place
which M. Junod calls the 'altar' was a small pot on the ground outside the
settlement, or a tree, the identity of which was discovered by divination, or,
in the case of a magician's offering, a forked branch of a special kind of
tree. On some occasions, gifts were placed on the graves. The agent
through whom the offerings were made was usually, as I have said, the
eldest brother, but the sense of many of the passages suggests that a man
often made his own offering in a place which he himself had selected. The
intentions of a Muronga, however, are not always made clear ; and the vague
nature of the report is especially noticeable in the value of the offerings,
which at first appears to be in the highest degree important ; but a more
careful perusal of the facts shows that a gift to a 'national god' might be
merely a sucked thorn. At other times, we are told, 'all that is given to the
gods is a small amount of saliva emitted in pronouncing a sacramental
sound'.408

The word tilo seems to have been used by a Muronga in much the same
contexts as the Nilotic jok and the Kamba mulunga. It was applied to the
sky, sickness, death, and 'certain great cosmic phenomena, more especially
those of a sudden and unexpected nature, rain, storms, death, convulsions,
and the birth of twins'. M. Junod usually translates tilo as 'Heaven', thus
selecting as the meaning of the word one of the many phenomena to which
it was applied, besides being guilty of an unjustifiable subjective intrusion
when he substitutes 'Heaven' with a capital H for 'the sky'. The posses-
sion of certain charms, maringo ta tilo, is said to have promoted a man
to the rank of 'magician of Heaven', but the plain fact seems to have been
that in some unexplained manner tilo was manifest in the charms, their
possessor becoming a ///o-man.409 A rain-maker is described as a man
'having the power of Heaven', that is, he also possessed tilo. There does
not seem to have been any difference between such a magician and a man
who possessed jok or ngai. 'The power of the rain-makers', we are told, was
'enormous'.410

When we turn to the treatment of sickness we are confronted by many
difficulties for which M. Junod is personally and directly responsible.
When he is describing Ronga 'religion' he translates shikwembu as 'god',
but when he speaks of the causes of affliction, 'spirit' is the English equiva-
lent which he adopts. These 'spirits' were not Ronga ghosts ; they were
Zulu 'spirits', or the 'spirits' of some other tribe. Apart from this, sickness
seems to have been ascribed to tilo or to witchcraft. We are not told how
a fr/o-affliction was diagnosed or treated. The power of the wizards,
baloyi, was counteracted by a mungoma who could also make rain, divine,
and influence, if not control, tilo. We are not told how a mungoma obtained
his power. The baloyi seem to have inherited their 'evil eye' from their
mothers; their activities do not appear to have been socially condemned.
The Baronga possessed a very considerable knowledge of herbs and
anatomy ; apparently the nanga was a man who confined his attention to

152 GENERAL SURVEY §94

medicine unassisted by any magical formula. M. Junod may be right in
confusing makhumo, defilement due to contact with a corpse, with other
forms of sickness, but I suspect that the Baronga distinguished them.411

94. Amazulu. Our next society is the Amazulu. Their pre-nuptial
regulations were very queer ; but it must be remembered that Chaka intro-
duced many changes into the social life of the tribe. We do not know what
customs prevailed before he lived. Probably the reports refer to a fairly
established tradition which had been suddenly modified by that amazing
chieftain, who did not live long enough, however, to eradicate the whole
of the ancient lore.

In answer to my question, 'Are children and young people, up to the time
of marriage, allowed full latitude in which to indulge in any form of sexual
excitement and play?' Mr. J. Y. Gibson answers, 'No'. In fact, he says, if
the bridegroom discovered that his bride was a virgin, 'a head of cattle,
in addition to the ten of lobolo, is given as an honorarium to the bride's
mother'. 'This is omitted if the woman is not a virgin, the liability to
reparation having fallen upon her seducer.' This accords with the report
of McLean, who states, however, that the fine (sometimes three or four
head of cattle) was inflicted only in a case of pre-nuptial pregnancy. A
pre-nuptial child belonged to its father if he paid two or three head of
cattle for its upbringing ; otherwise it belonged to its maternal grandfather
or to its mother's guardian. McLean adds: 'The seduction of virgins and
cohabitation with unmarried women are not punishable by Kafir law,
neither does any disgrace attach to either sex by committing such acts.
This promiscuous intercourse of the sexes is, however, subject to certain
rules and customs.' McLean does not state what these rules and customs
were. Perhaps he was referring to the exogamic character of the isibongo,
clan, or to hlobonga. The word hlobonga was applied to a certain form of
pre-nuptial sexual intercourse between a young boy and girl. Father
Bryant states: 'It is the common custom among Zulu natives that a be-
trothed pair indulge in frequent surreptitious, though unconsummated,
intercourse. The practice, though technically unlawful, is nevertheless
universally connived at, even by the girl's parents ; but it is only so tolerated
between a couple who have been properly affianced in accordance with
native custom.' This is confirmed by Mr. Gibson who, in answer to my
question: 'Do the people condemn pre-nuptial pregnancy but overlook
pre-nuptial sexual intercourse?' replies, '(1) Yes. (2) Partial intercourse
called hlobonga is not reprobated; this precludes penetration or seminal
emission.' Father Bryant differs from Mr. Gibson, however, in stating
that hlobonga was confined to betrothed couples. Mr. Gibson also says,
in answer to a further question, that, after a girl was betrothed, continued
hlobonga with an earlier lover was not reprobated.

The conflicting character of this evidence may be due to a variety of
practices, but the nature of the subject renders a detailed inquiry very

§94 THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY 153

difficult. In another context Father Bryant remarks: 'A girl having con-
sented to become the sweetheart of any young man, the latter may send
to her covertly, asking her to pay him a secret visit in his kraal, where she
will, according to custom, pass two days and nights, closely kept out of
sight of strangers, in the young man's hut, having throughout the time
sexual intercourse with him, and leaving again on the third day. The
action, when occurring between two duly betrothed parties, is connived
at.' This seems to contradict the opinion I have already quoted, and we
must conclude, I think, that the young couples were not always satisfied
with hlobonga but indulged in pinga, full sexual intercourse. At the same
time there must have been a fairly high standard of continence, for Mr.
Gibson says that the test of virginity was applied if a bride demanded it
'in answer to a doubt expressed or implied concerning her purity'. On the
other hand, a special term existed, u(lu)?igqoyingqoyi (lit. 'delicious food'),
which small girls, when out alone and seeing a boy, called out to him,
the words being intended as an enticement to him to come to them for
sexual purposes.412

I have quoted this evidence in full so that its intricate nature may be
appreciated. I suggest that according to the best of our information the
Amazulu regulated the pre-nuptial relations between the sexes in such a
manner as to impose upon them an irregular, occasional, but perhaps quite
considerable, continence. It is not possible, however, to gauge the extent
of these limitations.

The Amazulu were in the manistic cultural condition. Several native
words are reported to have been applied to a dead man, itongo, idhlozi,
isituta, Sec. It is probable that at one time their meanings varied, but it is
not now possible to make any appreciable distinction between them.413
Ghosts were supposed to be manifest in certain snakes ; the word used in
this connexion was always idhlozi, and perhaps we shall make certain that
we have separated inference from fact if we say that idhlozi was applied
to certain ghosts and to certain snakes. Yet clearly the ghost and the
snake were identified by some of the Amazulu, for a case is reported by
Callaway of a man who observed a snake on a grave, and said, 'I have seen
him to-day, basking in the sun.' No attention was paid to any snake qua
snake.414

The Amazulu did not pay any attention to any ghost except that of the
head of the family or that of a chief. Such ghosts were tended spasmodically,
and were held responsible for all afflictions that were not ascribed to witch-
craft (abatakati). In the former case an animal was killed, and the mere
killing is said to have been sufficient to effect a cure ; but if a family ghost,
itongo, was still troublesome, a specific sacrifice might be made to a dead
chief in order that he might compel it to stop its ravages. Normally,
however, the sacrifices to a chief were made only by his successor.415
Ghosts also caused trouble to their descendants by appearing in dreams ;
usually a sacrifice would produce a cessation of these activities, but some-

154 GENERAL SURVEY §95

times a sacrifice was not considered necessary; the ghost was simply
'laid', and that was the end of the matter.416

There appears to have been no specific place where amatongo were
tended; as a rule, the sacrificial animal was killed in the kraal; but the
graveside was continually associated with a dead man; and, if a village
was moved, the ghost was transferred to the new district by a special rite,
the original burying place losing its sacred character.417

Amatongo could reveal medicines in dreams, but a Zulu magician,
nyanga, would be careful to distinguish between his own medicines and
those revealed to him in that manner. Like the Maori tohunga (para. 49),
the word nyanga literally meant 'skilled', or 'a skilled person' ; thus, accord-
ing to Callaway, inyanga yokubola, one skilled in smiting the divining rods,
a diviner, inyanga yemiti, skilled in medicine, inyanga yensimbi, skilled in
metal- working, a smith. A nyanga was consulted in every difficulty; he
possessed all the magical arts, besides being able to counteract the influences
of those who practised takata, witchcraft, to which was assigned everything
abnormal not assigned to the amatongo.^

The elements were controlled by the particular nyanga who was skilled
in that department of magical activity. He could turn back the hail, send
away the lightning, make or prevent rain, and hasten or retard the sunshine.
Sometimes, however, the ruling chief seems to have considered that a
drought was due to the anger of his predecessor, and then a sacrifice was
made ; but, even when this was done, the rain-makers also were approached.
Leslie states that every rain which fell was called after the rain-maker who
had created it, 'So-and-so's rain', and that the people killed the nyanga
who withheld a needed shower. McLean says that they killed also an
inefficient rain-maker.419 We are not told the source of magic power
except in so far as it was due to the possession of 'medicine'; but it seems
that some diviners, whom some authorities call angoma, could be 'possessed'
by an itongo and then were able to identify a wizard.420

95. Basuto. The Basuto are the fifth and last tribe from this area. We
know very little about them. The evidence in regard to their pre-nuptial
regulations is poor, and even conflicting. I will state what has been
reported.

According to Casalis, the parents exercised a strict vigilance over their
daughters for fear that they should be obliged to accept a disadvantageous
bargain. From this we may conclude that either pre-nuptial intercourse
or pre-nuptial pregnancy was socially condemned. It was probably the
latter which was condemned, for Mabille remarks: 'Every man has his
mistress and every woman her lover. It is punished by a fine of two head
of cattle if a girl is seduced without becoming pregnant and six if she
becomes pregnant.' Mabille also states that on certain festive occasions
'young men and girls play together at very improper games which often
end disastrously'. MacDonald too regarded pre-nuptial intercourse as

§95 THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY I55

usual, for he states that the expert knowledge of abortifacients was the only
reason why illegitimacy was rare.

It seems, then, that pre-nuptial intercourse was usual, and that pre-
nuptial pregnancy was rare and condemned; but this is not the whole
story. 'Should the bridegroom', Mabille says, 'find out that his bride is
not a virgin, he at once rises, walks out at dawn, and drives the cattle to
the fields. The bride is taken back to her village and the cattle returned.'
We are not told whether this was a normal practice or an isolated case.
The report seems to conflict with Mabille 's other statements. Perhaps the
groom acted in this manner only if the girl had been betrothed as a child.
Unfortunately we have very little information in regard to the method of
acquiring a wife. All we are told is that the lad had no voice in the matter;
his father arranged everything on his behalf ; but since the father seems
to have taken no action in the matter until his son intimated his desire to
marry in the usual Suto manner by failing to milk the cows, betrothals
cannot have been negotiated between children. Moreover, the father chose
only a lad's first wife, and Mabille's report may apply to those that were
subsequently secured. Mr. Dutton is not helpful. He says, 'A girl who
was found by her husband on the first night not to be a virgin was returned
to her people. Tokens were not displayed. I have never heard of a case
where a girl was returned to her own people for not being a virgin, but in
the old days the penalty was that her parents had to return the cattle which
they had received for her, to their disgrace and loss.' Since no case was
known to him, I am unable to say how he knows that a girl who was not
a virgin was returned. It is unlikely, of course, that the parents would have
returned the cattle unless they received back the girl, and since the tokens
were not demanded we must conclude, ex definitione , that pre-nuptial
chastity was not demanded; but the limitations placed upon the sexual
activities of the young people were evidently considerable, and the Basuto
must be included in the category 'Irregular and occasional continence'.
We cannot say more than that. I am inclined to think that our authorities
have confused pre-nuptial intercourse and pre-nuptial pregnancy, and that
a groom objected only if he found that his bride had borne a child. But
possibly this is an erroneous conjecture.421

The Basuto were in the manistic cultural condition. There was no special
place where the balimo, 'ancestral-spirits', were tended. 'It can hardly
be said', Mr. Dutton remarks, 'that ancestors are worshipped: they are
merely placated when trouble arises.' Beer was offered to the family dead
at every harvest. If a person dreamt of the dead, their appearance in the
dream meant that the ghosts were calling, and a goat was slaughtered to
placate them. Sacrifice was offered also when divination revealed that a
ghost was responsible for a sickness; the animal would be killed by the
paternal or the maternal uncle of the sufferer, according to the identity
of the ghost. This seems to have been the only occasion on which an
individual dead man was distinguished from the family dead. Molimo,

I56 GENERAL SURVEY §96

the singular form of balimo, was rarely used by the natives until the
missionaries employed it to denote the Christian God. 'The singular
form was not generally used before the time of the missionaries', Mr.
Button says, 'as the spirits seem to have been regarded as a family rather
than a particular individual spirit. They do not trouble their heads very
much about other people's dead. They are nothing to them.'422

Sickness was due to balimo or to boloi, witchcraft. All our authorities
agree about that. Mr. Dutton adds that it might be due also to breaking
a taboo or to having done anything unusual: 'A Mosuto who found a
strange-looking fossil said he was afraid to bring it home in case sickness
broke out and people would say it was his fault for bringing it into the
village.' The wizard moloi (pi. bate) charmed food, foot-prints, and body
refuse; against these secret criminals the ngaka employed his powers of
divination. The ngaka had a recognized and honoured place in society
and 'was the chief's right-hand man to whom everything unusual was
referred'; but 'people might use the services of a ngaka to harm an enemy
who might be innocent of bote1. The ngaka seems to have been taught
his trade, which consisted of the magic which made the herbal treatment
efficacious and of throwing the divinatory bones. Martin, however, makes
this report: 'Certain children are selected, in infancy or early childhood,
to be made doctors. Their poor little bodies are cut, and various "medi-
cines" rubbed into the wound which bestow powers of divination, of
healing, and of witchcraft upon the children.' I do not place a high value
on the statement.

The killing of a sacrifice did not actually cure the sickness for which
balimo were held responsible (as is alleged to have been the case among
the Amazulu). Casalis says that the sacrifice merely rendered efficacious
the medicines prescribed by the ngaka*23

Rain and other forms of sky-activity were under the control of ngaka,
but apparently the Suto practitioners were rather inefficient. In the case
of a prolonged drought the people went in a troop to the hills : 'They kill
every wild thing they see and smash everything. Anything they kill is
disembowelled and the entrails thrown into streams.'424 Mr. Dutton says
that he knows nothing of any spirits associated with places: 'The Basuto
do not regard natural phenomena as possessing particular power.'425

96. Summary and Chart. Such were the customs and culture of five
societies which lived within the Area of Profound Mystery. The facts are
stated diagrammatically on the next page.

I have placed a question-mark in Col. 3 in reference to the Baronga
because, although he continually speaks of 'exorcists', M. Junod has
described no rite which can be accurately included in that category.

The evidence is that the culture of these five African tribes conformed
to the rule that a compulsory irregular and occasional continence is accom-
panied by the manistic cultural condition. We can say no more than that.

§96 THE AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY 157

The quality of the evidence is not high ; the whole area had been in a state
of chaos for many years before the white man arrived ; and there is reason
to believe that some, if not all, of these societies were in a degenerate
condition. Mr. Dutton writes: 'The Basutos came from warmer and more

AREA OF PROFOUND MYSTERY

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Society

Cultural condition

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Awemba ....

M

+

+

+

#

Baila

M

+

+

+

_ #

Baronga ....

M

+

}

+

=F

_#

Amazulu ....

M

+

+

+

+

_#

Basuto ....

M

+

+

+

#

fertile lands before arriving in Basutoland, presumably driven out by more
powerful races. Just before the advent of the European they had suffered
from internecine wars of a severity hitherto unknown. Starvation and
cannibalism had been rife and their orderly ceremonies impossible to
maintain. Family life had been broken up. If an inference is allowable
in this connexion, it would be that such ancient customs as are described
here were already showing signs of degeneration at the time when the
earliest observers took note of the traditions, and that in some time past
institutions, such as marriage, were much more solemn and binding.'*26
This is an important pronouncement. We must accept the reports as they
stand, and make no attempt to reduce them to an order which would be
only superficially satisfactory. Cultural changes were occurring at the time
to which the reports refer, and we do not know what those changes were.427
In regard to pre-nuptial sexual opportunity the Awemba and Amazulu
seem to have placed some limitations on a betrothed girl; from these
limitations an unbetrothed girl was free; but apparently the practices
among the former were not uniform, while in regard to those of the latter
there are many complications. I do not know if the reforms of Chaka
were responsible for the practice of hlobonga, and I cannot explain the
contradictions in the reports. It is extraordinary that under certain cir-
cumstances a Zulu girl should have demanded a virginity test ; the custom
suggests that a general demand for the tokens may have been a Zulu

158 GENERAL SURVEY §96

practice which had fallen into desuetude. On the other hand, Chaka may
have been responsible for the introduction of an idea which had not been
universally adopted. The vague manner in which our authorities speak of
'chastity' in reference to the Basuto does not warrant a suggestion in its
connexion, but, unless the confusion between pre-nuptial intercourse
and pre-nuptial pregnancy has transformed inferences into facts, the idea
of a virgin wife must have been sometimes present in the native mind. If
there were any reason to suppose that there had been, at any time, a wide-
spread demand for the tokens of virginity among these tribes, I should be
inclined to submit that at some remote period they had been in the deistic
condition; this suggestion might be made also on the strength of the
Wemba political organization, to which I have already referred (para. 91);
but the hypothesis is wrecked by other lines of argument.

I do not know, and am not competent to judge, whether or not the
words used by a society can be regarded as evidence of its origin and his-
tory, but it is interesting to note that the terms which these tribes used to
denote a magician were very similar, while the words which have been
translated 'spirits of the dead' were various. Thus the Wemba magician
was nganga, Ronga nanga, Ila ngangay Zulu nyanga, Suto ngaka; these
words seem to have had a common origin; but the words for 'spirits of
the dead', Wemba mipashi, Ronga psikwetnbu, Ila mizhimo, Zulu amatonga
or amadhlozi, Suto balimo, cannot be so understood. If we accept the
hypothesis that the Bantu tribes migrated, say a thousand years ago, from
the neighbourhood of Lake Chad, we might possibly argue that they
possessed a common word for magician at the time of their dispersal, but
no common word for the dead. In that event the lack of a common word
for the dead might be understood as an indication that at that time they
did not conduct any ancestral rites. We might further suggest that the
introduction of the various terms which were applied to the dead was due
to a subsequent adoption of post-funeral rites, each separate tribe intro-
ducing a different word into its language. These suggestions, however,
conflict with the idea of degeneracy, for they seem to involve a change to
the manistic from the zoistic, not from the deistic condition. In fact, the
more we analyse the available data, the more mysterious they become.

A dissimilarity is apparent also in the manner in which the five tribes
buried their dead. The Basuto and Amazulu did not bury any corpse
except that of a chief. The Awemba buried their chiefs in a special place,
and, unlike the Basuto and Amazulu, erected huts, which they afterwards
furnished, over their graves. It is possible that the Baronga also built
little huts over the graves of their leading citizens, but this is an inference
from a solitary photograph in M. Junod's book. No huts seem to have
been found when the cemeteries were inspected, and it is unfortunate
that M. Junod should have been content to submit a photograph of such an
important cultural item without making any other reference to it. The
Baila not only erected huts over the graves of notable men, but also planted

§97 AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES 159

a circle of sticks, mabwabwa, around it in such a manner that a sacred grove
was created in a few years.

The source of magic power is not related except in the case of the Baila,
whose musamo, 'medicine', 'magic power', was manifest 'especially' in
strange, unusual things. Among the other four tribes, a recipe or a rite is
said to have been revealed in a dream or to have been taken over from
another practitioner. The Suto ngaka is said to have been consulted when
some unusual event took place or when some one suffered from an unusual
sickness.

We now turn to the consideration of our last four African societies.
Two, the Wayao and the Anyanja, were Bantu ; two, the Dahomans and the
Ashanti, are usually classed as Sudanic. All four were matrilineal; their
pre-nuptial regulations varied; the former pair were in the manistic, the
latter pair in the deistic condition. We know very little about the Anyanja,
but the other three tribes are important. They will be added to the list of
societies (para. 90) the cultural details of which supply the best evidence
concerning the nature of a change from one cultural condition to
another.

E AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES

97. Wayao (Ajawa) and Anyanja — Pre-nuptial Sexual Regulations. I
propose to discuss the Wayao and the Anyanja together. First I will
describe their pre-nuptial sexual regulations.

The Wayao were late-comers to Eastern Shire. When they settled along
the south-eastern coast of Lake Nyasa, the area was already occupied by
some of the tribes which are included as Anyanja. The latter were a vast
unwieldy group which inhabited the whole of the Shire highlands, as well
as the western, southern, and eastern shores of the Lake. The culture of
these two stocks was very similar, and there is a distinct possibility that
some Yao customs and practices have been credited to the Anyanja, and
vice versa. In some cases such transference can easily be detected, and,
since on both the groups it is the same writers who are our chief authorities,
it is doubtful if they can be separately discussed. We know more about the
Wayao, however, than about the Anyanja; indeed it is possible that the
former are the only Nyasaland tribe concerning which our information is
adequate and reliable. Both the Wayao and the Anyanja were matrilineal;
a child belonged to the social group of its mother. Brother succeeded
brother; failing a brother, a sister's son inherited.428 Marriage was matri-
local; it was rare for a woman to leave her own village. There was no
bride-price.429

'Over nearly the whole of British Central Africa', Sir H. H. Johnston
remarks, 'chastity before puberty is an unknown condition, except perhaps
among the Anyanja.' He does not state the evidence on which he relies,
and we cannot conclude that the pre-nuptial sexual opportunity of the

160 GENERAL SURVEY §98

Anyanja was less than that of the other tribes. Definite evidence, in fact,
is lacking except in the case of the Wayao.

Among the Wayao, Dr. Stannus says, a man who had relations with an
unbetrothed girl was in no way blameworthy, she being held responsible
for her own actions. Such intercourse, indeed, was exceedingly common
and lightly regarded. According to MacDonald, no man would pass by
a solitary woman, and she, on her part, would not refuse him; but any one
who was intimate with a betrothed girl was guilty of a crime which was
punishable, and often was punished, by death. The word used to denote
betrothal was applied also to a man's action in selecting a piece of ground
for hoeing: he reserved it for his own exclusive use. The effect of this
sexual limitation can be estimated by remembering that it was a common
practice to betroth a girl when she was a baby.430 Thus the Yao regulations
inflicted an irregular and occasional continence.

Apart from Sir H. H. Johnston's declaration to which I have already
referred, there is little evidence concerning the Anyanja customs. We are
told that a man who seduced a virgin had to pay two pounds or marry her
at once, but we are not told why he was fined. He cannot have been
punished for the actual sexual act, for 'promiscuous intercourse before
puberty was common' (Stannus). Nor can the punishment have been
inflicted for having deprived a girl of her virginity; indeed, the Anyanja
were more likely to have applauded, for the defloration of a virgin wife
was a matter which a husband always delegated to a friend. And the danger
of pregnancy cannot have constituted his fault, for 'child-birth out of wed-
lock was no cause for reproach'. Plainly, then, certain ideas of which we
are ignorant were in operation among the Anyanja. I can find no other
evidence.431

98. Wayao and Anyanja — Cultural Condition. The Wayao were ma-
nistic. The powers which manifested themselves in the universe were
mulungu and lisoka (pi. masoka). All the complications which have arisen
over the meaning of the former term can be directly traced to an attempt
to translate Yao into English or to express in Yao an English conception.
Mr. Hetherwick is quite clear about the native use of the term : 'Mulungu
is regarded as the agent in anything mysterious.' Again, ' "It's mulungu"
is the Yao exclamation on being shown anything that is beyond the range
of his understanding.' Dr. Stannus says: 'In reply to many questions
to which the native has no answer, he will practically use our English
phrase, "God knows", and with about as much meaning; "mulungu made
it so".' I do not know how far inference is associated with fact in these
statements, as the native terms for 'agent' (Hetherwick) and 'made it so'
(Stannus) are not given. Happily Mr. Hetherwick throws some light upon
the mystery in another passage. 'The missionaries have adopted it [i.e.
the word mulungu]\ he says, 'as the term for God. But the untaught Yao
refuses to assign to it any idea of being or personality. It is to him a quality

§98 AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES jfa

or faculty.' So far, indeed, was mulungu from being an entity that when
the 'untaught Yao' was being taught to use his own words in a new sense
he began to speak of che mulungu, 'Mr. God'.432

The word mulungu was used also in other contexts. According to Mr.
Hetherwick, it denoted 'the aggregate of the spirits of all the dead'; he
emphasizes this meaning of the word by printing the phrase in italics.
MacDonald confirms this report, and says that mulungu was 'a spirit
formed by adding all the departed spirits together'. Elsewhere he states:
'The spirit of a deceased man is called his mulungu, and all the prayers and
offerings of the living are presented to such spirits of the dead.'433 Thus
mulungu was applied to anything unusual or beyond Yao comprehension,
to 'the dead', and to the individual spirit of a dead man. The latter use
of the word may, or may not, be an inference from the fact that it was
applied to 'the dead'.

According to Mr. Hetherwick, the vital force in a man (but not in any
other animal) was lisoka, soul, shadow. It was the lisoka which had adven-
tures or appeared in dreams. When a man died his lisoka left him 'and
went to mulungu\ 'To pray to such a spirit', Mr. Hetherwick says, 'is
described as kulomba mulungu, to worship mulungu, never lisoka in this
case.'434 At the same time, whenever little boys passed the village shrine,
they whispered masoka in a warning tone. Thus sometimes a ghost was
called mulungu ; sometimes the word lisoka also was employed. The village
shrine was the grave of the village chief or headman, over which a hut was
built. 'The hut itself, Mr. Hetherwick says, 'is built of the usual native
materials enclosed within a strong grass fence. The roof is of grass laid
on a framework of bamboo, and is generally covered with long strips of
white or coloured calico. On the ridge or apex of the roof are fixed a couple
of flags or an umbrella or two. One wall is usually left open so that the
interior is easily seen. Within, from the bamboo rafters, are suspended
handkerchiefs, cloths, bunches of beads, &c, all offerings to the mulungu
of the dead headman. A raised platform or mound of earth in the centre
marks the spot where the grave was made.' We are not told the native
term for this hut. Apparently such honours were paid only to notable
men: 'Only the graves of chiefs or headmen are thus treated as shrines of
worship. The burying place of slaves and common people lies away in
the thick bush, where only the rank grass or the thickest of old trees mark
the spot. No offerings are ever taken there.'435 Just as the word mulungu
was used in reference to the dead in general, so the offerings were made not
to any particular dead man but to 'the dead'. 'The man that makes an
offering', Macdonald says, 'regards himself as giving a present to a little
village of the departed which is headed by its chief.' Sometimes, however,
a man might be remembered as an individual, for 'very frequently a man
presents an offering at the top of his own bed beside his head'. A man
might pay direct attention to his own father in this manner, whether his
father had been a headman or not.436

j62 general survey §98

Certain dead men were remembered by name, and were associated with
certain mountains,437 but as a rule it was only the more recently deceased
who were remembered. 'The chief of a village will not trouble himself
about his great-great-grandfather; he will present his offering to his own
immediate predecessor.' Again, 'People residing in a village worship their
deceased chief, but when their present chief dies he will become their
principal god.'438

I have described the Yao opinions in detail because the reports, when
first they are read, are extremely puzzling. It is not until we cease to
rationalize the Yao ideas and begin to speak in native terms that they become
clear and comprehensible. The Wayao saw in the world the manifestation
of a power mulungu which they associated with anything which was unusual
or beyond their comprehension. They applied the word also to 'the dead',
thereby confusing the one and the many. Indeed they did not remember
a dead man for more than one generation, except in certain cases. Generally
speaking, offerings were made to 'a little village of spirits', i.e. to mulungu.

The circumstances under which these offerings were made show that
they came under the heading of tendance. The attitude towards the dead,
Dr. Stannus says, was that of 'Do us no harm, do not vent your wrath
upon us'. 'There may have occurred much sickness and the people con-
clude that the pest has come to remind them that they have not been
attentive to their dead chief. The grave house is rebuilt, a pot is sunk into
the ground, and beer is poured in, and around about heaps of flour are
placed.' Similarly, Macdonald states that 'all the offerings are supposed
to point to some want of the spirits'. The occasions for these offerings were
sickness, drought, and any other affliction. Offerings were also made if
the dead man appeared in a dream and before a journey was undertaken.439
The nature of the offering is said to have been decided by the mchisango,
the woman who was possessed by masoka and revealed their will 440 She
is to be distinguished from the jua singanga, the medicine-man who dealt
in herbs and charms and countered the activities of the msawi, wizard.441

'Medicine' could be made from a still-born child, various plants, hyenas,
and in other ways ; it is possible that the common quality they possessed
was none other than mulungu**2 In times of drought, as I have said, the
headman usually made an offering to his predecessor; but MacDonald
also states: 'In the south of Africa the power of rain-making has been
claimed completely by the rain-doctors; even here the sorcerers have a
great power.' I can find no other evidence.443

When we consider the poor quality of African ethnography as a whole,
I think we must admit that our knowledge of the Wayao is considerable ;
but as soon as we turn to the Anyanja we experience great difficulties.
Probably the details of Anyanja culture have been lost for ever ; we can
merely note its general pattern. At the same time it must be admitted that
if our authorities had quoted the native terms which they translate 'spirit',
and had taken care to state the place whence their information was derived,

§99 AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES ^3

and the tribe to which it refers, our study would have been greatly facilitated.
As it is, though the records are said to apply to the Anyanja generally!
most of the details seem to have been collected near the southern coast
of Lake Nyasa. This is precisely where Yao influence seems to have been
greatest.444

The power mulungu manifested itself also to the Anyanja, and, apparently,
to all their related tribes, but our authorities do not state the contexts in
which the word was used. The most definite explanation (or interpretation)
which I can find is: 'All that pertains to the spirit-world.' It is impossible
to discover what the Nyanja usage was. 'God' is the usual translation. 4«
I should say that probably the word was used to denote 'the dead' in a mass ;
for we are told that attention was paid to mulungu either at the foot of large
trees or at a kachisi, the hut which was erected over the grave of a leading
citizen. The offerings to a deceased headman also were made in these
places ; thus it is reasonable to suppose that there was some doubt whether
the offering was for mulungu or for mizimu, 'spirits of the dead'. In other
words, there seems to have been the same confusion between 'the dead'
and the power in the universe as that which existed among the Wayao
and some of the tribes in Kenya Colony and southern Sudan. Offerings
were made in times of stress or when the dead man appeared in a dream.446
Ghosts are never mentioned as a cause of affliction 5 sickness is said to
have been due to mfitt, witchcraft, or to mulungu. It is impossible to make
any sense of the reports concerning the magicians.447 Apparently they
could control the elements, but in time of drought an offering was made
to a dead chief at his kachisi.4*8

The association of the 'unusual' with 'medicine' or 'magic power' has
been reported by Dr. Stannus in an interesting passage. Speaking of the
various emotions which the natives exhibited, he says: 'What might sur-
prise a white man does not have the same effect on the native. It is some-
thing new to him and may be extraordinary, but it is caused by some
particular 'medicine' having been used.'449 Unfortunately, Dr. Stannus
does not give the word which the native applied to this 'medicine'. I
suspect that it was mulungu.

Thus both the Wayao (or Ajawa, as they are more correctly but less
usually termed) and the Anyanja were in the manistic cultural condition,
and, while permitting pre-nuptial intercourse, had adopted such regula-
tions as imposed an irregular and occasional continence. The Wayao
regulations are fairly clear, and were similar to those of the New Britons
(para. 27), Ibibio (para. 41), and Maori (para. 45). The Anyanja customs
have been less accurately reported.

We turn to the great West African kingdoms, Dahomey and Ashanti.

99. Dahomans. I do not propose to discuss the organized religious
prostitution which existed among the Dahomans. I shall merely note the
general pattern of their culture and then pass westward to Ashanti. The

164 GENERAL SURVEY §99

Dahomans were in the deistic cultural condition ; they also demanded the

tokens of virginity.

The consummation of a Dahoman marriage took place while the mar-
riage feast was being celebrated. The groom soon reappeared, bearing the
cloth which had covered the couch. Great were the rejoicings if the
primitiae were forthcoming ; and in order to protect the bride from a false
accusation, a young girl was concealed in the bridal chamber. Her duty
was to seize the discoloured languti, and deliver it to the bride's friends.
If, however, the bride was found to have been unchaste, 'great parlance'
ensued. The husband could demand the return of the bride-price, to-
gether with the value of all the presents he had made ; the girl might be
sent back to her parents. A bride who passed the virginity test successfully
stayed with her husband for a week, returned home for a few days, and then
went back to her husband as a permanent wife. The man who had inter-
course with a betrothed girl or with an unmarried girl was either enslaved
or compelled to pay a fine equal in value to the bride-price which was or
would have been demanded.450

As soon as we find such an authenticated case of such rigorous pre-
nuptial regulations we find also an example of a society which worshipped
gods in temples. Sir A. B. Ellis, whose scholarly survey of the west coast
of Africa is the best available summary of Dahoman culture, has compared
the beliefs of the Ewe-speaking peoples (Dahomans) with those of the
Tshi-speaking peoples (Ashanti) as follows : 'Instead of a thousand different
villages possessing each a god, each of whom resembles all the others in
general attributes and functions, but is believed to be essentially separate
and individual, we find on the Slave Coast the same gods, worshipped under
the same name, in every town and in every considerable village, represented
by images modelled on a common plan and possessing in every case
identical attributes and functions.' The gods whom Ellis includes as.
'general deities' are Khebioso (So), god of lightning; Legba (Elegba,
Lekpa), a phallic deity; Dso, god of Fire; Huntin and Loko, gods of the
silk-cotton and poison trees; Aizan, protector of markets, public places,
and doors of houses; Anyiewo, the rainbow god; Hoho, tutelary deity of
twins; and Sapatan, god of small-pox. But neither Skertchley nor Burton
agrees with this list. According to Skertchley, the four gods who enjoyed
a general reputation were Khebioso, god of lightning; Atinbodum, god of
healing; Hu (Wu), 'the Dahoman Neptune'; and Danhgbwe, the python-
god. Burton says that the last three were the Whydah triad whose worship
spread throughout Dahomey so that 'men now forget their first habitat'.
Both Skertchley and Burton state that the silk-cotton and poison trees were
sacred to Atinbodum merely because they were employed by the priests
of that god in averting and curing disease. Curative qualities are credited
to them also by Ellis, who in his turn acknowledges that Danhgbwe,
which he spells Danhgbi, was a prominent deity, 'the embodiment of
wisdom and earthly bliss'.

§99 AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES 165

There are many other discrepancies also in the reports concerning the
extent of the area in which the various deities were recognized ; and their
conflicting nature is a warning to those who would (a) classify as 'more
developed' those deistic societies whose gods were worshipped throughout
the country, (b) place a society with a number of local deities in a lower
position in the cultural scale. At first sight the conclusion is logically
sound, but there is a complete lack of reliable evidence on which it might
be based. We can no more classify deistic peoples by their beliefs about
their gods than we can analyse manistic societies according to their beliefs
about their ancestors. If we make any such attempt, a mountain of mis-
leading hypothesis will be erected on the quicksands of uncertain and
unreliable evidence.451

We must concentrate, then, on the Dahoman rites. The evidence is
not considerable. It is an extraordinary fact that, while our authorities
will devote page after page to a discussion of 'beliefs', they seem to have
paid very little attention to the shrines and temples which they were
seeing every day. The temple which impressed the earlier travellers was
the temple of Danhgbi at Whydah. It was a large circular hut with a
conical roof and was more elaborately furnished than the more common
temples mentioned by Ellis, who says that 'the temples themselves are
nearly always small huts, circular in shape, and so low that a man cannot
enter without bending nearly double'. As was natural in a military king-
dom, Bo, god of war, was honoured greatly, and 'perhaps worshipped
more than any other god'. Temples to Bo were erected 'at every turn-gate
and cross-road'.452 The local gods could be addressed directly by indi-
viduals, but the general deities had to be approached through the agency
of a priest. The priests of each god were a distinct sect. The applicant
spent his three years' novitiate in a male seminary, being trained to dance,
to recite the chants, and to carry out the general ceremony of religion. The
god declared his acceptance of the candidate by 'possessing' him. The man
who trembled and foamed at the mouth was enrolled immediately; his
name was changed. The number of priestesses was very large; indeed
every fourth woman is said to have been connected with the service of the
gods; and every town contained at least one institution where the young
girls were trained for three years in religious chants and dances. The
priestesses of Danhgbi, however, were on a different footing; they under-
went no special training, any 'possessed' woman becoming a member of
the organization.453

The native word translated 'god' is vodu, which was used in the same
contexts as the Tshi bohsum and the Yoruba orisha, being applied to any-
thing 'sacred', as well as to white men. A priest was voduno, a priestess
vodusio, a temple prostitute kosio. Ellis says that voduno meant 'one who
stays with vodu\ but the importance of 'possession' in deciding whether
or not a man could attain to the rank of priest suggests that 'one who has
(or is) vodiC would be a more accurate representation of the facts, even if it

1 66 GENERAL SURVEY § 100

were a less exact rendering of the native word. The derivations which are
submitted, however, are not always trustworthy, for, as Sir James Frazer
has noted, 'all such interpretations rest rather on conjectures and asser-
tions of the natives than on exact philological investigation'.454

The graves of dead kings were tended by females called tansino ; human
sacrifices were offered regularly. The tansino invoked the dead king on
behalf of his living descendant, and the sacrifices are regarded as having
had a double purpose : they were an acknowledgement of benefits already
received and they swelled the ghostly retinue of the deceased man. The
victim was consecrated by a priest (details are sadly lacking) before being
slain.455 The attention paid to the family dead was less sensational but
more interesting. 4 It is the custom', Ellis says, 'to have the skulls of the
family dead exhumed after a few years and placed in earthen pots which
are carefully kept in the corner of the house. The dead are appealed to
for advice and assistance before these skulls.' The words 'appeal to' beg
the question of the power of the ghost, and we cannot definitely classify
these rites as cult; but there was one kind of attention to the dead which
seems to have been cult. The 'soul' of a man was called luwo, and, when
he died, luwo became noli. The funeral ceremonies were designed to
quieten the noli, which wandered about until it could become the luwo of
a newly-born child. It was supposed to reside in the head, and Burton
quaintly remarks that 'the Dahomans practise the worship of their own
heads, in order to obtain good fortune'. Ellis states that 'a noli often becomes
the family protector and sometimes even of small communities ; he some-
times has his shrine, occasionally his image, and so really becomes a god
of a sub-order'.456

Sickness might be caused by a malevolent noli, which under these
conditions was called abonsa; apparently it could be kept out of the house
by the sacrifice of a fowl which was hung head downwards in the doorway.
The ghostly theory of causation was adopted, however, only after the 'all-
powerful medicine' had failed to effect a cure.

The treatment of sickness was in the hands of the priests, those of
Atinbodum being the most important and most numerous; they could
avert or cure any sickness. The priests of Anyiewo and Sapatan also were
capable of interviewing a noli (abonsa) which was causing trouble. Direct
witchcraft was not greatly in vogue. The power of a charm depended on
the power of the vodu which was instilled by the voduno; amulets, vosesao,
possessed no virtue until they had been blessed by a voduno.*57

Weather-controlling ceremonies have not been described, and the seasons
in Dahomey seem to have been fairly regular; but Bowman states that
Danhgbi (Dangbi) was invoked 'in excessively dry and barren seasons'.458

100. Ashanti. It is very strange that, whereas the white man was con-
stantly in Dahomey in the early years of the eighteenth century, no
Englishman had visited Coomassie until T. E. Bowdich went there in 1812.

t

§100 AFRICAN MATR I LINEAL SOCIETIES 167

T. Dupuis lived in the country for a short time after Bowdich had left,
but he did not describe any of the native customs in his Journal. Dupuis
had a very poor opinion of the natives, and conversed almost exclusively
with the Mohammedan converts, of whom, even at that early date, there
seem to have been a great number. Moreover, missionary enterprises
were initiated as early as 1839, tne state and prospects of Christianity on
the Gold Coast being the main subject of John Beecham's competent
book.459 Thus the Ashanti had been in contact with Asiatic and European
culture for at least three generations before any systematic record of native
customs was made.

The Ashanti are not so interesting a people as the Dahomans, and the
asperities of savage life do not appear to have been as softened among them
as among the Yoruba. In recent years their laws and customs have been
the subject of an extended inquiry by Capt. R. S. Rattray, who has pub-
lished the results of his researches in four volumes ; but in spite of this we
can only judge the general pattern of Ashanti culture. The details, especi-
ally those which are reported in later publications, represent a variety
within the pattern which may be the result of alien influences.

It was usual for parents to betroth their daughters very soon after, and
sometimes before, they were born. The payment of the aseda granted
exclusive sexual rights, but the man could not possess the girl before she
was formally handed over to him in marriage. She was then expected to
be virgo intacta. Ellis says : 'If he finds that she has been unchaste, he can
repudiate her and can recover both the head money he has paid and the
expenses he has incurred. Should, however, a husband make an accusation
of this nature without foundation, he is called before the principal men of
the village by the father of the bride who produces the tokens of virginity,
and the husband is then bound to pay damages for defamation, while the
wife may, if she pleases, repudiate him without having to return the head
money.' A girl who was not betrothed in her youth was paraded in the
street as soon as she was marriageable; this 'public advertisement of her
charms' seldom failed to produce suitors. She also was subjected to the
virginity test, and if successful she again paraded the streets, 'accompanied
by a number of young girls who sing songs in her honour'. A man who
seduced a virgin was compelled to marry her, or, if her parents would not
consent to the marriage, to pay the amount of the bride-price. In the latter
case the girl was sexually free.460

The Ashanti were in the deistic cultural condition. I have already
quoted (para. 99) Sir A. B. Ellis's comparison between the Ashanti and
Dahomans. Speaking of the Tshi-speaking peoples in general he says:
'Every local god has some recognized place of ordinary abode. There is the
house in which his image, stone, drums, and other appurtenances are kept,
which is called the house of the god.' Capt. Rattray remarks in reference
to Ashanti temples: 'Every Ashanti temple is a pantheon in which repose
the shrines of the gods.'461 Unfortunately, no description of a native temple

1 68 GENERAL SURVEY § 100

is available, and most of the illustrations which are included in Capt.
Rattray's books show traces of Christian and Mohammedan influence; but,
if we may judge from a solitary photograph of a temple of Ntoa near Tano
Oboase, the temples on the Gold Coast were conical thatched huts, with
a low entrance. It is impossible to say how numerous they were.462

The priests and priestesses do not seem to have been organized into
definite orders. Ellis says that they were readily distinguished by their long
unkempt hair, necklaces, and general equipment. Novices went through
a three years' course of study and training, and during that time slept 'in
the temple beside the shrine of the god'. Although a priest was attached to
a special god, his training seems to have been directed more to the arts of
divination and other forms of magic than to anything else. He was admitted
after he had become 'possessed' by the god. When a man wanted to consult
a priest, he did not go to the temple; the priest visited him.463

The words which the Ashanti used to denote the powers in the universe
were various, and have been variously translated. The most important
were suman, which was applied to amulets and charms, and bohsum (obosum),
which was applied both to the place where a power was manifest and to
the power itself. The usual rendering is 'god', the word 'fetish' having
been dropped by common consent. Like the Tshi vodu and the Yoruba
orisha, bohsum was used as a noun and also as an adjective, meaning occult,
mystic, sacred: thus, bohsum pr ah, the sacred Prah, bohsum eppoh, the
mysterious sea. According to Capt. Rattray, the word for priest, okomfo,
was derived from akom, 'possession', but as in an earlier publication he says
that he himself was called okomfo, 'possession' may not have been an
indispensable qualification. Besides, akom can hardly have been the real
root ; for bonsam komfo was a 'witch-doctor', who was also called bayi komfo.
According to Christaller, okomfo was a general term which included
obosomfo, possessor of obosom, i.e. diviner, and osumanfo, possessor of
suman, i.e. charmer. Since, however, obosum and suman, as well as many
other words, have been translated 'spirit', 'god', and 'fetish', it is impossible
to tell which word the natives employed under the various circumstances,
for in the course of their narratives our authorities do not always quote the
native terms. The real native usage is, and is likely to remain, unknown.464

Sir A. B. Ellis states that 'each town, village, or district has its own local
spirits or gods'. The chief Ashanti god was Tano (Tando). Sir Arthur
seems to have regarded him as the indwelling spirit of the river of that
name; Capt. Rattray says that his name was also Ta Kora. 'Ta is a con-
traction of Tano', Capt. Rattray adds; then he mentions Ta Kese, Ta
Toa, Ta Kuntum, Ta Kivesi, Ta Yao, Ta Kojo, Ta Kofi, and other gods.
If all these gods were forms of Tano, Tano would seem to have been a
species rather than an individual; but he was addressed as 'You whose
song sounds even to Mecca', so his character is not a matter which we need
discuss. It is evident that in later days he was identified with some
Mohammedan conception.465

§101 AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES 169

When a man died his kra became a sasa {sisa) until it was reborn. The
sasa could inflict disease and misfortune, and was tended for a long time
after death. The funeral rites were a propitiation of the sasa : 'Do not make
us barren'; 'do not send disease', and other forms of do ut abeas, were the
object of the gifts that were placed on the graves. There were various
festivals of the dead; but the reports concerning them are conflicting.
There seems to have been a form of cult in addition to the tendance which
is well attested; a definite opinion on the matter, however, cannot be
expressed until the reports have been further elucidated. It was possible
for a powerful suman or for a priestly spell to ward off or dispel a malevolent
sasa.466

The causes and treatment of disease have not been described in detail ;
the names of the various practitioners are also very confusing. A case of
witchcraft seems to have been treated by the bonsam okomfo ; but the priest,
okomfo, was often consulted. The sumanni (pi. sumankwafo) dealt only in
suman , charms, but he is said to have been also a herbalist: 'His medicines
are not efficacious because of their anti-toxic qualities, but because of their
magic properties.' Other names for specialists were oduruyefo, dunseni, and
dunsefo. The sasabonsam seems to have been the sasa of a wizard; but the
subject has been complicated by the inferential nature of much of the
evidence . Some medicine-men maintained that the mmoatia , fairies , revealed
to them their cures; otherwise, the source of magical or priestly power
seems to have been the possession of or by obosom, or of suman.467

I have been unable to find any description of the methods by which the
Ashanti tried to control the weather.

101. Summary and Chart. These facts, which speak for themselves,
may be stated diagrammatically thus :

AFRICAN MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1

Wayao ....

M

+

+

+

_#

Anyanja ....

M

+

+

+

_#

Dahomans ....

D

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

Ashanti ....

D

+

+

0

0

+

+

+

+

+

170 GENERAL SURVEY § 101

There is no need to expound the meaning of this chart. Cols. 4, 6, 9-1 1
tell their own story. The evidence is the same from all over the world ; the
three different cultural patterns accompany the three different patterns of
pre-nuptial sexual regulations.

I do not propose to summarize the culture of these four societies in the
manner which hitherto I have adopted. Instead of doing so, I wish to
draw attention to certain aspects of Yao behaviour.

Mulungu was the quality which was manifest in anything mysterious
or beyond comprehension. The word also denoted, we are told, 'the
aggregate of the spirits of the dead'. When an offering was made at
the hut which was erected over the grave of a dead chieftain it was
made to mulungu, and to mulungu as 'a little village of departed spirits';
but the word lisoka (pi. masoka) also was used in reference to a dead
man, though not, apparently, in reference to the rite which was conducted
in his honour. Little boys, when they passed the grave, murmured
'Masoka'.

Thus the Wayao confused the one and the many, but they almost made
a temporary distinction between them. It is plain that if their ideas had
continued to develop along the lines on which they seem to have been
progressing, they would have paid attention to an individual lisoka, just as
the Lango (paras. 84, 89) paid attention to an individual tipo. At the same
time, they would have continued to make offerings also to mulungu, just as
the Lango also paid attention to jok. The word jok was used by the Lango
in precisely the same contexts as the Wayao used mulungu. Thus it would
appear that an extension of Yao memory would transform Yao conceptions
into a replica of the Lango conceptions. The ghost of a dead chief, at the
time to which our information refers, always became an object of attention
as soon as he died, when his predecessor, who had been honoured by offer-
ings hitherto, became neglected; but it seems possible that if there had
been a further extension of Yao memory a dead chief would have been
remembered for a longer period; then we should have had a number of
shrines, dedicated to a number of men, at which rites were regularly con-
ducted. Then the Yao conceptions would have been a replica of the Shilluk
conceptions.

We shall add the deistic Dahomans and Ashanti, and the manistic Wayao,
to the fifteen societies mentioned in para. 90 ; then we shall have a total of
eighteen societies the cultural details of which will reveal the nature of
a cultural change.

We now proceed to the consideration of the so-called Indians who
inhabited the North American continent. The survey will conclude with
the discussion of seven miscellaneous societies. This evidence will hardly
elucidate the nature of a cultural change, but it will —

1 . illustrate the rules in regard to the coincidence of the three patterns
of uncivilized culture with the three patterns of pre-nuptial sexual
regulations ;

§ io2 AMERICAN INDIANS jyj

2. support the suggestion that human culture is founded upon the con-
ception of something-unusual or beyond-comprehension ;

3. afford corroborative evidence of the conclusions concerning the nature
of a cultural change which will be based on a study of the eighteen
above-mentioned societies.

I will state the facts as shortly as I can, but, as some of the material is
intricate, a certain amount of detailed discussion will be unavoidable.

F. AMERICAN INDIANS

102. Comments on the Evidence from North America. In our study of the
American Indians we must rely either on the writings of the early travellers
or on modern field-work in the reservations. The writings of the travellers
are valuable documents, but they have many deficiencies. It is remarkable
that, with certain notable exceptions, the travellers should invariably have
described what they were told rather than what they saw. They tell us what
the natives thought, but they seldom mention what the natives did. We
can extract from their writings very few descriptions of native rites, but
they are always ready to entertain us with a discourse on the 'Great Spirit'.
The Rev. J. O. Dorsey corrected the error which was responsible for that
mistaken theory, and his distinguished name will always be associated with
Siouan ethnography; but other and more misleading interpretations of
Indian 'beliefs' have been substituted in later times for a fallacy which
after all was natural to an untrained mind. Some modern writers have even
propounded theories concerning the nature of primitive religion in general
which have been founded not upon a study of the manner in which the
natives used their words but upon those vague translations which I have
criticized in the preceding paragraphs and in the notes attached to them.
The work of Dr. Paul Radin is a notable example of this estrangement of
theory from fact, and it seems possible that he would have experienced
great difficulty in expressing in the Indian language the conceptions which
he has credited to the Indian mind, for those conceptions seem to be the
property of the English words which have been submitted as equivalents
of the native terms. American Indian ethnography, indeed, has suffered
more than is usual from an attempt to render native words in a modern
language. Such words as 'medicine', 'mystery', 'existence', 'spirits', 'deities',
'totem', 'guardian spirit', 'supernatural being', &c, jostle one another on
the anthropological page in a bewildering variety, and it needs a special
effort of the imagination to remember that all these terms, and many others,
are often English equivalents of the same native word. Moreover, such
phrases as 'apparently lofty conception' are employed with both freedom
and regularity in reference to some alleged Indian belief, and our authorities
seem to have been unaware that such a report has only an autobiographical
value ; it merely reflects the individual opinion of the author. Furthermore

I72 GENERAL SURVEY §102

the word 'deities' has been applied to a number of mythological tricksters
whose names occur in some native legends but in whose honour no rites
were performed.468

It will be apparent that many difficulties must arise from this defective
material, and although some native terms have been carefully elucidated,
such elucidation is the exception, not the rule. If we did not possess the
writings of Professor R. H. Lowie, of Messrs. J. R. Swanton, C. Hill-Tout,
and W. J. McGee, of the Revs. J. O. Dorsey and S. R. Riggs, and of Peter
Jones, the missionary, we should know very little concerning the meanings
which the Indians attached to their words.

The first fact, then, to be faced by any student of American Indian cul-
ture is the incomplete character of any report which does not quote the
native terms and elucidate the native usage. Unfortunately, in a few cases,
I shall have to rely upon reports which do not altogether reach a standard
of reliability; the reader will be able to adjudge the misconceptions which
might easily arise if all the evidence were of the same character.

In the main, our two leading questions can be answered readily, but as
soon as we begin to inquire into the nature of the native rites we are in
difficulties. The travellers neglect them; and modern students have not
had an opportunity of observing them in their original environment. Their
information was collected either in the reservations or among a Christianized
population. Thus the available data are scanty. Moreover, most of the
better known and more elaborate ceremonies were post-Columbean. Mr.
J. W. Mooney seems to have placed a correct interpretation upon some of
the amazing ceremonies which were introduced after the white man had
settled in the country. Mr. Mooney remarks : 'When the native lies crushed
and groaning beneath an alien yoke, how natural is the dream of a redeemer
who shall return from exile or awake from some long sleep to drive out
the usurper and win back for his people what they have lost!' From the
seventeenth century onwards a series of messianic revivals occurred among
the American Indians, the latest of which, the so-called Ghost-Dance
Religion, has been studied in great detail and reported with care and
accuracy, Mr. Mooney himself being responsible for this great contribution
to human records. The underlying principle of the Ghost-Dance was the
idea that soon the time would come when the whole Indian race, living and
dead, would be reunited upon a regenerated earth. The movement seems
to have started among the Delawares in ,1762, but preachers soon arose
throughout the plains, each apostle and believer filling in the details
according to his mental capacity or his ideas of bliss. The teachings of
Ganeodiyo, 'Handsome Lake', among the Five Nations in 1800, and of
the Apache, Nakaydaklinni, some eighty years later, seem to have had
a similar character.

Another elaborate ceremony which has received a great deal of attention
from modern observers is the so-called Sun-Dance, which was performed
by some of the Plains Indians in times of special distress. We do not know

§io3 AMERICAN INDIANS 173

if the sufferings which the white man inflicted on the natives were respon-
sible for many of its details. All the information is modern, though some
early travellers have reported certain rites of a similar character.

Such rites as these do not come within our scope, but, if we subtract
them from our store of knowledge, very little remains. There are but few
Indians who now speak the old language, and it is doubtful if they can
tell us much about their forefathers. Indeed it seems possible that the
culture of these natives will have to be studied in the same manner as the
culture of any other ancient society, that is, by the patient collection, com-
parison, and evaluation of all the available material. The writings of Lewis
and Clark, Keating, Schoolcraft, Adair, James, Carver, Gregg, and their
peers will have to be treated as we treat Herodotus and Polybius. It is not
likely that we shall be enlightened by any further researches such as
Professor Lowie has carried out among the Crows. Such careful, scholarly
interpreters are rare ; the material on which they can work is rarer.

We suffer from similar handicaps when we begin to inquire into the
matter of sex. Just as observers have concentrated on 'beliefs' and have
neglected the rites, so they have been content to describe the sexual conduct
of the natives instead of their sexual regulations. I have commented already
(para. 15) on the autobiographical character of this kind of field-work. We
must make the best use of the data which are available.

When all these considerations are given their due weight we cannot be
surprised that in a learned volume, entitled The American Indian, which
contains 419 pages, Professor Clark Wissler devotes only 2 pages to the
relations between the sexes, 14 to ritualistic ceremonies, and 6 to mythology
(under which title he includes 'religion'). The remainder of his valuable
treatise concerns material culture and linguistic classifications.

In the course of his survey, Professor Wissler remarks that 'the number
of social groups in the New World is so large that no one can hope to hold
in his mind more than a small portion of them'. I have selected twenty-
eight North American tribes according to the quantity and quality of our
information. I hope that the selection may be considered representative.
First we shall decide whether a society was deistic, manistic, or zoistic;
then we shall try to understand the meanings of the words which the natives
used in reference to the power in the universe. I shall also describe, so far
as is possible, the methods which they adopted in the disposal of the dead .^9

I divide these twenty-eight societies into three groups, and shall consider
them in a rough geographical order. The first group includes the Tlingit
of Alaska, Haida of Queen Charlotte Islands, Salish Tribes of the Interior,
Salish Tribes of the Coast, Nez Perces and Klallam of the States of Oregon
and Washington, and the Dene (Tinneh).

1 . Indians of the North-West
103. Tlingit. The social customs and laws of the Tlingit, Mr. Swanton
says, permitted 'great looseness in sexual relations'. He does not state

I74 GENERAL SURVEY §103

whether the looseness was pre-nuptial or post-nuptial. He may have been
referring more particularly to the latter, for if a wife had sexual intercourse
with a clan-brother of her husband she was not guilty of adultery in the
Tlingit sense of the word. In fact, she was allowed to have 'legitimate
lovers' or 'assistant husbands', as our authorities quaintly term the clan-
brother who gratified her desires when her husband was away, and fetched
wood and water for her when he was at home. A child was a member of the
social group of its mother; marriage might be matrilocal or patrilocal.
I find no reference to pre-nuptial pregnancy.470

The Tlingit erected no temples, and paid no post-funeral attention to
their dead ; thus they were in the zoistic cultural condition.

The power in the universe was yek. The word has been variously trans-
lated, but there is no English equivalent. 'This supernatural energy', says
Mr. Swanton, 'must be carefully differentiated from natural energy, and
never confused with it. A rock rolling down hill or an animal running is by
no means a manifestation of supernatural energy, although if something
peculiar be associated with these actions, something outside of the Indian's
usual experience of such phenomena, they may be thought of as such.' In
other words, yek was manifest in something-unusual or beyond-Tlingit-
comprehension. If a man wished to become a magician, he sought yek in
the woods and mountains. If this method failed, he spent a night with
the corpse of a dead magician, and placed one or two of its teeth in his
mouth; in this manner virtue, yek, was afforded to him. The difference
between a magician, ichth, and an ordinary man lay in the yek that he
possessed.

There were compounds of yek according to the place of its manifestation :
thus, takiyek, land-yek, tekiyek, sea-yek, and so on. The word kiyek
(kinayek) was applied to 'the spirits of braves who had fallen in battle', i.e.
the powerful dead.471

The corpse of an ordinary man was burned, but the dead body of a
magician was placed in an elevated grave-box on the shore ; there it was
visited by aspirants to magic power. When a man in a canoe passed the
place, he threw some tobacco into the sea, just as the Masai (para. 88) cast
a stone when they passed the grave of a ngai-mzn; but in this case, we are
told, the man would shout, 'Do not let me perish. Do not let the wind
blow strongly on me.' The fact that the offering was cast into the sea shows
that it was not a form of tendance, and the rite can be compared with the
offerings made in other parts of the world at any place when the something-
beyond-comprehension was manifest. Dead magicians inspired terror: 'No
one would eat anything near the places where their bodies lay for fear of
being taken seriously ill.'472

Usually sickness was attributed to witchcraft. A magician was capable
of inserting yek into an inanimate object; he also charmed body clippings
and images of his enemies which he had manufactured for the purpose.
His activities were regarded as one of the ordinary risks of life, but, if he

§io4 AMERICAN INDIANS I75

was caught, he was tied up and left without food or drink until he agreed
to withdraw and scatter the 'medicine'.473

I can find no report about the control of the weather. Alaska is hardly
a country in which the problem would arise.

104. Haida. There were no pre-nuptial regulations among the Haida
which imposed any check upon the sexual impulses. Parents usually
betrothed their children at an early age and a betrothed lad went to work
for the parents of his betrothed until he succeeded his maternal uncle. If
his marriage was delayed, he contracted a temporary union with another
girl with whom he lived 'until his proper wife was ready'. In other words,
the Haida permitted 'free love', and had adopted what is often called
'companionate marriage'. Poole says that a man took a wife on a month's
trial; if the arrangement was not satisfactory, she returned to her people.
'The females', he says, 'cohabit promiscuously with their own tribe.' The
Haida were a matrilineal people ; marriage might be matrilocal or patrilocal.
We are not told what happened if a girl became pre-nuptially pregnant.474

The Haida also were zoistic. The power in the universe was sgana or
skil, the former being of the Skidegate, the latter of the Massett dialect.
Mr. Curtis translates skil as 'supernatural being', and says, 'Almost every
spot with any unusual feature was the home of a skil.' In other words, the
word skil was applied to an unusual natural feature. According to Mr.
S wanton, the word sgana was qualified according to its place of manifesta-
tion: thus sgana qedas, sgana in the ocean, woods, lakes, and streams; sins
sganaqwaiy sgana in the sky; quai sganaqwai, sgana in trees, &c.

Mr. Swanton says that his interpreters liked to render sgana 'power':
'The syllable sga seems to be the essential part, and to be the same as we
have in sgaga, the word for "shaman".' In another passage he says that
a 'shaman was one who had power from some supernatural being, sgana,
who "possessed" him'. Mr. Swanton adds that ''sgana also means killer-
whale' ; and it is plain that in spite of the efforts of his interpreters to trans-
late sgana 'power' Mr. Swanton insisted on regarding it as an entity. When,
therefore, the word sgana was applied to a killer- whale he was compelled
to conclude that the word meant 'killer- whale'. In a similar manner Mr.
Curtis remarks that 'those who died by drowning became killer-whales'.
It seems probable that both statements are inferences from the application
of sgana (adj. or adv.) to the dead and to killer- whales. 475

The corpse of a magician, sgaga (Swanton) or saagga (Harrison), was not
placed in a box as was usual in the case of an ordinary man. It was carried
into the forest to a place selected by the shaman himself. 'There he was
laid dressed in all his doctor's attire and with all his charms around him.'
Steps were taken to secure his 'power' for his descendants.476 Sickness was
thought to be due either to the activities of the wizard, stao (Swanton),
stawa (Curtis), who charmed body refuse or clippings; or to some intrusive
supernatural (? sgana) element which was extracted by the sgaga, who

I76 GENERAL SURVEY § 106

acted by the power of sgana*77 According to Dawson, the sgaga could
manufacture a fair wind.478

105. Thompson. Mr. James Teit is our only authority on the Thompson
or 'Knife' Indians. His monograph is noticeable for the absence of native
words. The Thompsons were in the zoistic condition; they erected no
temples and paid no post-funeral attention to their dead.479 Unfortunately
their sexual regulations have been reported in such a vague manner that
we cannot tell what in their pagan condition they had permitted and what
they had forbidden or punished. They had long been Christians, when
Mr. Teit was among them. He seems to apply the word 'wife' to any tem-
porary sexual or economic partner.480 The burial customs, particularly of
the Lower Thompsons, had changed under the influence of the Christian
priesthood.481

'They believe in the existence of a great many mysterious beings', says
Mr. Teit. ' Spirits' are said to have existed in such places as high mountains,
certain lakes, grisly bears, and 'fish of peculiar shape'. We are not told the
word which is translated 'mysterious'. I suspect that the same unknown
term is translated 'guardian-spirit' and 'spirits'. It was applied also to
ghosts, to heaps of rocks, to a dead man's (or should it be a dead magician's ?)
hair, to bones and teeth, to adolescent girls, and to the male and female
genital organs. 'Animals that had no mysterious power did not become
guardian-spirits of men.'482

It is clear that the Thompson conceptions were of the same pattern as
those of the Tlingit and of the Haida. If it were possible to separate infe-
rence from fact, we should probably find that they applied a certain word
to anything supernormal and to the dead. This same word, perhaps, was
also the so-called 'guardian-spirit' which was the source of magic power.483
The one definite report concerns the control of the weather. Certain
high mountains were credited with the possession of 'supernatural power' ;
if a person with 'a strong guardian-spirit' pointed a stick at such a mountain,
it would rain. If rain came in too great quantities, a man followed the
sun's course with a small stick which had been held in front of the fire,
and said, 'Now then, you must quit raining, the people are miserable.
Mountains, become clear.'484 I suspect that in these cases the same native
word has been translated both as 'supernatural power' and as 'guardian-
spirit'.

106. Shuswap. The criticisms I have passed on the reports concerning
the Thompson Indians apply also to those on the Shuswap, who were also
called the Atnah or Carrier Indians. Dr. Boas, who visited the people
before the 'nineties, says that 'the ancient customs have almost entirely
disappeared, as the natives have been Christianized by the Catholic mis-
sionaries'. Mr. Teit says that their culture was the same as that of the
Thompsons. The available data are not considerable.

§107 AMERICAN INDIANS iyy

It appears that the children were carefully watched until adolescence,
and that 'all pubescent lads and some girls made pictures with paint on
rocks during the middle or towards the end of their training period'. 'Most
of these pictures', Mr. Teit adds, 'were representations of objects seen in
their dreams, and the painting of them was supposed to hasten the attain-
ment of a person's manitou or other desires.' After the training was over,
no taboo seems to have been placed on any sexual activity to which the
parties might feel inclined.485

The Shuswap were zoistic. 'Spirits' or 'mysteries' existed in high moun-
tains, certain lakes, bogs, marshes, and other dangerous places; the same
word was applied to epidemics and to an unaccountable sickness which did
not yield to immediate treatment. The difference between a magician and
an ordinary man seems to have consisted in the power of his 'guardian
spirit'. No more than this can be said. I suspect that the native word
translated 'guardian spirit' was the same as the word translated 'spirits'
and 'mysteries'; but Mr. Teit does not quote the native terms.486

A number of varied 'beliefs' concerning the rain have been mentioned
by our authorities, but I have not been able to find any report concerning
the manner in which the Shuswap attempted to control the weather.487

107. Lillooet. Mr. Teit is also one of our authorities on the Lillooet
Indians who occupied an area to the south of the Thompsons, but in this
case we possess also the results of Mr. C. Hill-Tout's researches. Mr. Hill-
Tout sometimes quotes the native terms.

On reaching puberty a young girl was isolated in a small lodge made of
fir branches and bark ; she remained in isolation for a period which varied
from one to four years, according to the whim of her parents. From one
to three years later she was married; she would be about 16-20 years old.
We are not informed definitely whether or not she was permitted to have
love affairs in the period which elapsed between the end of her isolation
and her marriage, but as marriage, divorce, and all other relations between
the sexes seem to have depended on mutual consent, perhaps we may con-
clude that she could gratify her impulses if she so desired. There is no
report in regard to pre-nuptial pregnancy. Among the upper tribes every
youth went forth to the woods to seek his snam, 'guardian spirit', but among
the lower tribes an ordinary youth did not possess snam ; only those youths
who desired to excel in some particular activity underwent the period of
isolation. Usually a man married when he was about 20 or 30 years old;
I think it is safe to conclude that he did not remain continent until he
reached that age. Since pre-nuptial chastity was not a social obligation,
and no customs existed which imposed an occasional or irregular continence,
it seems to follow that if a couple were attracted to one another they could
satisfy their mutual desires.488 The evidence, however, is uncertain and
scanty.

The Lillooet were zoistic. Dr. F. Boas has said: 'The essential trait of

N

jyS GENERAL SURVEY § 108

the religious beliefs of these tribes is connected with the acquisition of
guardian spirits. All animals and objects possessed of mysterious powers
can become guardian spirits. Objects referring to death, such as graves,
bones, teeth, and also natural phenomena, such as blue sky, east and west,
and powerful animals, could become guardian spirits of shamans. Warriors
had weapons and strong animals for their guardian spirits; hunters, the
water, the tops of mountains, and the animals they hunted.' As I have said,
the word for 'guardian spirit' among the Lillooet was snam. Thus snam
was applied to 'animals and objects possessed of mysterious powers', to
certain natural phenomena, and to the dead; it was also the word for magic
power. In Mr. Hill-Tout's report we read of 'my snam\ and the 'loss of
snam power'. We are told also that 'men were always formally addressed
by their hereditary mystery or snam names' The power of a magician
depended on the snam which he possessed; he could both cause and cure
sickness ; but since the Roman Catholic priests had converted the people
before our authorities made their inquiries, shamanistic arts had ceased
to be practised publicly.490 The ancient methods of burial also were no
longer used at the time to which the reports refer ; it is therefore impossible
to say whether or not in the olden days magicians were buried in a different
manner from ordinary people. We are told, however, that twins used to
be placed in fir-trees; and since twins are often an unaccountable super-
normal event, it may be that supernormal people were disposed of in an
unusual manner ,491 There is no satisfactory report in regard to the control
of the weather.492

108. Coast Salish. We do not know much about the Salish tribes493
which lived along the south-western coast of Canada. I can do no more
than record that they were zoistic. Concerning their sexual regulations also
we are sadly ignorant. In no single case are we told the native method of
dealing with a case, e.g., of pre-nuptial pregnancy, and though the young
people seem to have behaved as they liked after puberty, we are not
definitely told that they were sexually free. Even if we were told so, it is
doubtful if we could accept the report, for the people have been Christian-
ized for a very long time. Indeed, over thirty years ago, the Salishan towns
possessed their bandstands, public halls, two-storied cottages, and other
equipment associated with the white man's arrival in a country not his
own.494 If Mr. Hill-Tout, our best authority on the Coast Salish, had not
quoted the native words in his reports, and had not distinguished between
the English translation of a native word and the phenomena to which it
was applied, I should have passed to the east of the Rocky Mountains with-
out further delay; but I wish to note what he says about sulia, the word
which he adopts as a kind of generic Indian name for 'guardian spirit'.

The sulia, which is variously termed the 'personal totem', 'hereditary
totem', 'tutelary genius', and 'guardian spirit', is compared by Mr. Hill-
Tout to snam, manitu, wahabe, and other similar conceptions. We have

»

§io9 AMERICAN INDIANS I79

already seen (para. 107) that snam was used as an adjective and as an adverb,
and although sulia is always translated as if it denoted an entity, it is clear
that the Salish regarded it as a quality: 'The object itself was not the sulia,
only the form, so to speak, under which it manifested itself to its protege.'
Among the Coast Salish only magicians and men skilled in some form of
human activity possessed sulia; and when Dr. Boas says that 'twins had
supernatural powers' he is undoubtedly attempting to express in our
language the fact that the natives applied the word sulia to twins. More-
over, it is probable that the sw/^-quality was manifest also in some natural
phenomena, for we are told that the forest, air, and sea were full of 'mys-
teries'. We are not told the native word which is translated 'mysteries';
but surely it was sulia.

Sickness is said to have been due to witchcraft and /or to the absence of
the soul ; but I should require an assurance that inference had been separated
from fact before I accepted the latter report. The various tribal units used
different words to denote their magical practitioners. The words have been
variously translated, but clearly they correspond: Lkungen siova, 'witch',
squnaam, 'shaman'; Skeelis sevwa, 'witch', cwolan, 'doctor', sizuel, 'ghost-
layer and magician'; Siciatl seuwa, 'witch', siyaikwtl, 'doctor', 'seer'. We
need attach no importance to the use of the word 'ghost-layer' in reference
to the Skeelis siwel, for there is no mention of any ghostly activities, and
there was no tendance. The Skeelis seem to have used three distinct terms
in reference to the dead: tesmesteuqsetl, 'the spirit people', selaavita, 'the
departed', and tespolakwetsa, '( ?the) corpse or ghost [i.e. apparition]'. The
first was used to distinguish the dead from the living; the second was
applied to the newly dead ; the third needs no elucidation.495

I cannot find any report in regard to the control of the weather.

109. Klallam. According to Dr. Erna Gunther, who worked among the
Klallam in recent years, 'girls are carefully chaperoned by their mothers
and female relatives'. She adds that her informant 'gave two modern
instances where girls did not live up to this old tradition'. From this report
it would be easy to conclude that sexual lapses, if not punished, at any rate
were socially condemned; but this was far from being the case. We are put
on our guard by Myron Eells, who remarked in 1886 that 'in regard to
chastity they also improve'. George Gibbs states that the idea of chastity
in pagan times was entirely wanting. Cohabitation preceded marriage;
unmarried girls could behave as they liked provided that they did not
become pregnant. In that case they used an abortifacient.496

The Klallam were in the zoistic cultural condition. 'The practical part
of their religion', says Myron Eells, 'is a compound of shamanism and
spiritism, called in Chinook jargon tamanous, tamahnous or tamanamus, and
the word expresses their idea so completely that it has been adopted into
English, for the word expresses a combination of ideas for which we have
no exact English equivalent. Tamanous is a noun and as such refers to any

j 80 GENERAL SURVEY § "°

spiritual being. It is also used to express the work of influencing any of
their spirits by incantation. The word is also an adjective, and as such is
used to describe any stick, stone, or similar article in which spirits are at
times disposed to dwell, and also any man, as a medicine-man, who is
supposed to have more than ordinary power with these spirits; hence
we often hear of tamanous-sticks and tamanous-men. It is likewise a verb,
and to tamanous is to perform the incantations necessary to influence these
spirits.'

We are not told the word which is translated 'spirits'. If, as I suspect,
the word is tamanous, what shall we make of this sentence: 'Tamanous is
a noun, and as such refers to any spiritual being'? If we substitute the
native term for 'spiritual being', the sentence reads: 'Tamanous is a noun
and as such refers to tamanous\ Such confusions are not uncommon in
anthropological literature ; too often have they been overlooked by some-
what credulous students.

We are not told how the Klallam differentiated between a tamanous-
feature and a non-tamanous-feature ; but since the word was applied to
supernormal men, I conjecture that it was applied also to supernormal
things. It has been translated also as 'guardian-spirit'; a youth was sent
out into the woods in order to find (his) tamanous. Eells remarks: 'The
Indian tamanouses for what he wishes very earnestly. Hence they tamanous
for wind, for gambling and to cure the sick or cause sickness.' A man who
had more tamanous than other men was a magician. Hale translates
tamanowus, 'luck', 'fortune', 'magic', 'sorcerer'.49?

Apparently in older times there were different forms of burial, bells
says that some people were buried in the ground ; sometimes 'the body was
placed in a box which was put in a canoe, and the canoe placed in the forks
of two trees and left there'. Eells regards these habits as representing
different 'ages', and uses the word in a vague evolutionary sense; but it
seems possible that ordinary people were buried in the ground, and that
magicians, tamanous-mm, were placed in trees. According to Dr. Gunther,
food was burned for the ghost two days after a funeral. Only magicians
could see a spook; they were able to control it.498

110. Nez Perces. Concerning those staunch friends of the white man,
the Nez Perces, our knowledge is a little more extensive. Mutual consent
seems to have been the controlling factor in all sexual relations. 'Some-
times', Professor Spinden says, 'a delinquent girl of whom her lover tired
was turned over by him to a party of his friends. Abortion was uncommon.
A child born out of marriage was considered a disgrace to the girl's family,
and if the offending man was known, it was considered to constitute
marriage.' This, however, was no hardship, for divorce was simply a
matter of separation or of elopement with a different partner A™

The Nez Perces were zoistic. A child went away into the hills at about
ten years of age in order to obtain a 'guardian spirit'. The native term is

§iii AMERICAN INDIANS 181

not given, but the power of a magician seems to have depended on the
power of his 'guardian spirit'. During the period of solitary vigil, songs
were revealed in dreams, and these songs 'descended through the family'.
'Some had a right to sing ten or fifteen songs in the Guardian Spirit
Dance; there seems to have been a certain amount of protection and aid
derived from this second-hand interest.' Magicians handed on these songs
to their successors, and thus fine weather could be produced. 'The funeral
ceremonies were simple', we are told, 'and are but little known.' The
magician attended as a professional practitioner, and his duty was to 'lay
the ghost'; he performed this important task by blowing smoke into the
four corners of the house. Madness was considered to be due to ghosts:
'Ghosts were held responsible also for the death of children. It was
believed that the ghost would hold his hand over the child's face and thus
smother it. In order to resuscitate the child it was necessary for two or
more medicine-men to determine which ghost was responsible, and then
go to the grave of that ghost and try to recover the child's breath. Often,
however, the shamans could not determine which ghost was responsible,
in which event the child remained lifeless.' The native term for 'ghosts'
is not given.

This is the first definite report that we have found in reference to ghostly
activity among the American Indians. It is interesting that it should occur
among a people who, if they could identify him, made the father of a
pre-nuptial child marry the woman who bore it.500

111. Dene (Tinneh). Our chief authority on the Dene is Father A. G.
Morice, who has placed his unrivalled knowledge of the people at our
disposal in a number of scattered papers. Father Morice devotes most of
his attention to the material culture of the Dene, their methods of transport,
mode of life, and trading activities. Perhaps this is because the natives did
not carry out any rites in an endeavour to maintain a right relation with the
powers in the universe. They were zoistic. 'They made no sacrifices',
Father Morice says, 'worshipped no deity and had no definite cultus, unless
we dignify with that name the shamanism which obtained among them.'
The only phenomenon which impressed them was the unusual or the
unaccountable: 'The Dene mind sees mystery everywhere irrespective of
its intrinsic value or peculiar make, the native instinctively attaches more
or less unaccountable qualities to some mechanical device, weapon of
the chase or fishing implement that has, perhaps accidentally, proved
successful.' The native term for 'mystery' is not given, but the conception
seems to have been of the usual character. The power was also manifest
in twins.

Every notable citizen had a 'guardian spirit', which afforded him 'power'.
'It is while dreaming that they pretended to communicate with the super-
natural world, that their shamans were invested with this wonderful power
over nature, and that every individual was assigned his particular nagwal

1 82 GENERAL SURVEY §112

or tutelary animal genius.'501 It was by the power of his 'familiar genius'
that the Dene magician, nelhgen, worked. Usually he is called a 'conjuror',
and credited with the control of 'spirits', but I suspect that the same native
word has been translated 'familiar genius', 'spirits', 'mystery', and 'guardian
spirit'. Various epithets, such as curative, preventative, inquisitive, malefic,
operative, prestidigitative, and prophetical, have been applied to the activities
of the nelhgen. The powers he possessed in the eyes of his fellow citizens
have been summarized thus: 'His services were called into requisition in
time of famine, to prevent tempests, procure favourable winds, hasten the
arrival of salmon and ensure its abundance, but more generally in case of
sickness which they believed to be concrete and always due to the presence
or ill will of spirits.'502

In regard to the sexual regulations of the Dene Father Morice has relied
in a very large measure on the experience of Samuel Hearne, a servant of
the Hudson Bay Company, who travelled through north-west Canada in
1769-72. Various methods of obtaining a wife seem to have prevailed, and
the moral character of the women has been variously assessed. Such
estimates have no scientific value. It is plain that there was a complete
absence of sexual restraint; many stories of incest are related; even the
prohibited degrees were not obeyed. 'So far from laying any restraints on
their sensual appetites', Hearne says, 'as long as youth and inclination last,
they give themselves up to all manner of even incestuous debauchery.'
Marriage was mere cohabitation, and a wife was always liable to leave her
partner for a stronger man.503

112. Summary and Chart. Such were the customs of these nine societies.
The facts are stated diagrammatically on the opposite page.

All these societies were in the zoistic condition: they neither erected
temples nor paid any kind of post-funeral attention to their dead. The Nez
Perces are reported to have credited the ghost of a dead man with the power
of direct influence in human affairs, but they conducted no tendance and
were of the opinion that a magician could control any ghost.

In regard to the sexual regulations of the nine societies the information
is poor. It would be easy to read into the reports what probably lies between
the lines, but exact statements are available in four cases only, those of the
Haida, Klallam, Nez Perces, and Dene. I think, however, that a minus
sign can confidently be placed in the Pre-nuptial Chastity column in
reference to Tlingit. Concerning the Thompson, Shuswap, Lillooet, and
Coast Salish, there is no precise information.

In their description of the Tlingit, Haida, Lillooet, Coast Salish, and
Klallam, our authorities have quoted, or mentioned, the native terms.
I will summarize the salient details.

The power, or quality, yek, which manifested itself to the Tlingit, was
manifest in 'something peculiar' or 'something outside the Indian's usual
experience'. This is explicitly stated by Mr. Swanton, who corrects Dr.

§ii2 AMERICAN INDIANS

AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE NORTH-WEST

Society

1

Cultural condition

Treatment

of
affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

i

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

io

ii

Tlingit .....

Z

+

o

o

Haida .....

Z

+

+

z

+

+

o

Shuswap ....

z

+

o

o

o

Lillooet .....

z

+

o

o

o

Coast Salish ....

z

+

o

o

o

Klallam .....

z

+

+

Nez Perces ....

z

+

+

+

Dene .....

z

+

+

Boas's report that to the Tlingit 'all nature was animate'; the alleged
ubiquity of 'spirits' was a false inference, due to 'European lineage', from
the fact that the word translated 'spirits' was applied to unusual or super-
normal things.

There were two dialects of the Haida language, the Skidegate word sgana
corresponding to the Massett word skil. Skil is the word which is trans-
lated 'spirit', skil being manifest only in an 'unusual feature'. The meaning
of these words seems to have been confused with the phenomena to which
they were applied. Mr. Swanton's interpreters tried to translate the word
sgana as if it referred to a quality or power, but Mr. Swanton decided that
the conception must be an entity, 'spirit'. When, therefore, he heard sgana
applied to the killer-whale, he was compelled to conclude that the word
was a noun meaning 'killer- whale' instead of an adjective and/or adverb
applied to that animal. A lesser man would have omitted the fact from his
report. Let us then respect Mr. Swanton for not having suppressed what
must have seemed a peculiar problem. Similarly, when Mr. Curtis tells us
that some men became killer- whales, he is probably making an inference
from the fact that sgana was applied both to the dead and to killer- whales.
Thus it is probable that sgana was applied to the dead by the Haida, just
as by the Tlingit a compound of yek, kinayek, was applied to dead 'braves'.

A Haida magician was a man who possessed sgana, a Tlingit magician
being a man who possessed yek. In the former case, the man is said to have
been possessed by a 'supernatural being, sgana1 ; in the latter case he went
to the woods to secure a 'guardian-spirit', yek, or collected his yek from

!84 GENERAL SURVEY §112

a dead magician or ve&-man. In both cases the source of magic power was
the possession of or by the power in the universe.

Among the Lillooet the word snam was used (1) substantially— 'my
snam1 ; then it is translated 'guardian spirit' ; (2) adjectivally— 'snam powers' ;
then it is called 'supernatural power'; (3) as a method of differentiation
between a magician or skilled man and an ordinary individual. It was
applied also to the bones and teeth of dead men, and to graves. In the last
case it seems possible that the word was used only in reference to dead
magicians, for one of the methods of securing snam was similar to the
Tlingit custom of acquiring yek by touching or by possessing some part of

a v£&-man's corpse.

The word which corresponded to snam among the Coast Salish was
sulia. We are definitely told that the animal which became a 'guardian
spirit', i.e. sulia, was not important as an animal; it was sulia because it
manifested sulia, 'mystery' or 'power'. Just as snam was applied to super-
normal phenomena, so also sulia must be the missing word which is trans-
lated 'mysteries' and 'spirits'. There is no report of sulia having been used
in reference to a corpse or to the dead.

The Klallam tamanous was used (1) substantially ; then it is translated
'spiritual being'; (2) verbally, denoting the method of influencing spirits;
(3) adjectivally; then it was applied to the places where 'spirits' were sup-
posed to dwell and to the magician who controlled 'spirits'. It has been
translated also as 'luck', 'magic', 'fortune', and 'sorcerer'. There is no
record of tamanous being applied to a corpse or to the dead.

Thus these Indian tribes saw in the world the manifestation of a certain
power which they called yek, sgana (skil), snam, sulia, or tamanous, according
as they were born into a Tlingit, Haida, Lillooet, Coast Salish, or Klallam
tradition. This quality or power was manifest in supernormal phenomena,
and in anything outside their normal experience or beyond their compre-
hension. It was a dangerous power, yet an advantageous possession. Usually
it took the form of an animal, which was identified by its appearance in
visions or dreams. The animal had no virtue in itself; it was merely a
manifestation of the power. It was by the power of yek, sgana, snam, sulia,
or tamanous that the Indians tried to cope with the problems of human
existence. By its aid they thought they could change the weather, cure
sickness, and bewitch their enemies.

The native terms have not been quoted in reference to the Shuswap, Nez
Perces, and Dene, but it is plain that their ideas were of the same pattern
as those of the other societies. The Shuswap saw 'spirits' in 'certain places',
and it is safe to conclude that, if we knew the native terms, we should find
the same word was applied to (1) something unusual, (2) supernormal
power. This is probably true of the Thompson also, but Mr. Teit mentioned
the word kwalus in the obscure passage quoted in n. 484. I conjecture that
kwalus can be equated with yek, sgana, snam, sulia, and tamanous.

In regard to the control of the weather, the lacunae in the evidence are

§ii3 AMERICAN INDIANS 185

considerable. No report is available in reference to the Christianized
Shuswap, Lillooet, and Coast Salish. There is, however, a statement to the
effect that the Thompson considered that they could control the elements
by magic, and, since we are assured that the Lillooet and Shuswap customs
were the same as those of their neighbours, we may perhaps assume that
they were of the same opinion. The Tlingit lived in such an environment
that the question would not arise.

I have tried to note if there was any difference in the methods of burial
of (a) magicians, (b) ordinary folk, but there is little reliable evidence.
Christian influence had become paramount among the Thompsons, Shus-
wap, and Coast Salish before their culture had been recorded; the Nez
Perce customs, we are told, are 'little known'; the same remark applies to
the Dene. Two different forms of burial were practised by the Klallam,
but we are not definitely told that the one was adopted for tamanous-men
and the other for ordinary men. The Lillooet may have treated the corpse
of a snam-man in a different manner from that of an ordinary man, but this
opinion is hypothetical and deductive. The only precise information con-
cerns the Tlingit and the Haida ; in both cases a special form of burial was
afforded to yek- or sgana-men ; their resting-places were considered to be
particularly dangerous and powerful.

Our second group of American Indians consists of tribes which inhabited
the central area of the North American continent. We shall discuss (1) the
Algonquian Ojibwa, Blackfeet, and Arapaho, (2) Iroquois, (3) the Siouan
Dakota, Omaha, Hidatsa, Mandan, Crow, and Winnebago.

2. Indians of the Plains and Great Lakes

113. Ojibwa. The deceptive character of any report which confines
itself to the mere conduct or appearance of native women is well illustrated
by the literature on the Ojibwa. 'There is great reserve manifested by the
young females', says Peter Jones, 'and not to maintain it would be to lose
the spotlessness of their character.' He seems to imply that pre-nuptial
sexual intercourse was a social offence ; but there was no objection to it at all.
A girl's young lover, however, seldom became her husband. 'It is not true',
Keating observes, 'that men visit the cabins of those whom they wish to
marry, and commence their intercourse by nocturnal assignations; the
young men will frequently resort to this, but never when they wish to take
a woman as a wife. When a mere passing intrigue is their object, they
usually carry it on at night.' The young females, he says, 'do not hesitate
to have recourse to abortions'.504

The Ojibwa were zoistic; they built no temples and paid no post-funeral
attention to the dead. They thought that if they dreamed about a dead man
the vision was a prophecy of their own approaching death. The corpse ot
an ordinary man was interred in a grave over which poles or sticks were
erected lengthwise, to the height of two feet, on which again were placed

1 86 GENERAL SURVEY §113

mats to protect the body from the rain. An old man exhorted the ghost to
depart quickly. If there was a widow she leapt about on a zigzag course,
in an endeavour to run away from the ghost; in the evening steps were
taken to frighten it away. More honour was paid to 'distinguished men'
than to ordinary men: their bodies were wrapped in cloths, blankets, or
bark, and raised on scaffolds.505

The power in the universe was munedoo, which Jones translates both as
'spirit' and as 'god'. 'Any remarkable features in natural scenery or terrific
places', he states, 'become objects of superstitious dread and veneration,
from the idea that they are the abodes of gods: for instance, curious trees,
rocks, islands, mountains, caves or waterfalls.' He cites the case of Old
Jack, whose hunting-ground lay near a very imposing tree which was 'taller
than any others within view'. Old Jack 'dreamed or fancied that this tree
was to be his munedoo or god, who would grant him and his family long life
and success in hunting. He and they made periodical visits to it, bringing
with them the best of the game they had taken and offering the same at
the foot of the tree.' This is very like the manner in which a Lango man
would dream that jok was in a certain tree (para. 84).

The sun, moon, and stars were munedoo; the word was applied also to
certain animals 'which they conceive to possess supernatural powers — such
as wolf, fox, toad and all venomous snakes'. There were no 'regularly
appointed priests': 'The pow-wows, conjurors and gifted speakers act for
them.' By 'conjurors' Jones means the magicians, who had their own 'per-
sonal or familiar gods', which they obtained through fasting. 'All the time
they notice every remarkable event, dream or supernatural sound, and
whichever of these makes the most impression on their minds during their
fast suggests the particular spirit which becomes their personal munedoo as
long as they live, and in all emergencies and dangers they will call upon
him for assistance.'506

It would be difficult to attain a more complete description of native usage.
If we substitute the native word munedoo for 'spirit' and 'god', the facts are
separated from the inferences. The Ojibwa applied the word munedoo to
anything supernormal; they credited such phenomena with 'power' which
they tried to secure for themselves. 'By the agency of these munedoos\
Jones adds — but the anglicized plural is odious; 'By the agency of munedoo",
then — 'they pretend to have the power of bewitching one another, performing
extraordinary cures, foretelling future events, vanquishing their enemies,
and charming the pretty Indian girl they intend to marry.' By the power
of munedoo they also controlled the wind and the storms, increased their
vegetable produce, and achieved success in hunting and fishing. In fact,
the education of a young lad consisted in learning all the mysteries of
www^oo-manipulation, in fasting, feasting, offerings, songs, dances, and
incantations. A magician was mide, wabeno, or jessakld, the first-named
being the most important. The Society of the Mide, in fact, was a very
powerful organization.507

§H4 AMERICAN INDIANS jgy

114. Blackfeet. The proper name of the so-called Blackfoot tribe was
Siksika, the latter word being derived from siksinam, 'black', and ka, the
root of ookatsh, 'foot'. The tribe was a confederacy of the Siksika or Black-
feet, the Kainah or Bloods, and the Piegan. The whole society is popularly
known as the Blackfoot tribe or Blackfeet.

Professor Clark Wissler is our most modern authority on the Blackfeet.
He remarks: 'To all appearances virginity is held in great esteem and
extreme precaution is taken to guard the girls of the family. They are
closely watched by mothers and married off as soon as possible after
puberty.' The words 'extreme precaution' seem to imply that the social
regulations of the Blackfeet inflicted at least an occasional continence on
the young people, but this was far from being the case. It was pre-nuptial
pregnancy, not pre-nuptial intercourse, to which the Blackfeet objected.
Professor Wissler adds: 'For a girl to become pregnant is regarded as an
extreme family disgrace.' There was a complete absence of any regulation
which might have prevented the young men and women from behaving as
they liked. Boys intercepted the girls by day; by night they entered the
tipi in which the girls slept, such conduct being condoned and approved by
the parents. The male lover, in fact, enjoyed unusual liberties. Professor
Wissler was puzzled by this difference between Blackfoot conduct and the
alleged Blackfoot customs, and he expressed his uncertainty by inserting
the words 'to all appearances' in the sentence I have quoted. Probably the
apparent confusion of pre-nuptial pregnancy and pre-nuptial intercourse
explains the following statement: 'Thus while great pains are taken to safe-
guard the young girls, boys are, if anything, encouraged to break through
the barriers.'508

The Blackfeet were in the zoistic cultural condition ; they neither erected
temples nor paid any kind of post-funeral attention to their dead.

Burial-places were feared greatly. Professor Wissler says that interment
in the ground has been practised only recently, and that tree-burials used
to be common; but 'a person of some importance was placed in a tipi on
some high place'. Ghosts seem to have been credited with the power to
twist a person's mouth and affect the speech, but I am not persuaded that
the report may not be the outcome of inference, for these are the symptoms
of fright which a Blackfoot is said to have always suffered near a corpse.509

There is no precise account of the words in which the Blackfeet expressed
their attitude to the world. A magician was a man who was skilled in the
handling of 'bundles'; most men owned some kind of bundle. Professor
Wissler defines a bundle as 'any object or objects, kept in wrappings when
not in use, guarded by the owner according to definite rules and associated
with a ritual containing one or more songs'. He does not give the native
word. It may have been natosio; at any rate, that was the Piegan word;
Grinnell has natoye and natos. In Piegan natosio was applied also to a
medicine-man. Grinnell, however, calls him ninampskan, and adds: 'No
one among the Blackfeet appears to have any idea as to what the word

1 88 GENERAL SURVEY §116

means.' By 'medicine' and songs they both cured sickness and controlled
the weather.510

I can find no satisfactory report concerning the source of magic power.
It is clear that it was contained in bundles, but apparently there were other
methods of securing it. The native terms are not quoted.

115. Arapaho. Among the Arapaho, who seem to have been more
emotionally affected by the pagan messiahs than almost any other tribe,511
courtship entailed sexual knowledge. 'The Arapaho were not at all strict',
Mr. Curtis states, 'especially at the great tribal gatherings, when the old
people would counsel the young women and girls to give themselves up to
the young men.' The chief tribal gathering was the Sun-Dance: Professor
Kroeber says that when this was being celebrated 'the young people were
told to amuse themselves'. Women had to consent if they were approached,
and social conventions forbade jealousy. Elopement was not uncommon;
sometimes girls were abandoned on the prairie.512

The Arapaho also were in the zoistic cultural condition. A very queer
opinion which they held was that the ghosts of loud and vigorous people
were absolutely harmless, but that those of quiet, timid people were likely
to be noisy. They did not concern themselves, however, about the dead
after the property of these had been burnt and some cedar-wood had been
placed on the fire. The corpses of magicians and ordinary people were
treated in the same manner; but our knowledge of the pagan customs is
evidently imperfect, for Mr. Curtis remarks that 'contrary to the usual
custom of the prairie tribes, the Arapaho buried their dead in the ground',
and pertinently adds: 'In their habits of dress, camping, making war and
gaming, the Arapaho were a typical Plains tribe.'513

'Supernatural power' was sought by fasting in lonely places, and certain
leaves and roots which had been specified in dreams were gathered ; these
were placed in a 'medicine' bag and then employed in the treatment of sick-
ness. These bags corresponded to the Blackfoot 'bundles' (para. 114);
among the Arapaho they could be purchased and inherited. The term
which the natives applied to them is not given ; it may have been haataana,
which in a rather remote passage is said to have been applied to a woman's
menses and to have meant 'supernatural', 'mysterious', 'medicine'. Some-
times sickness is said to have been regarded as being intrusive ; treatment
was by suction, or by songs and herbal mixtures. 'Every man who received
a vision in his fasting became a medicine-man, that is, one who by magic
could expel mysterious illness.'514

I have not been successful in my search for an explicit statement in
regard to weather control.

116. Iroquois. Under the general title Iroquois I include the confedera-
tion which is often called Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Oneida,
Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.

§n6 AMERICAN INDIANS 189

The Iroquois are a famous nation, and so much attention has been paid
to their history and to their warlike achievements that their culture has been
somewhat neglected. Moreover, they were an example of that type of
social organization which is often loosely termed 'matriarchy', and a large
number of writers have concentrated on this aspect of Iroquoian life. They
have discussed such questions as descent, succession, inheritance, and the
personnel of the tribal councils, but have omitted to describe those items
which come within our definition of 'culture'. It is almost impossible, in
fact, to extract any definite cultural facts from the vast literature which has
accumulated in reference to the Iroquois, and the few facts which have been
reported refer to post-Columbean rather than to pre-Columbean practices.
It is doubtful if these represent genuine pagan customs. In the first place,
the Iroquoian confederacy was one of the earliest groups of American
Indians with which the white man was in close contact. It was known to
Europeans in the early sixteenth century ; missionaries were working among
the natives in the early seventeenth century. Thus the pagan customs may
have been considerably modified before any record was made. Secondly,
about 1800 a Seneca named Ganeodiyo, 'Handsome Lake', was hailed by
the Iroquois as a new religious teacher, and there can be no doubt that his
teaching, perhaps a mere reaction against white influence, had a consider-
able effect on native life. Thus the arrival of the white man created, from
two different points of view, a new variety within the cultural pattern ; and
it is this new variety to which the available data appear to refer.515

Lewis Morgan emphasizes the danger that Jesuit influence may have
modified the ancient rites of the Iroquois, and although we are informed of
the existence of 'spirits' of the winds, earth, thunder, corn, &c.,the native
terms are not given. There are reported to have been six pagan festivals,
Maple, Pearling, Strawberry, Green Corn, Harvest, and New Year, but it
is doubtful if we can successfully separate the indigenous rites from those
which were a mere Iroquoian version of Christian ceremonies. This is the
variety within the pattern to which I have alluded.516

I can do no more, therefore, than record the cultural pattern of the
society (zoistic). Witchcraft was generally practised and was recognized as
one of the ordinary risks of life. I cannot find an adequate description of
the treatment of sickness. Before the coming of the white men the dead
seem to have been placed on a scaffolding erected on poles. When the
body was decomposed, the bones were placed either in the dead man's
house or 'in a small bark house erected for their reception'. 'Unless the
rites of burial were performed', we are told, 'it was believed that the spirits
of the dead wandered for a time upon the earth in a state of great unhappi-
ness.' I do not know if the latter opinion was due to white influence. There
is no report of any difference between the treatment of a dead magician
and that of any ordinary dead person. The native customs are imperfectly
known.517

This is the total of the definite evidence ; and we cannot discuss the

190 GENERAL SURVEY §116

nature of the power in the universe, orenda, owing to the peculiar nature
of the available reports. The Iroquoian conception has been employed as
the basis of a native theory concerning the origin and development of
religion, and its character is not clear from the descriptions. A native
writer, Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, in a paper entitled 'Orenda and a Definition
of Religion', says: 'That life is the property of every body whatsoever is a
postulate fundamental to the cosmologic philosophy of savage man.' I do
not know what precise meaning can be attached to the word 'life' in that
context (is 'life' offered as a translation of orenda ?), but I am quite sure that
among the seventy-nine other uncivilized tribes with which this treatise is
concerned there is not a single example of a 'cosmologic philosophy' of that
character. The opinion I have quoted smacks of an 'animism' which has
been learnt in the white man's lecture-hall. 'Spirits' have indeed been
reported by some writers as being ubiquitous, but, as we have observed and
shall continue to discover, this alleged ubiquity is a false inference from
an inaccurate translation of a native term ; and I feel that Mr. Hewitt may
have written his paper on 'A Definition of Religion' with a preconceived and
wrongly-conceived white man's theory in his mind, employing the concep-
tions of his own tribe as an illustration of what he meant. I will state the
Iroquoian conceptions as he has reported them and then point out the reason
why I do not think they can be accepted at their face value.

Orenda, which Mr. Hewitt translates also as 'magic potence', existed,
according to his account, in everything. A shaman, rarendiowanen, was a
man whose orenda was great; a fine hunter, barendiio, also possessed orenda
which was superior to that of an ordinary person ; if a barendiio was suc-
cessful at the hunt, his orenda was said to have been greater than that of the
animal he had slain ; a victory in any game or contest was due to the superior
orenda of the victor. And so on. This is quite clear and logical, but we
may notice that the phenomena to which orenda is said to have been applied
were superlative or supernormal. A fine, successful hunter, but not an
ordinary or unsuccessful one, had orenda. This seems to suggest that
orenda was manifest not in everything but only in supernormal things. Mr.
Hewitt then says that 'this subsumed magic power' which was called
orenda by the Iroquois was called wakan by the Siouans and manitou by the
Algonquians. Now we have already seen that manitou, or munedoo, as it is
variously spelt, was manifest only in something unusual or something
beyond comprehension ; in the next paragraph we shall see that the Dakota
employed the word wakan in the same contexts. We must conclude, there-
fore, either (i) that Mr. Hewitt has made a false comparison, for, whereas
orenda is said by him to have been possessed by everything, wakan and
manitou were manifest only in supernormal things ; or (2) that the Iroquois
employed the term orenda in the same manner as the Dakota used wakan
and the Ojibwa used munedoo, but Mr. Hewitt had been so influenced by
the white man's theories that he reported orenda as being ubiquitous. The
difficulty is real, and no solution is at hand.518 I incline to the latter opinion.

§ii7 AMERICAN INDIANS 191

The pre-nuptial sexual conduct of the Iroquois has been the subject of
much discussion, but, as I have often pointed out, sexual conduct is not
a matter with which we are concerned ; it is even doubtful if the reports in
its connexion have any scientific value. It is certain that among the Iroquois
there was a complete absence of any regulation which might have compelled
a pre-nuptial continence. The influence of women in the counsels of the
confederacy was reflected in the arrangements of their marriages. The
females, indeed, seem to have been in complete charge of all matrimonial
arrangements. A young man was often mated with an old woman or a
widow, on the supposition, we are told, 'that he needed a companion
experienced in the affairs of life' ; but doubtless it was a less worthy motive
that sometimes compelled the arrangement. In a case of adultery the
woman was regarded as the sole offender. The males did not seek the
company of the females unless they were impelled by sheer physical neces-
sity. Indeed, 'physical necessity' is the phrase which Morgan applies to the
Iroquoian idea of a mating. 'The male sought the conversation and society
of the males', he adds, 'the female the companionship of her own sex.
Between the sexes there was but little sociality. When the unmarried of
opposite sexes were brought together there was little or no conversation
between them.' Sexual relations themselves, as Morgan puts it, were
'purely animal'.519

117. Dakota. From the uncertainties of Iroquois culture it is a pleasure
to turn to the Dakota, the most extensive of the Siouan tribes, whose cus-
toms and language have been carefully studied. The Dakota were zoistic ;
and I propose to discuss the word wakan (wakanda) before describing their
sexual regulations. Wakan has been the subject of much comment in com-
parative literature ; many theories which purport to explain its meaning
have been presented. With these we are not concerned. The sole questions
are : In what senses did the Dakota employ the term ? To what phenomena
did they apply it ?

Mr. W. J. McGee and the Rev. J. O. Dorsey are confident that the word
cannot be translated 'Great Spirit'. Miss Fletcher also considers that the
rendering is inappropriate, even definitely misleading. Mr. J. R. Swanton,
it will be remembered (para. 5), declared that the Tlingitj^ could not be
accurately translated 'spirits'; such a translation was due to the 'European
lineage' of the observer. In a similar but more emphatic manner Mr.
McGee criticizes 'the Great Spirit fallacy'. His opinion is worth quoting in
full. Wakanda, he says, 'is rather a quality than an entity' : 'thus, the sun
is wakanda, not the wakanda or a wakanda, but simply wakanda; among
the same tribes the moon is wakanda, and so is thunder, lightning, the
stars, the winds, the cedar and various other things ; even a man, especially
a shaman, might be wakanda, or a wakanda'. Mr. McGee adds that 'places
of striking character were considered wakanda' ; 'the term was used indis-
criminately as substantive and adjective, and with slight modification as

! 92 GENERAL SURVEY §117

verb and adverb'. Then he makes this important declaration: 'Manifestly
a term so protean is not susceptible of translation. Manifestly, too, it cannot
justly be rendered "spirit", much less "Great Spirit", though it is easy to
understand how the superficial enquirer, dominated by definite spiritual
concepts, handicapped by unfamiliarity with the Indian tongue, misled by
ignorance of the vague prescriptorial ideation, and perhaps deceived by
crafty informants or mischievous interpreters, came to adopt and per-
petuate the erroneous interpretation.'

The evidence, then, is that wakan was applied by the Dakota to anything
unusual or striking, and to magicians. According to the Rev. S. R. Riggs,
wakanda was the verbal form of the word, 'to reckon as sacred, to worship',
the substantival and adjectival forms being wakan, which he translates 'a
spirit' (subst.) and 'spiritual, sacred, consecrated, wonderful, incomprehen-
sible' (adj.). The same meanings are given also in Riggs's later dictionary,
in which W. J. Cleveland has added the following explanatory comment to
the entries: 'Mysterious, incomprehensible, in a peculiar state, which from
not being understood it is dangerous to meddle with, hence the application
of the word to women at the menstrual period, and hence also arises the
feeling that if the Bible, Church, Missionary, &c, are wakan, they are to
be avoided, shunned, not as being bad or dangerous, but as being wakan.'520

Thus wakan was (1) the power which was manifest in something super-
normal or beyond comprehension, (2) the power which was possessed by
a magician, (3) a dangerous force which must be shunned.

The dead were either buried in the ground or exposed on scaffolds in
trees. It is impossible to say whether or not the adoption of the former
method was due to white influence. When a body was placed on a scaffold,
the bones were collected at the end of a year and finally mourned over.
There are many Dakotan tales of ghostly apparitions, but there was no
tendance.521 The Sun-Dance was a great institution: it was performed
after a bad winter or at the time of an epidemic. Sometimes sickness is
said to have been regarded as intrusive; in that case it was sucked out.
The magicians, wakan-men, could also cure or bewitch by virtue of their
wakan and the wakan of their songs. Carver emphasizes the influence
which these men possessed, but adds, rather quaintly, that the Dakota used
to 'reason with great acuteness on the causes and symptoms of many of the
disorders which are attendant on human nature'. I do not doubt their
reasoning powers, but the Dakota do not seem to have reached any pro-
found conclusions.522

We are given a description of weather 'beliefs', but I have failed to find
an explicit statement in regard to the Dakotan method of weather control.

The social regulations of the Dakota permitted pre-nuptial sexual free-
dom; and the manner in which the statements are made reflects the
individual temperaments of the observers.

The Rev. S. R. Riggs says that 'the intercourse of young men with
maidens is not always open and honourable, but the public sentiment of

§n8 AMERICAN INDIANS i93

a Dakota community, while it does not prevent much that is illicit, makes
it more or less dishonourable, especially for the girl'. The dishonour, how-
ever, seems to have lain rather in the possible pregnancy than in the sexual
activity. Carver states that 'young warriors that are thus disposed seldom
want opportunities for gratifying their passions' and that 'the lover is not
apprehensive of any check or control in the accomplishment of his purposes
if he can find a convenient opportunity for completing them'. 'It is said',
he adds, 'that young women who admit their lovers on these occasions take
great care, by an immediate application of herbs, with the potent efficacy
of which they are well acquainted, to prevent the effects of these illicit
amours becoming visible.'523

118. Omaha. I have already discussed (para. 15) the reports concerning
the pre-nuptial regulations of the Omaha and have drawn attention to their
deceptive character. The evidence has been stated in such a manner as
might lead us to suppose that social restraints were placed upon the sexual
conduct of unmarried girls; but there was, as a matter of fact, no com-
pulsory pre-nuptial continence: if a young couple were attracted to one
another, they had every opportunity for gratifying their mutual desire.
I will repeat the statement which I have quoted in the above-mentioned
paragraph: 'Sometimes when a youth sees a girl whom he loves, if she be
willing, he says to her: "I will stand in that place. Please go thither at
night." Then after her arrival he enjoys her, and subsequently asks her of
her father in marriage. But it was different with a girl who had been
petulant, or had refused to listen to the suitor at first. After lying with her,
he might say, "As you struck me, and hurt me, I will not marry you."
Then she could be sent away without winning him for her husband.'

As I have also pointed out (para. 15), too much emphasis should not be
placed on the report of subsequent marriage, for the word is applied by our
authorities to any form of cohabitation. Parental consent was not necessary
to an Omaha union, which took place as and when the contracting parties
desired. The lack of such consent, however, is said to have made things
uncomfortable sometimes, and this is easily understood, for a young hus-
band was expected to work for his father-in-law for a year or two when he
was first married. Most Omaha fathers seem to have asserted their rights.524

The Omaha were zoistic. Usually they buried their dead on a hill-top;
there is no report of any difference in the treatment of a dead magician.
Food was placed on the grave and a fire was kept burning for four nights,
after the expiry of which the ghost was considered to have reached its final
destination. No more attention was paid to it. In cases of sickness, which,
we are told, might be intrusive or due to witchcraft, treatment was rendered
efficacious by the pronouncement of mystic formulae and spells.

I have not been able to find any precise statement concerning the Omaha
methods of weather control.525

The power in the universe was wakonda. The word was applied to 'any-

o

1 94 GENERAL SURVEY §119

thing mysterious or inexplicable, be it an object or occurrence'. It was
applied also to the particular shell, pebble, or animal which was the special
'medicine' of any individual, to the thunder, and to the mythic monster.
When he was young, a boy had to fast : 'When he fell into a sleep or a trance,
if he saw or heard anything, that thing was to become a special medium
through which he could receive supernatural aid.' We are not told the
native term for this 'special medium', which some anthropologists would
call 'guardian spirit'. I suspect it was wakonda, but according to Dorsey
the word for 'sacred' was waqube. Men who had visions of the same object
formed themselves into societies.526

119. Hidatsa, Mandan, Crow. The culture and customs of the Hidatsa,
s Mandan, and Crow tribes have often been described in the same publica-
tions, so I will deal with them in a single paragraph. They may have
differed from all the other Siouan tribes in reckoning descent in the female
line. Their close association is emphasized throughout the literature, and
it is plain that a general statement which has been made in reference to, e.g.,
the Mandan, may apply equally to the Hidatsa and/or Crow. So far as
I can, however, I will describe what has been reported in reference to each
individual tribe.

Both Professor Lowie and Mr. Curtis emphasize the sensual character
of the Crows and the lax nature of their sexual regulations. There was
a complete absence of pre-nuptial chastity. Young men prowled at night
and entered the lodges of the girls they coveted; couples went off to the
mountains with sexual partners who were chosen simply for the trip ; and
abundant opportunities were afforded for general philandering. Every
man had the privilege of treating his brother's wife with the greatest
familiarity; a young woman could take any liberty with her elder sisters'
husbands. A common method of punishing an adulterous wife, we are
told, was to compel her to submit to the embraces of a fellow clansman.
There was a recognized ceremony in which men 'threw away' their wives;
and it was considered churlish to refuse a wife to any man who desired her.
The Hidatsa employed two separate words in reference to a mating, kidahe
and vahe. The former was used in reference to a temporary affair or an
elopement ; the latter was applied to a more regular union which had the
blessing of the parents on both sides. Virtue was scarce, we are told,
among the Mandans; wives were exchanged at certain social gatherings.
The grades in Mandan society were the same as among the Hidatsa,
membership of any special grade being acquired by payments to the
members who were willing to sell the privileges: 'The surrender of the
purchasers' wives to the sellers formed a conspicuous feature.'

I have mentioned these post-nuptial customs because in this manner the
general character of the sexual regulations can be assessed. The reason
why the Crow regulations have been reported at greater length than those
of the Hidatsa and Mandan is because the society of the Crow has been

§ii9 AMERICAN INDIANS I95

more ably and more minutely observed. We read in reference to the
Mandans that 'virtue was held in great esteem', or that 'the women are
beautiful and modest'; it might be tempting to conclude that this alleged
behaviour was the result of social regulations. Nothing would be farther
from the truth. Dorsey says that 'Mandan customs resemble those of the
Dakota and other cognate peoples'. He also states that the Crows and
Hidatsa were identical in their habits.527

Thus there was a complete absence of pre-nuptial sexual restraint among
these three tribes, which were in the zoistic cultural condition ; they neither
erected temples nor paid any post-funeral attention to the dead. 'Ancestor-
worship in any form is totally lacking', Professor Lowie has stated in
reference to the Crows. Mr. Curtis repeats the report in reference to the
Mandans. The dead are said to have been placed on scaffolds, but burial
in graves was becoming common at the end of the nineteenth century,
probably owing to European influences. There is no report of any difference
in the treatment of the powerful dead.528

The power in the universe was maxpe or maxpa (Crow), mahopini or
maxopini (Mandan), and mahopa or maxupa (Hidatsa). These words were
used in the same manner and under the same circumstances as the Dakotan
wakan (para. 117). The Crows applied the term maxpe to a number of dif-
ferent phenomena. Professor Lowie states: 'What makes it possible to
group together so heterogeneous an assemblage of beings as the sun, the
thunder-bird, the mythical dwarf, and a hundred and one others who may
appear in visions, is that they possess maxpe powers and are able to transfer
it; this and this alone is the badge of their divinity.' Again, 'The applica-
tion of the term maxpe suggests that it is primarily an expression of power
transcending the ordinary.' Similarly, Messrs. Will and Spinden say that
the Mandan hopini was associated with the 'unaccountable'. Matthews
states that mahopa was 'the Hidatsa equivalent for those terms in other
Indian tongues which are usually translated "Great Spirit" '. It was applied
to anything 'of a very wonderful or sacred nature', and meant 'to be
mysterious, sacred, to have curative powers, to possess a charm; incom-
prehensible ; spiritual'.529

Success in life among the Crows depended on the maxpe which a man
proved that he possessed ; any man could become a magician, his reputation
depending on his results. Moreover, if a man were successful in any walk
of life, he would be credited with maxpe. Such powerful men were called
batse maxpe ; they differed, Professor Lowie says, 'not in kind but merely
in degree from others who had successfully sought visions'. We must
beware, in fact, of concluding that the application of a separate term implies
social segregation ; those who were batse maxpe did not constitute a separate
order in society. Professor Lowie warns us that such a conclusion would
be as false as the recognition of a distinct class of warriors in a tribe where
every one strove to achieve martial fame. Similarly among the Hidatsa and
Mandans men who possessed mahopa and mahopini were magicians who

196 GENERAL SURVEY §120

cured diseases and controlled the weather. Many, if not all, methods of
treatment were revealed in visions, and two medicine-men were able to
effect a cure when a single man might fail, for thus the maxpe (mahopa,
mahopini) power was doubled.

Weather-mongers received power from visions; any one could gain a
reputation for power over the elements by a practical proof of his ability.
Catlin says that among the Mandans a rain-maker operated only once ; after
that he rested on his laurels. The sacred objects which had been revealed
in a dream were contained in bundles or bags which could be purchased
from the original visionary and even at third hand; but it was not only
visions which gave maxpe. Certain medicine-rocks (called bacoritsitse by
the Crows) were selected by their appearance and adopted as the finders'
medicine.530

120. Winnebago. Our chief modern authority on the Winnebago tribe
is Dr. Paul Radin. I have already referred (para. 102) to some of his
writings, and I approach the results of his field-work with extreme caution.
My criticism of Dr. Radin's methods is directed against his method of
translating native terms. It seems to me that he has translated the Winne-
bago words into our language and then credited the Indian with those
ideas which he himself associates with the English equivalents. This is
abundantly clear from his monograph on the Winnebago: 'In the Winne-
bago language', he says, 'the four words most commonly used in speaking
of the spirits are wakan, wakandja, xop and waxopini. Wakan seems exactly
equivalent to our word "sacred", while wakandja means thunder-bird. In
all likelihood it originally meant "he who is sacred" or something like that.'
Is it possible to consider such a pronouncement as an accurate description
of Winnebago usage? What are those 'spirits' in reference to which the
four words are alleged to have been used? What is the Winnebago term
for them? And surely wakandja was applied to something or some one
who was wakan; only for this reason was it applied to the thunder-bird
of Winnebago folk-lore. The word cannot mean 'thunder-bird', as Dr.
Radin clearly believes, for he adds that it 'originally' meant 'he who is
sacred' (i.e. wakan). I do not know what 'originally' means in that context.
Does it refer to the Winnebago use of the term wakandja before Dr. Radin
decided that it meant something else? I cannot tell; and apparently Dr.
Radin is not interested in Winnebago usage; so he adds carelessly, 'or
something like that'.

Dr. Radin goes farther than this. After stating that wakan 'seems exactly
equivalent to our word "sacred" ', he remarks : ' Wakan also means snake, for
the snake is a holy animal among the Winnebago.' Surely it would be
inconceivable, had we not proof of the fact, that such a crime against
scholarship could be committed. Just because a snake was wakan, must we
believe that wakan meant 'snake' ? In our language the word 'fast' may be
applied to a motor-car, runner, horse, or any other thing which moves

»

§121 AMERICAN INDIANS 197

quickly, also to a dye or a knot or anything secure; it may also denote a
period of abstinence. If Dr. Radin were to write an anthropological report
on English culture, would he say: 'The word fast meant motor-car, runner,
horse, dye, and knot' ?531

The Winnebago were in the zoistic cultural condition. At the time to
which our reports refer they seem to have buried their dead ; but sometimes
scaffolds were employed. 'The graves of chiefs and distinguished men', we
are told, 'are sometimes enclosed with fir trees.' Men and women fasted in
order to secure 'medicine' or 'guardian spirits' ; by the power of 'medicine'
they cured the sick and inflicted suffering on their enemies. The native
terms are not always quoted, but 'medicine' and 'guardian spirits' seem
to be translations of wakan.

Absolute faith was placed in the power of the magicians, who treated the
sick by means of incantations, 'accompanied with the drum, rattle and
whistle'.532 I have been unable to discover a precise statement in regard to
the control of the weather.

Whilst she was in her menstrual lodge, a girl received lovers. No
Winnebago was restrained in his love affairs by any social ordinance.533

121. Summary and Chart. Such were the customs and culture of these
ten American tribes. Diagrammatically the facts may be expressed thus:

AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE PLAINS AND GREAT LAKES

Method

Treatment

of

Treatment

of

weather

of

affliction

control

ghosts

0

-t->

>>

ition

and/c

■ magi

pries

hastit

0

-a
c

0

Society

Cultural co

Magic

Transferen
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled

Tendance

Cult

Temples a

Pre-nuptia

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1

Ojibwa .

Z

+

+

Blackfeet .

Z

+

+

Arapaho ....

z

+

0

0

Iroquois .

z

+

0

0

Dakota

z

+

0

0

Omaha .

z

+

0

0

Hidatsa .

z

+

+

Mandan .

z

+

+

Crow .

z

+

+

Winnebago .

z

+

0

0

I do not propose to summarize the facts at great length, as they speak
for themselves.

198 GENERAL SURVEY §i2I

Our authorities have introduced great difficulties into the study of these
American Indian societies by confusing the meaning of the native terms with
the phenomena to which they were applied. This is particularly noticeable
in the reports on the Blackfeet, Arapaho, and Winnebago ; and clearly when
Dr. Radin says that wakan meant ' snake ' or 'thunder-bird' he has been
deceived by his own translations. Mr. Curtis definitely tells us that in
their reports on the Blackfeet our observers have confused the meaning of
natosio with the sun, the medicine-man, and other people and things
included by the Blackfeet in that wide and untranslatable category (n. 510).
The same remark may apply in a lesser degree to the Arapaho baataana
(n. 514), but in the main the Arapaho terms have not been quoted. Profes-
sor Lowie, in his report on the Crows, states that 'what makes it possible
to group together so heterogeneous an assemblage of beings as the sun,
the Thunder Bird, the mythical dwarf, and a hundred and one others who
may appear in visions is that they possess maxpe powers'. 'This, and this
alone', he adds, 'is the badge of their divinity.' These phenomena were
important only because they were maxpe.

The native usage of the Ojibwa munedoo, Dakota wakan, Crow maxpe,
Hidatsa hopa, and Mandan hopini is clear. Each of these words was
applied to something supernormal or incomprehensible.

Miss Fletcher and Mr. La Flesche state that the Omaha wakonda per-
meated all things ; a similar report has been made by Mr. Hewitt concerning
the Iroquoian orenda. If the former are absolutely correct in their state-
ments, and have made no inferences from the observed facts, it seems to
follow that the Omaha conceptions differed from those of the other Siouan
tribes. Yet we continually find that all the Siouan terms are equated.
Either, then, the equations are false, or Fletcher and La Flesche have
inferred the ubiquity of wakonda from its application to strange, unusual
things. They tell us definitely that the word was used in the latter sense,
and they produce no evidence of its application to anything else ; so, on the
whole, I think that we are justified in concluding that the Omaha wakonda
was used in a similar manner to the other Siouan terms, e.g. the Dakotan
wakan, and that Miss Fletcher and Mr. La Flesche, possibly under the
influence of the animistic theory, have made a common but serious mistake
in maintaining that the power permeated all things (n. 526).

I cannot suggest that Mr. Hewitt, an Iroquoian, has made a similar
mistake in reference to orenda, and under the circumstances I do not think
that we are justified in coming to any definite conclusion about the word ;
but Mr. Hewitt placed himself in an awkward dilemma when he compared
the Iroquoian orenda with the Dakotan wakan (para. 116), and, because
I believe that his position may be due solely to his acquaintance with the
theories of the white man, I cannot accept his submissions at their face
value.

The information in regard to weather control is scanty. Definite evi-
dence is available only in five cases. In every one of these cases the

§I23 AMERICAN INDIANS 199

elements were thought to be under the control of the munedoo-y natosio-,
hopa-y hopini-y maxpe-powcvs of the munedoo-y natosio-y hopa-y hopini-,
maxpe-men. Perhaps the same 'medicine' was employed under similar
circumstances by the members of the other five tribes.
The burial customs are imperfectly known.

Here, then, were ten societies which imposed no checks upon the adole-
scent impulses of their members. They were in the zoistic condition. When
we possess sufficient reliable information to warrant an opinion, we find
that the basis of their culture was the mysterious quality which was mani-
fest in something unusual or beyond comprehension. By the power which
they credited to any of its manifestations they controlled the weather,
cured the sick, prevented misfortune, conquered their enemies, and pre-
served themselves from danger. They recognized the existence of no other
power, and had complete faith in the ability of the men whom they credited
with its possession.

3 . Indians of the South and the South-east

122. Comments on Pueblo Culture. Our third group of American Indians
consists of nine societies the culture of which differed in certain details
from that of the nineteen societies which we have just discussed. Here,
however, I am using the word 'culture' in the indefinite sense in which it
is usually employed. Our first group of American Indians consisted of
tribes which were not only in a similar cultural condition in our particular
sense of the term; their culture also conformed to the same pattern in
most senses of the word 'culture'. The same remark applies also to the
second group. The tribes in that group were without exception zoistic;
their culture was also similar in many senses of the word 'culture'. Moreover
in the available literature the impression of cultural uniformity has been
preserved by a uniform method of translating the native terms. Thus the
words which the tribes of the north-west used to denote the power in the
universe, such as snam, sulia, and tamanous, are usually rendered 'guardian
spirit'; while the writers who have travelled among the Plains Indians
have used 'God', 'Great Spirit', &c, as equivalents of the native terms.
And, however inaccurate these translations may be, the correct impression
has been conveyed, viz. that the native conceptions were similar.

When we turn to the consideration of the tribes which lived in the
southern and south-eastern states of North America, a different situation
confronts us. There was great variety within the cultural pattern in our
sense of the word 'culture', but the cultural pattern was the same ; that is to
say, although in our cultural scale the position of the next nine societies was
the same, in the indefinite and popular sense of the word culture their
culture was extremely varied. Moreover the impression of extreme variety
has been preserved by the fact that in the available literature similar native
conceptions have been variously presented in English.

200 GENERAL SURVEY §I22

It is imperative, therefore, that the meaning of the terms which we
employ should be remembered, and, for the sake of lucidity and at the
risk of over-statement, I will repeat some of the definitions.

We classify our societies as (a) Deistic,. (b) Manistic, (c) Zoistic; and the
bases of the classification are (a) the existence of temples: a temple is a
roofed building, other than a grave-house, in which the power in the
universe manifests itself and which is specially erected and maintained in
order that a right relation may be preserved with that power, (b) the
conduct of post-funeral rites in honour of the dead, (c) the non-existence
of temples or of post-funeral rites. Within these patterns there is always
an intense variety. In the preceding paragraphs we have also inquired
into other cultural details in order that the evidence might be sifted
as finely as possible before we attempt to interpret the coincidence of
these three cultural patterns with the three patterns of pre-nuptial sexual
regulations.

If these definitions are carefully borne in mind, the study of the following
nine societies will be greatly facilitated. They are :

1. Hopi, Zuni, Sia. These societies are three of the so-called Pueblo
tribes. They represent three distinct linguistic stocks, Shoshonian,
Zunian, and Keresan.

2. Navaho and Apache, who are inseparable, being united by blood and
language.

3. Chickasaw, Creek, and Natchez, these being usually classed as Musk-
hogean.534

4. Pima.

We shall consider them in that order. When we have discussed the
Pima, we shall have travelled in an almost direct geographical line from
Alaska, the habitat of the Tlingit, down the north-west coast as far as
the States of Washington and Oregon, through the Plains and past the
Great Lakes to the southern states of America, and finally to Mexico,
where we meet the deistic Aztecs, whose cultural pattern we have already
noted (para. 43).

Some preliminary observations in reference to Pueblo culture are ad-
visable. The word pueblo was applied by the Spaniards to those Indians
who lived in permanent stone or adobe houses. The word has been adopted
as an inclusive technical term to denote the tribes which inhabited that area.
They represented several distinct linguistic stocks, but they shared many
characteristic cultural traits. These traits represent the variety within the
cultural pattern to which I have referred. Fascinating though they are,
they are outside the scope of this treatise, and I do not propose to discuss
them. Moreover, even if a consideration of these traits were necessary to
a cultural classification, it is doubtful if our knowledge is sufficient to
warrant an opinion concerning their indigenous character, for we do not
know the original nature of Pueblo culture. We only know that alien
influence has created a new variety within what I am calling the cultural

§123 AMERICAN INDIANS 201

pattern. In 1883 Mr. A. F. Bandelier remarked: 'The present condition
of the Pueblo Indians is not their original one, but has been much affected
by their connection with the Europeans for more than 300 years. Any study
of their customs, mode of life, beliefs and traditions, if not constantly
checked by what is known of these features as they were three centuries
ago, will therefore give but imperfect and in most instances illusory results.
Many implements and instruments in use to-day, however primitive they
may appear, are of modern date; others, of ethnological importance,
formerly used, have become forgotten; language has been modified and
the religion is a mixture of Christian beliefs with an older creed. Even the
secret rites of the Indians are not absolutely pure ; and as to their historical
traditions, the events of the uprising of 1680, and of the reconquest, have
become so mixed with anterior recollections that one not familiar with
the early documents relative to New Mexico must be exposed to serious
mistakes.' Mr. Bandelier adds that in later years the house-life was very
different from that of the sixteenth century: 'Then there was a strict
separation of the sexes. The women and children alone occupied the
houses, the men slept in the estufas.1

Our ignorance of Pueblo culture is attested also by another observer.
Capt. T. G. Bourke has remarked, in reference to Apache religion: 'It
contains fewer obscene suggestions of the Phallic worship once prevailing
among all the inhabitants of Arizona and in our own generation practised
openly by the Zunis, who have orgies so disgusting that the merest allusion
only is permissible, while the Moquis [i.e. Hopi] until the last decade
indulged in bestiality and abominations.'

It seems, then, that not only do we possess very little accurate knowledge
of Pueblo rites but that we are ignorant also concerning two of the very
factors, family and sexual regulations, with which this inquiry is particularly
concerned. Furthermore, our authorities in their descriptions have not
quoted the native terms which they translate. So we can record only the
pattern of the culture. The other six tribes also will have to be discussed
in a very general manner.

In describing what has been written concerning the Hopi I shall rely
more particularly on the evidence which has been collected from the village
of Oraibi. Oraibi was the most conservative, as well as the most important,
of the Hopi settlements. In 1629 it became the seat of the Spanish Franciscan
Mission which was destroyed in the revolt of 1680, to which Mr. Bandelier
referred in the above-quoted passage. 'The people of Oraibi', we are told,
'are far more conservative in their attitude towards the whites than the other
Hopi, an element in the tribe being strongly opposed to civilisation.' If,
then, we possess any reliable information concerning Hopi culture (and this
is a matter of some doubt), it is probable that it comes from Oraibi.*"

123. Hopi. Undoubtedly the Hopi are the most fascinating of all
American Indian tribes. They were an agricultural people and are said to

202 GENERAL SURVEY §123

have carried out a great number of ceremonies in connexion with the powers
which were manifest in the sun, rain, and other natural phenomena. From
harvest to planting, and from planting to harvest, their calendar was
crowded with fixtures. Almost every month possessed a ceremony in
which the supernatural or supernormal forces were personified and drama-
tized. The actual celebrations varied annually, and each clan possessed
its own peculiar variety. The Hopi seem to have been a collection of social
groups which gathered together from many different directions, each group
contributing its own quota to the complex ceremonial; they had also
borrowed a mass of different practices from other Pueblos. This medley
has been further modified by Christian influence, the people having been
nominally Roman Catholic for a long time.

The vast literature536 which has accumulated about these interesting
men and women is concerned chiefly with the details of these various
ceremonies ; but it is seldom that we are told a definite fact which is without
a trace of inference or interpretation. Such words as 'gods', 'supernatural
beings', 'divinized ancestors', 'sun-worship', 'fire-worship', and other
compounds of 'worship' are used freely; but rarely are we told the native
word or words which they represent. Moreover very few white men,
except the Rev. H. R. Voth, seem to have spoken the Hopi language; and
Mr. J. W. Fewkes, our chief authority on the subject, is fully conscious
of the unsatisfactory nature of the terms which have been employed in
describing the Hopi culture. 'In the use of the words gods, deities, and
worship', he says, 'we undoubtedly endow the subject with conceptions
which do not exist in the Indian mind.' 'Worship, as we understand it',
he adds, 'is not a proper term to use in the description of the Indian's
methods.'537

The so-called 'ancestor- worship' is important, for the classification of
the Hopi depends upon the rites which are included under this general
title. The word translated 'spirits of the dead' seems to be katchina; but
katchina was applied also to the masks worn at the katchina ceremonies;
the word has also been used to denote the ceremonies themselves.538
When Mr. Fewkes speaks of Hopi 'ancestor- worship', he is referring to
'the cult of the Katchinas, spirits of the dead, or other members of the
clan'. 'As it is supposed', he says, 'that human beings that have died and
now live in ghostly communities have greater powers to aid the living, they
are appealed to and influenced by magical processes and they are conjured
from time to time to return to the village and aid their descendants.'
'There exists also a belief that is strictly aboriginal — having originated
independently of white influence, although possibly somewhat modified by
it — that the spirits of the dead return to earth either to vex or to bless
mankind; "the breath-bodies" of those that have passed on revisit the
pueblo and are represented by masked personations called Katchinas which
are past members of the tribe.'539

I fear, however, that such words as 'appeal to', 'greater powers to aid

§123 AMERICAN INDIANS 203

the living', 'vex or bless mankind', 'revisit the pueblo', are inferences in
justification of which no rites are reported. In the first place, similar
masked dances and societies of masked dancers existed in Melanesia,
especially in New Britain, Banks Islands, and New Hebrides. In Papua
every society seems to have used equipment of a similar character. There
is nothing unique about the Hopi Katchina, if we consider it as a masked
ceremony. Secondly, Mr. Fewkes's words suggest that the masks were
thought to represent actual men who had once lived ; but in another passage
he says, 'In an ancestor- worship of this kind no personality appears, no
particular ancestral individual or named ancestor is represented; in fact,
a Katchina is a generalized mythical conception which cannot be accurately
identified, and is quite unlike the ancestor among the natives of the Old
World, where this worship is a most prominent feature.' At other times
he refers to the Katchinas as 'ancestral personages', 'clan ancients', 'spirits
of the dead', 'divinized ancestors' who lived 'in mythic times'.540 We
read : 'When a child arrives at years of discretion, it is customary to im-
part to him the knowledge of his relationship to supernatural beings. Up
to that time the child has been taught to believe that the personations of
Katchinas are gods. It is deemed necessary to impart to youths the fact
that the priests who personate thesebeings are their own relatives.' Thirdly,
although Katchina ceremonial constituted 'fully one half of Hopi ritual',
there is not a single mention of any rite which suggests or implies that the
Katchinas were 'appealed to' in any way. The whole of Hopi ritual was
an attempt to control the powers in the universe.541

When we examine the burial rites, we find that the Hopi paid no atten-
tion to the ghost of a dead man after he was buried. There was no tendance
and no cult. The dying were deserted by their friends; when they were
dead, they were buried in graveyards. 'The graveyards are not', Voth says,
'marked or enclosed or taken care of in any way whatsoever; it not in-
frequently happens that either the wind-storms blow away the sand,
exposing the bones, or currents of water from the high mesas break their
way through the burial places and carry them away.' When the survivors
departed from the graveyard, they drew a line across the path as they went,
in order to prevent the ghost from returning to his native village. A bowl
of food was placed on the grave, and after this had been done the hikvsi,
breath or soul, finally went away. No more attention was paid to it.542

The power in the universe was associated with 'mystery'. The native
term is not given. The sun and the rain which were chiefly responsible
for the growth of the crops 'were not understood'. 'Each was a mystery.'
Mr. Fewkes describes Hopi 'worship' as 'the effort to be in harmony with
the power behind nature'. 'A fundamental belief is that men, animals,
material objects, sky, earth, fire, water, everything, possesses magical
powers. Idols likewise share this power.' The man whom Mr. Fewkes
calls 'priest' was a man who, in Mr. Fewkes's words, 'by magic may compel
a supernatural to do as he wishes' : 'Instead of asking the Sun-God to send

204 GENERAL SURVEY §124

rain, the priests show by actions and gestures what is desired.' In other
words, the magicians thought that they controlled the elements by magic.
They 'convey their desires to the sky-god by sympathetic magic', Mr.
Fewkes quaintly remarks; that is to say, they controlled by magic the
'mystery' in the sun and sky.543

The reports in regard to sickness are scanty. The Hopi believed firmly
in the power of wizards and witches. A herb-doctor was tukikya, but the
real ministrant was the medicine-man, positaka, 'eye-man', so called be-
cause he could see the disease in his patient. In pagan times the medicine-
men were organized into poswimi, societies. We are not told the native
word for 'priest', so we do not know if he was also positaka. The so-called
priests were simply ceremonial leaders and not 'privileged persons'. The
office was not hereditary.544

Marriage among the Hopi was matrilocal. A girl chose her own husband
and then informed her parents. If she were dissatisfied with him, she told
him to go away. If he were miserable at any time, he packed up his goods
and departed. There were no superstitions in regard to the menses. As
soon as a girl reached puberty, she was sent away to the house of her
paternal aunt, where she ground corn for three days behind a curtain.
'Opportunities were not lacking for a young man to meet the girl of his
choice.'545

124. Zuni. The customs of the matrilineal Zuni were similar to those
of the Hopi. Marriage was matrilocal; the woman's title to the house in
which she lived with her husband was absolute. Apparently a couple could
mate very early, and frequently girls were married two years before puberty.
The word 'marriage' is applied to any cohabitation. Professor Kroeber
says: 'Divorce, if it may be called, such, for it is nothing more than a
separation, is as easy as marriage; more facile, in fact, for a young girl still
under parental influence.' Thus the Zuni permitted their young boys and
girls to mate as they desired. Their post-nuptial regulations were equally
lax : 'There is much in Zuni life', Professor Kroeber adds, 'that our standard
code would denounce as loose. Most men and most women of middle age
have been married to several persons.' Both contraception and abortion
are said to have been practised freely.546

The Zuni erected no temples in which the power in the universe mani-
fested itself and which were specially maintained in order that a right
relation with this power might be preserved. More elaborate attention was
paid to the corpse of a rain-maker 'and other officials' than to that of an
ordinary person. Only the bearers accompanied a corpse to the grave,
the actual interment being regarded as a disagreeable business. The ghost
of a dead man was supposed to hover about the village for four days and
nights and then to depart. During those four days the door and hatchway
of the house were left ajar. Some sections of the community threw food
into the fire. All such attentions ceased after the fifth day.547 There was a

§I26 AMERICAN INDIANS 205

firm belief in witchcraft; its practitioners seem to have been prominent
members of society who played a leading part in the festivals. The treat-
ment was herbal and magical. A great ceremony, hlahewe, was performed
for making rain; the rain-makers acted also as diviners of thieves. Each of
them possessed an ettone, a collection of hollow reeds 'which came from the
undermost world', wrapped up in cord and decorated with beads. The
native terms for the powers in the universe are not given.548

125. Sia. The Sia were a Pueblo society of the Keresan linguistic
family. They have disappeared almost entirely. We do not know very
much about them. According to Mrs. Stevenson, who is almost our only
authority, marriage was matrilocal. There was a complete absence of pre-
nuptial chastity, the idea of which was quite foreign to the Sia conscious-
ness. The parents of a girl were both fond and proud of their daughter's
pre-nuptial children, and a man who married a woman with two or
three children felt the same attachment for them as for his own. Their
actual father also remembered them and continued to give them presents.
The unmarried and the married lived together in complete promiscuity ;
no husband resented his wife's having children by another man. (Some
of these customs, we are told, may have been due to the decrease in
population.)

The Sia did not believe that the ghosts of the dead could return to earth
after they had reached Shipapo. The journey took four days. No more
attention was paid to the ghost. Since they did not erect any temples, the
Sia were zoistic. Sickness was ascribed to witches and wizards, 'and to the
anger of certain animals, even insects'. Mrs. Stevenson does not quote the
native terms. Treatment was purely magical. There were eight magical
fraternities, each apparently owning its own particular rain-ceremony ,5^

126. Navaho and Apache. Our next two tribes, Navaho and Apache,
will be considered together. They belonged to the same linguistic stock
(Athapascan) as the Dene (para, in), and 'have been', Mr. Curtis says,
'more or less in proximity ever since they have been known m history'.
Probably, indeed, at one time the Navaho and Apache were almost as
undivided a group as the Apache were in later days, when their united
front was a source of so much embarrassment to the organized armies of
the white man; but the very fearlessness, cunning, and resistance which
have made the name of the Apache a household word have prevented any
adequate study of their culture. Our knowledge of the tribe is meagre.
We know more about the Navaho— the American Bedouin, as he has been
called; but in their reports our authorities seldom quote the native terms.
When they do so, they disagree, perhaps because they were obliged to
work through interpreters.550

I can do no more than record the general pattern of the culture.

Both tribes reckoned descent in the female line, and, among the Navaho,

206 GENERAL SURVEY §I2y

marriage was matrilocal. 'If I and the hogan (house) do not suit you', a
Navaho wife might say to her husband, 'go elsewhere.' Pre-nuptial children
were treated in the same way as those which were born after a woman had
settled down in a recognized economic union with an individual man. She
might already have borne one or two children by another man ; her husband
treated them as his own. An exchange of gifts, or a gift to the woman's
relations, was the only formality necessary to regularize a chance mating;
any couple could live with one another at any time. Among the Apache'
the female was usually the aggressor in sexual activity ; mutual consent was
the only consideration.551

Neither the Navaho nor the Apache erected temples; and they paid no
post-funeral attention to the dead. The Apache buried their dead in
caverns, clefts of rocks, or in holes which had been caused by the removal
of a rock or the stump of a tree. Sometimes, however, dead infants were
placed in a tree cradle; it was thought that owls came and took the ghost
away. Sometimes the Navaho placed a corpse in the side of a cliff; in the
case of a protracted illness, they carried the dying man to a place outside
the village and built a brush fence round him; sometimes they dug graves,
or placed the body in the hogan, which they pulled down forthwith; some-
times the corpse of a child was placed in a tree. 'In none of these burials',
Shufeldt says, 'do any ceremonies ever seem to be indulged in by the
Indians.' We are not told whether or not the different methods of burial
were adopted for different people.552

Magical ceremonies, dances, and songs played a leading part in Navaho
and Apache life ; magicians were the most influential men. Any one could
be a magician if he could dream dreams, see visions, interpret strange
occurrences, and give a plausible answer to any inquiry. There was a
general fear of witchcraft and fear of the 'unknown'. Unfortunately, our
best information concerning the Apache was secured only with difficulty
from an interpreter, and, though it is usually supposed that we know more
about the innumerable 'gods' of the Navaho than about those of the
Apache, our authorities seldom quote the native terms. Indeed more than
one native word seems to have been translated as 'god'. It is impossible to
make an intelligent summary of the reports, or to extract from them any
definite statements in regard to Navaho rites. It was by 'medicine' that the
Navaho controlled the weather, and caused and cured sickness. Nothing
more can definitely be stated.553

127. Chickasaw. We pass on to the Muskhogean societies. Mr. J. R.
Swanton has collected most of the available data concerning the Chickasaw.
Adair speaks of the 'constitutional wantonness' of the young men and
women, and says that a couple could 'bed together' on trial, and continue
or discontinue the experience according as their fancy directed them.55*

The Chickasaw were zoistic. They built no temples and paid no post-
funeral attention to the dead. When they had placed their dead on scaffolds,

§I28 AMERICAN INDIANS 207

they shouted and made other noises in order to dispatch the soul on its
journey. When the corpse had decomposed, the bones were collected and
interred 'in a very solemn manner'. Such, at any rate, is the report. I am
not sure, however, that our knowledge of Chickasaw burial customs is
complete, for Adair, upon whose testimony we must rely, says that the
natives were 'unwilling we should join them, upon which account I never
saw but one buried'.

The Chickasaw had complete faith in the power of their rain-makers,
who in the event of failure were liable to be killed ; but the wily magicians
usually declared on such occasions that their best endeavours had been
unavailing because some one had broken some social regulation or neglected
a taboo. 'There are no greater bigots in Europe, nor persons more super-
stitious than the Indians', Adair says, 'concerning the power of witches,
wizards and evil spirits.' He does not give the native word for 'spirits'.
The word holo meant 'sacred' as well as 'what is sacred', and clearly the
names of the so-called 'deities', e.g. ishto holo, hatak ishto holo, &c, are
compounds of this term. It seems possible that holo-powcr was manifest
in the thunder, sky, sun, &c, but we cannot interpret the evidence without
a knowledge of the language. I cannot find the word for 'magician'. A
wizard was hoollabe; and, since Adair always spells holo as hoollo, it seems
possible that holo was the source of magic power. Mr. Swanton is not
helpful ; he simply makes extracts from the writings of old travellers and
does not attempt to appraise them.555

128. Creek. There was a complete absence of compulsory pre-nuptial
continence among the Creeks. C. Swan remarks : 'Simple fornication is no
crime or reproach; the sexes indulge their propensities with each other
promiscuously, unrestrained by law or custom, and without secrecy or
shame. If a young woman becomes pregnant before she is married, which
most of them do, the child is maintained in her clan without the least
murmuring.' Nor is this an isolated opinion. Mr. Swanton quotes other
observers who report that 'female licentiousness before marriage is not
attended by loss of character', and that 'the savages [i.e. Creeks] think
a young woman nothing the worse for making use of her body, as they
term it'.556

The native terms which the Creeks employed in reference to the
universe are not given, but 'just as among the beings and objects in nature
there were certain which possessed or acquired exceptional supernatural
powers, so there were certain men who were possessed of such power or
were mediums for its expression'. These magicians were kila, alektca, or
hilishaya. A kilais calleda 'knower' ; theword alektcawas applied to 'priests
or doctors proper' (whoever they may be) ; a hilishaya is said to have been
a 'medicine-maker'. I do not know what precise meaning Mr. Swanton
attaches to these English words; he does not define them. An alektca
seems to have been an istiposkalgi, 'fasting man', because fasting was an

208 GENERAL SURVEY §129

important element in his training. His instructor would tell him what
songs gave healing power to his medicine. He learnt the secrets of
wizardry as well as the curative spells. A wizard who had caused a man's
death, if discovered, is reported to have been killed, but he was killed not
for having practised witchcraft, which was not a punishable offence, but
for having been responsible for another man's death. In addition to these
healers and wizards, there were certain men and women who possessed
the power to control the weather.

The burial customs were diverse, but we cannot tell whether or not
they differed according to the person who was being buried. Swan states
that 'if the deceased has been a man of eminent character, the family
immediately remove from the house in which he is buried and erect a
new one'. Swan seems to imply that this step was not taken when an
ordinary man died. The remains of an abortion, of a still-born child, or
of a very young child were laid away in a hollow tree. The natives thought
that if this were not done there would be a drought, a pestilence would
break out, or deaths from other causes would occur.

We are not told the native words which were used in reference to these
phenomena ; it would be interesting to know if the same word was applied
to (1) the places which possessed 'exceptional supernatural powers', (2) the
pestilence, (3) a still-born child. I should expect that, in the opinion of
the Creeks, these things would manifest the same quality.557

129. Natchez. The chroniclers are unanimous in saying that the
Natchez girls were uncommonly licentious, their sexual activity being free-
ly remarked. Indeed a girl seems to have been esteemed in proportion to
the dowry she could amass by hiring out her person. If she gave birth
to a pre-nuptial child, she nourished it if she were so inclined, but, if she
wished to be free from the responsibility of it, the child was strangled
outside the cabin door.558

In their treatment of sickness the people relied on magic. Dumont
remarks: 'Since the savages have no religion, at least apparently, and in
consequence no external worship, it naturally follows that they have among
them no priests and priestesses. There are, however, certain men who
might be thought to take their place, at least they may be regarded as
diviners, sorcerers, or magicians, since they are in fact consulted as such,
and as, through ridiculous ceremonies, they pretend to accomplish things
which if they were true would surpass without difficulty all human power.
These man, who are called alexis or jugglers, also mix themselves up in
medicine.' Charlevoix says : 'The jugglers or doctors of the Natchez pretty
much resemble those of Canada and treat their patients much after the
same manner. There are certain lazy old fellows who undertake to procure
rain or fine weather, according as they are wanted.'559 There is no report
of any post-funeral rites. Indeed the manner in which the common people
were buried has been described but vaguely, all our authorities having

§129 AMERICAN INDIANS 209

confined their descriptions to the striking and sanguinary ceremonies
which attended the obsequies of a Sun.560 The Natchez, in fact, were one
of those tribes which were ruled by a despotic chief who is called by the
French chroniclers Le Grand Soleil.

We are not told the native word which is translated soleil, nor do we know
in what other contexts it was employed. As we have seen, there has been
a great deal of confusion in many parts of the world between the meaning
of a word and the phenomena to which it was applied. Thus the native
term which is translated soleil may not have meant 'sun' ; it may have been
merely applied to it. The so-called classificatory system of relationship
is also a frequent source of error, because the words which we translate
'father', 'son', did not have that limited meaning in the native mind, but
were applied to other individuals and things besides the procreator and
the procreated. When, therefore, I read that a man was the Sun, or the
son of the Sun, or a child of the Sun, I do not accept the words in any
literal sense. Having learnt by experience that our translations are not
always reliable, I suspend judgement as to the meaning of the phrase.
It is plain, however, that the Natchez were ruled by the descendants of a
man or men who were almost certainly immigrants, and, though the pre-
sence of these strangers did not affect the pattern of Natchez culture, it
created a variety within the pattern which is of peculiar interest.

The native story is that a man and his wife came to their country and
told them that they did not govern themselves well. When they asked him,
he consented, after some hesitation, to perform the duty for them, on
condition that his descendants should rule after him, and after that the
descendants of his daughter, and of her daughter, and so on. The new-
comers married with the natives, the daughters selecting as husbands any
men that attracted them. If the husbands were unfaithful, they were
killed, but the wives could take as many lovers as they pleased: 'This
is a privilege belonging to the blood of the great chief.' Some African
tribes extended a similar freedom to the daughters of the ruling clan.561

On the death of a chief they strangled his slaves and his wives in a manner
which was common in many other parts of the world, but which was unique
in North America. They also demolished his cabin, and raised a new
mound on which they built the cabin of his successor.562 The bones of
the chief were afterwards placed in a special building in which a perpetual
fire was kept burning. The entrance was low and narrow; there was no
window and no chimney. Various descriptions have been given of the
contents of this building. Some observers deny that there was a fire, and
Charlevoix states that he saw only three or four chests in which there were
some dry bones. On a table which has been described as an altar, there was
a cane coffer which contained the bones of the last Grand Soleil. Dumont
calls the building 'a good-sized cabin'. Only 'Suns' or the descendants of
'Suns' were allowed to enter. Ordinary people who passed by laid down
their burdens, extended their arms, and emitted the same howl as they

p

2io GENERAL SURVEY §130

uttered when they passed a living 'Sun'. First-fruits were placed outside
the door prior to their presentation to the Grand Soleil. The people made
no 'sacrifices, libations, or offerings'. The only rite which was performed
was the maintenance of the fire, and apparently this was a matter of im-
portance only to the Grand Soleil himself.563

I have described this building in detail because the word 'temple' has
been applied to it; but it was merely the resting-place of the dead chiefs'
bones and it does not come within the definition of a temple which I for-
mulated in para. 7 and repeated in para. 122. Dumont, indeed, scoffs
at the 'good-sized cabin to which it has pleased our Europeans to give this
name' and refers to 'this pretended temple'.564 Mr. Swanton considers
that while there is no reason to believe that the native statements have been
wilfully misrepresented, our authorities were bound to have been the
victims of too many preconceptions for us to hope that the accounts are
exact. We must remember, too, that the chroniclers did not speak the
native language, and that they had not lived among the people for any

extended period.565

Thus the Natchez seem to have been ruled by an immigrant clan whose
customs were different from their own. Their treatment of sickness and
their control of the weather were purely magical. We have no information
concerning their methods of burial. The building which is called a 'temple'
by the French chroniclers was not a temple in our sense of the word; it
seems to have been a repository for the bones of dead chieftains of immi-
grant descent. We do not know how they were placed there, or what part
the building played in the life of the Grand Soleil, to whom alone it appears
to have been of any cultural interest.

130. Pima. In reading the reports concerning the sexual regulations
of the Pima, we must take into account the intrusion of the observer's
individual temperament. Mr. Russell secured his information by means
of direct questions to old men and women: 'Accurate information concern-
ing the relations between the sexes before marriage can only be obtained
from the oldest persons among the Pimas as the moral atmosphere has
been heavily clouded since the advent of the Americans.' I do not know
if Mr. Russell really believed that he would succeed in eliciting 'accurate
information' in this manner. The Pima had already been in contact with
white men for a long time, and we are even told that 'when the ceremonies
and charms of the native magicians, makai, failed to produce a cure', a
sick infant was taken to some American or Mexican, or even Papago,
'when he is known to have embraced the Christian faith'. It is reasonable
to suppose, therefore, that the people knew what pleased the strangers
who had come among them. The outcome of Mr. Russell's inquiries was
such as might have been expected: 'Before the Pimas came into contact
with civilization,' we are told, 'chastity was the rule among the young
women, who were taught by compelling precept, through ever witnessing

--

§131 AMERICAN INDIANS 211

the demoralizing example of free and easy divorce.' Mr. Grossman,
however, states that 'modesty was unknown to men and women'.

There was a complete absence of any compulsory restraint in sexual
matters; the Pima were pre-nuptially free. Pre-nuptial children were
aborted at three or four months. A rejected lover might take a piece of
the girl's hair and ask a magician to bewitch her by burying it. Adultery
was not a crime. Marriage was mere cohabitation.566

The Pima were zoistic. Ordinary people were placed in shallow graves,
but in many cases medicine-men were buried 'in isolated places which
have acquired special sacredness'. Water and pinole were placed on the
grave, but the journey to the other world only took a moment. 'Go to
your home,' the survivors cried, 'do not come back.' No further attention
was paid to the ghost.567

There were three types of magicians. The slatcokam treated sickness by
magic ; the haiitcottam used herbs and roots ; the makai had power over the
crops and the weather. No Pima fasted or repaired to a solitary place in
order to gain power. Dreams and trances were a method of revelation,
but usually recipes and remedies were handed on from one generation to
another: 'Any one who received instruction and learned to do little tricks
could become a medicine-man.' Sickness and death were ascribed to
witchcraft, animals, and the neglect of taboo or ceremony. Cures took the
form of sucking and song-singing. A makai {make) had no difficulty in
creating an abundance of wheat, melons, or rain. 'The Pimas', says
Grossman, 'have no form of worship whatever, and have neither idols
nor images.'568

131. Summary and Chart. The culture and customs of these nine
tribes are stated diagrammatically on the next page.

None of these tribes had adopted any regulations which would have
compelled any continence. All of them were in the zoistic cultural
condition.

Their cultural details have not been elucidated in a manner which will
be of much assistance to us. Concerning the Zuni, Sia, Navaho, Apache,
Natchez, and Pima, there is a lack of information in regard to native words.
The unknown Hopi word which has been translated 'mystery' was associ-
ated with phenomena which 'were not understood'; 'mystery' was also
the source of magic power. The Chickasaw holo also seems to have been
the source of magic power, and has been translated 'gods'. The Creek
term for 'supernatural power' is not given, but clearly the native usage
corresponded to that of the Chickasaw holo.

The burial customs are imperfectly known, especially those of the Hopi,
Sia, and Chickasaw. The Zuni buried a ceremonial leader in a more
elaborate manner than they buried an ordinary man. A dead man of
'eminent character' among the Creeks also was treated with more respect
than the average citizen. The Navaho and Apache disposed of their dead

GENERAL SURVEY §131

AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE SOUTH AND SOUTH-EAST

society

Cultural condition

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Magic

Transference and/or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1

Hopi .....

Z

+

+

Zuni .....

Z

+

+

Sia .....

Z

+

+

Navaho ....

Z

+

+

Apache ....

Z

+

+

Chickasaw ....

Z

+

+

Creek .....

Z

+

+

Natchez ....

Z

+

+

Pima .....

Z

+

+

in various ways, but we are not told the manner in which the matter was
decided. The honours which were accorded to the so-called soleil among
the Natchez cannot be properly understood until the native term which is
translated soleil is given. It is only among the Pima that the grave of a
magician is said definitely to have been specially sacred.

Thus, out of twenty-eight American Indian tribes, there are thirteen
instances in which the native terms have not been quoted. We must be
content, therefore, to note their cultural pattern. They are: Thompson,
Shuswap, Nez Perces, Dene, Hopi, Zuni, Sia, Navaho, Apache, Chickasaw,
Creek, Natchez, Pima. In two cases, those of the Blackfeet and Arapaho,
the reports are much confused, and though I suspect that the words
natosio and baataana were used respectively by them in the same senses as
those other words referring to the power in the universe the native usage
of which has been more carefully elucidated, the opinion is the result of
inference. Concerning the Iroquoian orenda it is difficult to speak. There
seems to be no way out of the dilemma which I mentioned in para. 116.

There are ten cases in which the native terms are quoted and the native
usage explained. In every case the power in the universe was the quality
or power which was manifest in something unusual or beyond compre-
hension; possession of or by that power afforded magic power. The ten
tribes are: Tlingit (yek)> Haida (sgana, skil), Lillooet (snam), Coast Salish
(sulia), Ojibwa (munedoo), Dakota (wakan), Omaha (wakonda), Crow
(maxpe), Hidatsa (hopa), and Mandan (hopini). The words which I have

§133 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 213

inserted in the brackets represent the native terms which were employed
respectively in reference to the power in the universe.

The unknown Hopi word which has been translated 'mystery' was
manifest only in things which 'were not understood'. The Winnebago are
reported to have used their words in the same manner as the Crows. The
Klallam tamanous appears to have been used in the same contexts as yek,
sgana> munedoo, Sec.

There is a lamentable shortage of information concerning the words
applied to the dead or to a corpse, so we cannot tell whether these tribes
were at a dead level of conception or not. The burial customs also are
imperfectly known. In some cases the burial place of a magician was
specially sacred and dangerous.

G. MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES

132. Comments on the Remaining Evidence. I am unable to place a high
value on our knowledge of six out of the seven societies which remain to
be discussed. The nature of the available material varies: in some cases,
e.g. that of the Tahitians, the quantity of the evidence is almost over-
whelming, but its quality is poor; in other cases, e.g. some of the Assam
tribes, there is a considerable lack of detail, but a few facts have been
stated in a simple and accurate manner. In one instance, that of the Sea-
Dyaks, the methods of our authorities have hidden the native culture,
probably for ever ; the reports are full of fantastic comparisons between the
conceptions of the Sea-Dyaks and those of other races. The native words
for the power in the universe are quoted sometimes, but the full contexts
in which they were used have not been described ; the words are merely
translated as 'spirits' and /or as 'gods'. Only concerning the Andaman
Islanders is our knowledge adequate. Even in their case the native culture
has been fitted to an 'animistic' frame.

We shall discuss the Tahitians; Gilbert Islanders; three Assam tribes,
Mikirs, Garos, Khasis; Andaman Islanders; and Sea-Dyaks. I will take
them in that order.

133. Tahitians. The material on which we must base our conclusions
in regard to the customs and culture of the Tahitians is very different
from that on which we relied for our discussion of the other Polynesian
societies, Maori, Samoans, and Tongans (paras. 45-52). Tahiti has not
produced an Elsdon Best, and though William Ellis, the missionary, has
told us a great deal about Tahitian life, he possessed neither the calm
detachment of George Turner nor the scholarship of Colenso. No Vason
or Mariner lived in Tahiti as a Tahitian; and if James Wilson, the stern
captain of the ship Duff, has passed more penetrating remarks about
the inhabitants of the Society Islands than about the men and women of
Tonga, it is only because he, like the early explorers, was captivated by

214 GENERAL SURVEY §133

their charm and therefore spent more time among them. These arcadian
islands, indeed, so attracted the explorers that they returned to them as
often as they could and stayed as long as they dared. Their descriptions
are one of our chief sources of information; but not the only source:
Mr. B. G. Corney has recently edited and published three volumes of
Spanish writings which are heavily laden with facts ; we possess also The
Memoirs of Ari'itaimai, which, if they do not represent anthropological
material of the highest quality, at least demonstrate that the Tahitians,
before we knew them, had a long history full of social changes. The whole
of this literature must be studied, appraised, and compared, before we can
be sure that we know anything about pagan Tahiti.569

When I discussed the Maori, Samoans, and Tongans I called attention
to two facts which are sufficiently remarkable to warrant further mention :
in the first place, it seems that in a previous epoch their methods of regulat-
ing the relations between the sexes had been more stringent than they were
at the end of the eighteenth century; secondly, the cultural condition of
the Polynesians was in a state of flux when the white man first visited the
islands. These same phenomena are revealed in the literature that con-
cerns the Tahitians. Indeed, when we discuss the Tahitians, we must
banish from our minds those theoretical and popular ideas which are
associated with the word 'primitive'. Among them the asperities of savage
life may not have been softened, and many of their customs are repulsive
to a sensitive mind; but the inhabitants of the Society Islands had not
always been as they were when first we met them, and the inclusion of the
Polynesian race among uncivilized peoples merely illustrates the elastic
meaning which we attach to the word 'uncivilized'.

There is evidence that the Tahitian nobles tried to abolish the human
sacrifices which the magicians demanded. They were unable, however,
to influence public opinion on the subject. Corney says that they were
'powerless to oppose so time-honoured, mystic, and, in the people's view,
auspicious an institution'. Yet they do not appear to have been energetic
men, so their alleged impotence in the matter may have been due to their
lack of enterprise. Be that as it may, the aristocrats seem to have tolerated
their native institutions with a smile of amusement. I have referred already
(para. 70) to the opinions of the noble lady who was discovered as a stow-
away on Captain Cook's second voyage: 'She laughed', Forster tells us, 'at
the prejudices of her countrymen with all the good sense of a citizen of the
world.' Nor is this an isolated instance; the Spaniards often express their
astonishment at the attitude of the ruling classes, who did not 'resent
being scoffed at'.570 Moreover, over a hundred years before the white
man arrived, social revolutions had occurred among the Tahitians. Eight
generations ago, Ari'itaimai says, 'about the middle of the seventeenth
century, the next great revolution occurred, and tradition says that it was
caused by a woman'.571 The revolution to which Ari'itaimai refers arose
out of a quarrel between two members of the aristocracy concerning a

§i33 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 215

beautiful woman, Taurua. One of them behaved in a manner which was
not considered to be in accordance with established tradition; a social
upheaval was the result. I do not propose to tell the story (attractive
though it is) of how the rebellious noble took advantage of the traditional
pride and generosity which was the hall-mark of a Tahitian grand seigneur.
My point is that Tahitian culture, like Hawaiian culture (para. 48), had
been in a transitional and erratic condition for many years before the white
man arrived.

During these social upheavals the sexual regulations appear to have been
relaxed ; but our study of the subject is complicated by the fact that most
of our information comes from the explorers, who describe at great length
the relations which existed between the native women and the white sailors.
The explorers confine their remarks to the sexual behaviour of the natives,
and tell us nothing about the regulations which governed that behaviour.
Moreover, they describe not the sexual behaviour of the Tahitians among
themselves but the attitude of the native women towards the white men.
Their evidence, therefore, is strictly inadmissible; but I will summarize
their reports.

On two points the travellers are unanimous. First, the Tahitians were
guileless and unafraid. Forster emphasizes again and again the frank
innocence of the natives: 'Cares, troubles, and disappointments,' he says,
'which untimely furrow our brows, cannot be supposed to exist in this
happy nation.' Wilson remarks: 'Their faces are never darkened with
a scowl or covered with a cloud of sullenness or suspicion.' Secondly, the
women who came on to the decks of the British ships were not averse 'to
the granting of personal favours' ; they 'yielded without difficulty to the
ardent solicitations of our sailors' ; and when Captain Cook returned to
Tahiti on his second voyage, his crew resumed these relations 'with the
greatest eagerness'. The charms of the women, he tells us, were 'more
than sufficient to subvert the little reason which a mariner might have left
to govern his passions'. When they witnessed this traffic the explorers
concluded that the sexual regulations of the natives were very loose.
Hawkesworth states that 'chastity does not seem to be considered among
them', giving as his reason that the women 'not only readily and openly
trafficked with our people but were brought down by their fathers and
brothers for that purpose'. Similarly De Bougainville says : 'An unmarried
woman suffers no constraints; nor does it appear that how great soever the
number of her previous lovers has been, it should prove an obstacle to
her meeting with a husband afterwards.'572

The women who visited the ships, however, were of the lowest class.
Forster says that there were few, if any, instances of 'women among the
better people' lowering themselves by such conduct. Moreover we are told
that one British officer vainly entreated the sister of a chief called Otae to
yield to his embraces. Indeed the difference between the sexual conduct
of the lower classes and that of the upper classes was so noticeable that

216 GENERAL SURVEY §133

Forster and Hawkesworth put forward an original hypothesis. The women
of the lower classes, they say, were physically smaller than those of the
upper classes: 'This defect probably proceeds', they add, 'from their
early commerce with men, the only thing in which they differ from their
superiors that could possibly affect their growth.'573

We must discount, then, the information with which the explorers
supply us, first, because their reports refer more especially to the relation
between white men and native women and do not necessarily reflect the
behaviour of the natives among themselves ; secondly, because the reports
refer almost exclusively to the lower classes, whose conduct, we must
believe, was more lax than that of the upper classes. Similarly, we must
discount other reports also, though not for the same reasons. William
Ellis condemns the Tahitians in no uncertain terms: 'Their years of child-
hood', he says, 'were passed in indolence, irregularity, and the unrestrained
indulgence in whatever afforded gratification.' In this and other passages,
however, Ellis seems to be referring to the activities of the Arreoi Society.
The Arreoi seem to have been a band of strolling players who mated as
their inclinations directed them and who were forbidden to have children.
Should a female member of the Society become a mother, the child was
immediately suffocated.574 These were the customs which called forth
the more violent denunciations of the missionary, and we must be careful
lest we give a general application to such particular cases. The Arreoi
Society may have been formed of prominent citizens, but their habits do
not necessarily reflect the general character of Tahitian social life. Indeed
there are reasons why the reports of compulsory infanticide cannot be
accepted at their face value.

Forster was amazed to find such a custom among the Tahitians: 'When
we consider', he says, 'their gentleness, their generosity, their affectionate
friendship, their tenderness, their pity, we cannot reconcile these qualities
to the murder of their own offspring.' So he made further inquiries, and
he found that the women often refused to kill their children. 'Above all,'
he adds, 'the act was always performed in secret, and so none of the people
were present, because, if it were seen, the murderers must be put to
death.' 'We have great room to suppose', he remarks, 'that the original
institution required their living in perpetual celibacy', on the ground that
sexual activity would enervate them, but this was 'too repugnant to the
impulses of nature'. The members of the Society found the restraint 'too
difficult to observe'. Ellis also states that the mythical founders of the
Society were celibate. He adds that 'though they did not enjoin celibacy
on their devotees, they prohibited their having any offspring'.575

This puts a different complexion on the matter, and supports the sus-
picion that the Tahitians were not without experience of compulsory
continence. Indeed, when we inquire into the nature of their sexual
regulations, we find that a betrothed girl, vahinepahio, was by no means
free. 'As she grew up,' Ellis says, 'for the preservation of her chastity, a

>

§i33 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 217

small platform of considerable elevation was erected for her abode, within
the dwelling of her parents. Here she slept and spent the whole of the time
she passed within doors. Some member of the family attended her by
night and by day, and accompanied her whenever she left the house. Some
of the traditions warrant the inference that this mode of life, in early years,
was observed by other females besides those who were betrothed.' In the
native legends, we are told, 'in order to preserve her chastity, a girl was
made pahio, and kept in a kind of enclosure and constantly attended by
her mother'.576

The reader will remember that among the Maori the word taumou was
applied to a betrothed girl, and that a girl was puhi if she were restrained
from sexual intercourse (para. 45). At one time very close relations seem
to have existed between the Maori and the Tahitians.577

The evidence, then, is that the loose sexual conduct of the Tahitians
has been exaggerated; it is an inference from the conduct of the lower
classes and that of the Arreoi Society; the upper classes were restrained
in their behaviour. Betrothed girls were prevented from indulging their
desires; apparently they were not allowed to have intercourse even with
their future husbands. Moreover, the legends concerning the foundation
of the Arreoi Society state that celibacy was required of its members and
that subsequently this ordinance was relaxed. Furthermore, the close
confinement of betrothed girls is said to have been in the early days com-
pulsory also for unbetrothed girls; and the native word used to denote
a betrothed girl was similar to that used by the Maori in reference to a girl
to whom sexual activity was forbidden. There is no report of any demand
for the tokens of virginity; we must include the Tahitian regulations,
therefore, in the category of 'Irregular or Occasional Continence'.

The Tahitians did not erect special roofed buildings in which the powers
in the universe manifested themselves and which were specially erected
and maintained in order that a right relation might be preserved with
those powers;578 but they paid some post-funeral attention to their dead.
The rites have been reported scantily, but they appear to have been
those of tendance. Thus the Tahitians were in the manistic cultural
condition.

'There are two places where the dead are deposited,' Hawkesworth says,
'one a kind of shed, where the corpse is suffered to putrefy, the other an
enclosure, with erections of stone where the bones are afterwards buried.
The shed is called tupahow, the enclosure marae.'*79 The size of the
tupahow depended on the rank of the dead man. An average measurement
seems to have been fifteen feet long and eleven feet wide, with the height
in proportion. One side was left open, the other three sides being partly
enclosed with a kind of wicker-work. The bier was about five feet from the
ground ; food was hung around or placed on a table which was set up
before the corpse. Processions were made at various intervals for about
five months, but less and less frequently; then the remains were removed

218 GENERAL SURVEY §133

from the bier, and the bones were buried 'within or without the marae'.580
Some authorities state that the skull of a noble chief was not buried with
his bones ; it was wrapped in fine cloth and placed in a special box which
was deposited in the marae. Hawkesworth calls this box ewharre no te
orometua, 'the house of the teacher or master' ; but possibly the translation
is incorrect, for the usual word for house was fare, and orometua, according
to other authorities, was the word which was applied to the family dead.
Ordinary people seem to have preserved the jaw-bones of their dead in their
houses and to have paraded them on special occasions.581

The word marae, which among the Maori, Samoans, and Tongans
denoted the open space in the middle of a settlement, is said to have been
applied by the Tahitians to the stone-stepped pyramidical structure in
which the remains of a chief were placed. I have already noted (n. 174)
there there is reason to believe that our authorities have confused the
structure with the open space wherein it stood, and I think that they have
assumed prematurely that all the rites which were celebrated in the open
space were in honour of the dead man whose bones were in the structure ;
but the reports of the rites are meagre. Hawkesworth describes the marae
(i.e. stone structure) of the chiefs Oamo and Oberea; Forster describes
that of Parua. The former 'was a pile of stones, raised pyramidically upon
an oblong base or square, 267 ft. long and 87 ft. wide'. The side steps were
wider than those at the ends, and so it terminated not in a rectangle, but
in a ridge, like a roof. There were eleven steps, each of four feet. Parua's
structure was sixty yards long, five yards wide. Those which the Spaniards
saw were much smaller. One of them mentions 'two or three high steps';
another speaks of 'some graves' on a platform raised step above step; a
third says, 'Their cemeteries are constructed after the manner of small
rectangular platforms, faced all round with two or three high steps built
in with stone.' Thus the structures varied in size and were not made to
a pattern.582

On or around the stone structures certain wooden figures were placed,
called Hi. A tit was supposed to represent the dead ancestor. The word has
been variously translated as 'guardian spirit' (Wilson), 'evil spirit' (Cook),
'the dead' (Ellis), 'demons' (Ellis). Forster states that 'they believe every
man to have a separate being within him called tee, which exists after
death in the wooden images which are placed round the burying places
and called also tee\ Similar figures were used to ornament canoes.583

Near the stone structure was a whatta (ewattd), 'altar'. The specimen
which Hawkesworth describes was about seven feet high and raised on
pillars. Forster saw a piece of thatch on four posts, in front of which a
lattice of sticks had been erected. On such an altar offerings of food were
placed for atua.584

The word atna has been consistently translated as 'god', 'divinity',
'deities', and certain mythological figures, such as Taaroa, Tane, &c,
have been called 'gods' ; but there is no evidence that the Tahitians called

§i33 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 219

them atua.585 If we cease to translate atua, and confine our attention to the
phenomena to which the word was applied, we discover that the offerings
were always made to the dead, or to a particular dead man. Thus Ellis
says that the origin of many of the 'deities' is 'rooted in obscurity, but
they are often described as having been renowned men, who after death
were deified by their descendants'. The 'gods' of the various professions,
he thinks, had once been distinguished men. In a like manner the numerous
'gods of the ocean' were probably men 'who had excelled their contem-
poraries in nautical adventures and exploit'. Wilson puts the matter in
different and probably more accurate terms when he says that 'each family
has its tee or guardian spirit: he is supposed to be one of the departed
relatives who for his superior excellencies has been exalted into an atua'.586
We need not wonder, then, that 'each island had its separate theogony',
as Forster expresses it, for the alleged theogony consisted merely of the
dead men who had been distinguished in various forms of human activity
when they were alive.587

As I have said, the descriptions of the rites are meagre and vague, and
some confusion has been introduced into the reports by the assumption
that marae was applied to the stone structure as well as to the open space
wherein it stood ; but both atua which was manifest in the stone structure
and atua of other dead was malevolent if insulted or neglected, and in-
flicted death or misfortune unless appeased by offerings.588 The man who
revealed the will of atua was called tahua atua. He became 'possessed'
by atua, and then was called atua. His symptoms were as usual — bodily
contortions, staring eyes, agitation, trembling, stupor, &c. The practical
Captain Cook says of such a man that he was 'not in his right senses'.589
The word tahua (tahowa) signified 'nothing more than a man of knowledge'.
It was compounded according to the department of knowledge in which
the man excelled; other names also were applied. Thus a tata-o-rerro was
an expert in cosmogony and geography; tahua pure possessed powerful
incantations; zfaatere counteracted the effect of witchcraft; and so on.590
The tahua marae, according to some authorities, attended the sick, the
treatment of whom consisted either of counter-spells or of sacrifices (often
human) to the atua.591 The man who inflicted disease was also tahua;
he also acted by the power of atua. The men who were tahua, indeed,
possessed the greatest store of knowledge of every description; they
remembered the names and ranks of the various atua, preserved the native
traditions, divined and diagnosed, ascertained the fate of expeditions, and
presided over the ceremonies (except those connected with marriage).
They were also greatly feared.592

Natural conditions in the Society Islands were such that the question
of weather control did not arise. Rain was frequent and abundant.59*

Such, in outline, were the customs of the manistic Tahitians. I have
discussed them at some length because the evidence is scattered, confused,
and conflicting. A detailed anthropological monograph on Tahitian customs

220 GENERAL SURVEY §134

and culture would be a valuable addition to our literature ; but the task of
the compiler would not be an easy one.

134. Gilbert Islanders. It is impossible to explain the sexual regulations
of the Gilbert Islanders594 unless their system of land tenure is first
described. The islands were divided into square blocks of land, like a
chessboard. There were four social ranks, including the aomata, 'gentry',
and the rau, 'commoners'. There was no intermarriage between these
two classes. No land could be owned except by aomata, but it was beneath
the dignity of these men to work, so they employed the rau to work for
them. A rau could no nothing without the consent of an aomata, but he
was not tied to any individual employer ; and, since an aomata was com-
pelled to rely on the rau for the tilling of his land, the arrangement worked
very well. Both sexes could own land ; there was no limit to the number of
blocks which any person, family, or couple might possess; but, when a
couple married, their lands, formerly held severally, became the joint
property of their respective families. Since the sisters of a bride (appar-
ently this was the reason) possessed a share of her family estate, it was
customary for a man to marry all the daughters of the family. Once one
daughter was married, no one could marry her remaining sisters, and their
share of the estate (which, in all probability, could not have been con-
veniently divided) became part of the new household. If, however, a
woman was willing to forego her rights over the estate, she was sexually
free, and was called nikiranroro, 'remnant of her generation'. Her relations
with her sister's husband seem to have had an exclusively economic basis,
if she gave up her title. Even if she refused to do so, her union with him
was not always consummated.595

A betrothed girl, mata-mata, was compelled to be continent until her
marriage. On the day of her wedding, accompanied by her maternal
grandmother, she ascended to the top floor of the house, which had been
specially built on the land of her husband's father. When her husband
joined her, she made a ceremonial resistance ; after a time he gave the signal,
and his mother ascended. If she found the tokens of virginity, she cried,
' Te tei, te tei' ; the mat on which the bridal couple had lain was exhibited
to the people and then burnt to prevent witchcraft. If the primitiae were
not forthcoming, the girl was dragged down and the assembled people
fell upon her and beat her mercilessly, her own family being particularly
incensed against her. In some places she might be forgiven if she disclosed
the name of her lover ; but he would be compelled to forfeit land in expia-
tion of his offence. As a rule, however, she was disowned from the moment
when her guilt was proved, and was included henceforward among the
nikiranroro, who earned their living by the favour of promiscuous
suitors.596

Commander Wilkes tells us that in the Gilbert Islands 'chastity is not
regarded as a virtue nor considered any recommendation in the selection

§I35 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 221

of a wife'. The women who trafficked with his sailors, however, were the
nikiranroro; his remark applies exclusively to them.597

We have no great knowledge of the culture of these islands, but once
more the deistic condition accompanies the demand for the tokens of
virginity. Parkinson says that certain houses were sacred to a god whom
he calls Tapuariki. Children were not allowed to enter them; adults were
full of fear when they went inside. These temples were also sanctuaries,
and were known as the 'houses of Tapuariki'. Another temple to this same
god (whose name seems to be a compound of tapu and ariki) existed in
Arora (Hurd Island): 'All who brought offerings and came to pray dipped
their hands before sitting down, in token of their desire, on account of
these offerings, to be considered clean and free from sickness or other
expressions of the wrath of Tapuariki.' When heathenism was banished
in Peru (Francis Island), 'a number of temples were burned, leaving the
stone pillars standing on which the roof rested'. Turner remarks: 'Beams
are laid horizontally along the top of the pillars, and from these beams the
rafters ran up towards one, two, or three centre posts, supporting the ridge
pole. Whatever may be the solution of the antiquarian problem at Stone-
henge, these relics in Peru are simply the lower stone pillars of ancient
temples for heathen worship.' Large stone-pillared temples existed also
in Onoatoa (Clerk Island).^

The skulls of ancestors were carefully preserved— at any rate by aomata
—offerings of food being placed before them. The reports are vaguely
expressed, and we cannot tell whether the attention was tendance or cult.
Offerings which are said to have been given 'for health, long life, success in
war, fishing, and other blessings' may have been do ut abeas or do ut des.
The attention to aniti, ghost, seems to have been regular and important.^
There is little information in regard to the treatment of sickness. Some-
times the people went to a temple; sometimes they were treated by a
'priest'. There was no priestly order ; any young man of free birth who was
apt at reciting prayers could become a priest. The word for these priests
was ibonga (iboya). There was a firm belief in witchcraft.*00 The rainfall
seems to have been frequent and abundant.601

135. Mikirs. The first of our Assam societies is that of the Mikirs.
They were zoistic. Before the Mikirs came under European influence the
girls frequented the terang, bachelors' hall, and 'illegitimate' births, to
which there seems to have been no objection, were common.

The funeral ceremonies were the most 'elaborate, and costly and im-
portant' of all the ceremonies performed by the Mikirs. Before being
cremated, the body was kept in the house for at least one day, sometimes
for a week or even longer, during which time food was placed by the
corpse twice a day : 'After that there was no regular offering, but occasion-
ally a man or woman puts aside from his or her own share of food a portion
for the dead, as, for instance, when another funeral reminds them of those

222 GENERAL SURVEY §136

who have died before.' There was no fear of the dead or of their 'coming
back to trouble the living'. 'The Mikirs', we are told, 'have no idols,
temples, or shrines.' The rites of cremation were performed 'by the
neighbours, and cunning men and women of the village and the old people
of the family'. Presumably the 'cunning men and women' were uche, the
term which was applied to magicians. An nche man or woman diagnosed
the cause of sickness and discovered who had bewitched the sufferer, a
long and protracted sickness being attributed to witchcraft, maja. Some-
times a recurring illness was thought to be due to hut a mysterious word
which apparently was applied to, inter alios, a person with unusually keen
eyes. Charms, pherem, and incantations accompanied the treatment; a
bory a piece of stone or metal which was either found by chance or revealed
in a dream, could bring good or bad fortune. There is no report concerning
the control of the weather.

The power in the universe was arnam, which is translated as 'god'. 'All
natural objects of a striking or imposing character have their divinity',
i.e. were arnam. White men also were arnam.601

136. Garos. Among the matrilineal and zoistic Garos a man could
possess anything which he had acquired by his own exertions, but under
no circumstances could he inherit. Daughters, and according to one
account the younger daughter, inherited. A husband's authority, however,
was unquestioned during his lifetime. A girl chose her own mate. It was
polite for him to refuse her proposal at first, and to run away and hide; he
was then recaptured. Usually he escaped a second time, and was again
brought back. If he ran away a third time, it was assumed that he really
did not wish to marry the girl, and after that he was free. Ample oppor-
tunities were afforded for mating: 'No obloquy is incurred by the girl on
account of the lapse from the path of virtue, unless she is found to be an
expectant mother.' We are not told what pre-nuptial pregnancy entailed.603

Cremation was the usual method of corpse-disposal. A rupee was placed
in the hand of the corpse for the expenses of the journey to the next world ;
food and liquor (of which the Garos were fond) were placed on the bier.
The monster nawang lay in wait for the soul, but it was believed that he
was covetous of brass ear-rings, and that therefore no one who was well
supplied with these needed to fear him. If a body did not burn well, ear-
rings were thrown into the fire. A kima, memorial post, decorated (if
an artist of sufficient skill was available) with a head in the likeness of a
man, was erected in front of the house, but no offerings were placed before
it. Mr. Playfair says that 'a great reverence for the dead and for the
deceased in general is clearly indicated by the funeral observances'; but
there was no tendance and no cult.604 The kamal, magician, directed a trial
by ordeal, divined the causes of sickness, cured the sickness, read the omens
at a wedding, averted evil at birth, and watched over the dead : 'Any one
who has committed to memory the requisite form of prayer may assume

§I37 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 223

the office.' Death could be caused by placing the body clippings of the
intended victim or a piece of his clothing into a section of bamboo, or by
placing his faeces in a pot which was then buried in a nest of white ants.
This was called daktera or susika. Witchcraft was one of the ordinary
risks of life; any person could bewitch another. General affliction was
warded off by annual ceremonies, the most important of which was called
asongtata, performed around certain stones called asong, an interesting
word which is not explained. If a man had a bad dream, the evil which
it portended could be beaten out of him by the kamal, who seems to have
transferred it to a small boat on which the blood of a cock had dripped ;
thus the marang, ill luck, was averted. As the custom dealt with an
affliction which only threatened and did not materialize, we cannot call it
'transference'.605 When rain was needed the men went to a large rock,
each carrying a gourd of water ; the kamal smeared the rock with the blood
of a goat and recited an incantation ; after that the men poured the contents
of their gourds over the unfortunate kamal. If they wanted sunshine, they
lit a fire around some special rocks. There were no professional rain-
makers.606

137. Khasis. The Khasis are a well-known tribe and have become a
locus classicus for the study of matrilineal institutions; but it is probable
that if the Garos had been studied with the same care they would have
achieved a similar reputation. The two tribes, however, differed in many
important details, for whereas the Garos were zoistic, the Khasis were
manistic.

I have already remarked (para. 59) that the criteria by which we assess
the sexual opportunity which was afforded to the members of any uncivi-
lized society cannot be applied to all matrilineal peoples whose marriages
were matrilocal. The Khasis are a case in point. The young men and
women were subject to restraints from which the Garos were free, but the
regulations cannot be classed under the heading of 'Irregular or Occasional
Continence', nor under that of Tre-nuptial Chastity', for there was no
demand for the tokens of virginity, and the limitations imposed on the young
people, obvious though they are, do not come within the definition which
I have placed on Irregular or Occasional Continence. I must be content,
therefore, to describe the institutions as they existed.

A married man went to live in his mother-in-law's house ; while he was
there he was regarded as a complete stranger, and was called shong kha,
'begetter' If the couple found that they could live together amicably,
they might set up a house of their own after one or two children had been
born; but this was by no means a general practice. Among the Syntengs,
and the people of Maoshai, the husband did not live with his wife, but
merely visited her. In Jowai such visits were made only after dark and
the man could not be entertained to a meal, for he had not contributed
to the support of the household. The youngest daughter received the

224 GENERAL SURVEY §137

largest inheritance, but if there were no daughters the youngest daughter
of the mother's sister succeeded. In the Jaintia hills a man could possess
self-acquired property, but among the Khasis proper all the possessions
which he acquired belonged to his mother until he married, then his wife
and youngest daughter inherited them. We are told that young people
were 'on more or less easy terms of intimacy' before they married; but no
girl could choose her mate as among the Garos. A contemplated union
was subject to the veto of the man's parents, uncles, and aunts; the girl's
parents had the final word. 'The daughters nearly always agree,' Col.
Gurdon says, 'it is very seldom that it is necessary to bring any pressure
to bear.' I can find no mention of pre-nuptial children, but the subject
in complicated by the fact that, while the women were monandrous, the
men contracted extra-matrimonial unions. Col. Gurdon says that poly-
gamy did not exist: 'Such a practice would naturally not be in vogue
amongst a people who observe the matriarchate' ; but it is merely a question
of words, for 'there are instances', he adds, 'of men having wives other than
those they have regularly married'. Such a woman, who must not belong
to the original wife's village, was ka tynga tuh, 'stolen wife', whereas the
regular wife was ka tynga trai. The children which were born of the
former union were hi khun kliar, 'children from the top', that is, they were
not descended from the root, trai, of the tree. They seem to have had no
claim on the property of their mother's family. We are not told what
happened in the case of a girl who became pregnant and who afterwards
was regularly married. If I read Col. Gurdon's account aright, such an
event was rare. The girls, indeed, seem to have been brought up rather
strictly.607

It is impossible to say whether or not a girl who became a regular wife
was compelled to check any impulse which she may have experienced
before her marriage ; but we should expect a careful surveillance of girls
in whom all property rights were vested and who were responsible for the
performance of the ancestral rites.

After the body of a dead Khasi had been cremated, the bones were
collected by the female relatives and taken to a cairn, mawshieng. An old
man threw some powdered rice on the ground, and adjured the ghost
not to trouble the clan, since the funeral rites had been duly performed.
From the mawshieng, the bones were removed with great ceremony first
to a large repository, mawphew, belonging to the sub-clan, and later to the
mawbah, the grand ossuary of the clan. The bestowal of the bones in the
mawbah was, we are told, 'without doubt the most important religious
ceremony that the Khasis performed': 'If the spirits of the dead are not
appeased by the due performance of the ceremonies, it is believed that they
roam about and haunt their relations and plague them.' If the mawbah
rites had been carried out correctly and successfully, however, the dead
continued to live in perpetual bliss, eating betel-nut, which was the Khasi
notion of supreme happiness. Large flat memorial stones were erected to

§138 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 225

certain ancestors (we are not told how the individuals who were so honoured
were selected) ; offerings of food and drink were placed upon them 'periodi-
cally and in time of trouble'. In later times it was more usual 'to make the
offerings in the house, either annually or at times when it was thought
necessary to invoke the aid of the departed'. The largest stones seem to
have been erected to ka iawbei, lit. 'great-grandmother'. Sometimes Col.
Gurdon speaks of Ka Iawbei as an individual, but each unit had a separate
ka iawbei ', who seems to have been the recipient of most of the offerings.
The nature of the offerings seems to have been do ut abeas, but the language
of the reports is not always precise, such words as 'invoke', 'revere',
'worship' being employed in a manner which begs the most important
question.608

The treatment of sickness has not been described in a manner which
can be summarized easily; the respective duties of the various magicians,
lyngdoh, sohblei, and nongkhan, are obscure. 'Propitiation' and 'sacrifice'
to 'spirits' is said to have been the usual method; the report is not helpful.
The lyngdoh seems to have been a member of the Lyngdoh clan ; perhaps
the sohblei was a person who was or who possessed blei. Usually the word
blei is translated as 'god' or as 'spirit'; the power which it denoted was
manifest in certain hills, trees, and rivers. I cannot tell if it was used in
reference to the dead. It is not always clear what word Col. Gurdon is
translating as 'spirits' in the appropriate passages.609 Since the average
annual rainfall was 448 inches, a ceremony for its production was un-
necessary.610

138. Andaman Islanders. We pass almost due south to the Andaman
Islands. The salient facts about the inhabitants can be stated economically,
for they have been studied carefully by Professor Radcliffe Brown, who
always quotes the words which he is translating. He does not describe,
however, the various contexts in which those words were used. 'Pro-
miscuous intercourse between the sexes', he says, 'is the rule before mar-
riage, and no harm is thought of it.'611

The Andaman Islanders were in the zoistic cultural condition.

A dead person was either buried in a shallow grave or placed in a tree.
The latter was the more honourable method of disposal and is said to have
been adopted when a person died 'in the prime of life'. When the flesh
had decayed from the bones, the remains were recovered and preserved.
The skull and jaw-bone were worn round the neck, the other bones being
strung together and worn as a charm to cure or prevent sickness. 'Like all
their other possessions', Professor Radcliffe Brown says, 'these relics are
lent or exchanged, passing from one person to another, until sometimes
a skull may be found in the possession of a man who does not know to
whom it belonged.'612 The power in the universe was lau (in North Anda-
man dialect) ; the word was qualified according to the place of manifestation ;
thus, tikuku lau, lau on land. It was applied also to the dead: 'All Anda-

Q

226 GENERAL SURVEY §139

manese when they die become lau' Usually the word is translated 'spirits' ;
thus, magicians, oko-jumu (in North Andaman dialect), lit. 'dreamers',
acquired their power 'through contact in one way or another with the spirits,
lau\ An oko-jumu caused or cured sickness, and could control the weather.
Since we are told that the strings of human bones were 'esteemed as a
means of driving away spirits and therefore of curing or preventing
disease', we may conclude perhaps that sickness was due to lau.613 The
word lau was applied also to Indians, Burmese, Polynesians, and white
men, that is, to any man who was not like the Andamanese.614

139. Sea-Dyaks. Finally, I present a summary of the customs of the
Sea-Dyaks with the most tentative submission.

I have already (para. 5) drawn attention to some of the English phrases
which have been employed as the equivalents of the Sea-Dyak word
petara. Perhaps if I mention that petara is said to have been the elohim of
the Old Testament, 'none other than the Hindoo avatara, the incarnations
of Vishnu', and the Allah Taala of Malay, the nature of the reports will be
apparent.615 Interpretations and inferences have been stated as facts;
anglicized plurals, e.g. petaras, antus, manangs, abound; and Sea-Dyak
'beliefs' are presented in terms of the white man's thought.

I have endeavoured to extract some facts from the somewhat verbose
literature; it is impossible to quote the inferences verbatim, and then
examine their meaning; so I will merely state the details of Sea-Dyak
culture as it appears after a study of the reports.

It was a common custom for a Sea-Dyak girl to have lovers before she
married. They visited her at night, and she was as intimate with them as
she pleased. Her parents had full knowledge of her conduct. On these
points all the authorities agree. Hugh Low is the only observer who
reports the following custom: 'If the girl should prove pregnant, the father
of the child must take the woman to wife ; but if the connexion should long
continue without the attainment of this desired result, the acquaintance
is discontinued and they each seek new sharers of their loves. Should they
not be constant to each other, the offence, though public, never becomes
an occasion of scandal to either person.' It seems that the child was desired
by both parties; but if that were the aim of the union, why was the man
compelled to marry the mother of the child ? Surely he would have been
quite ready to do so. And would he not have objected to the girl having
other lovers? Personally I am inclined to regard the alleged desire for
a child either as a false inference or as a piece of false information, gratuit-
ously given by a puzzled native. Yet Hugh Low knew the natives well and
probably was not easily deceived. He writes, however, of sexual conduct
and regulations in the apologetic tone that was characteristic of his age.
Yet in consideration of his report I feel I must enter a minus-star in
Col. 11.616

Curiously enough, it is equally doubtful whether the Sea-Dyaks were

§139 MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 227

zoistic or manistic. I think it is probable that they were manistic; but
certainty on this point depends greatly on the meaning of certain native
words which are not explained. These words are merely translated as
'spirits'. If antu was applied to the dead exclusively, then the Sea-Dyaks
were certainly manistic; if antu was the Sea-Dyak equivalent of petara
before the latter Sanskrit term was imported, they may have been zoistic.
No certain opinion can be expressed by any one who is not conversant
with the people themselves. Both antu and petara have been translated
'spirits'; sometimes indeed it is impossible to tell whether the Sea-Dyaks
used antu or petara in those contexts in which our authorities employ the
word 'spirits', for the native terms are not always quoted.

Ordinary people were buried, food and drink (baiya) being placed in
the grave. The body of a dead magician, manang, was placed in a tree.
A fire was kept burning for three or four days, then food was thrown out
of the back of the house (the rite was called pana), and then the ghost was
in dead-land: 'After life is extinct, the body is no longer spoken of as a
body or a corpse; it is an antu, spirit.' This singularly inexact sentence is
typical of the literature concerning the Sea-Dyaks. We can do no more
than conclude that the word antu was applied to a corpse or to a ghost.
After a successful head-hunting expedition the spoils were dedicated in
some vague way to the dead (or to antu or to petara) ; but the attention
seems to have been voluntary. At intervals varying from one to three or
four years, a Festival of the Dead, gawai antu, was celebrated. A pot of
tuak (a native drink made from rice) was placed before the door of the one
room which the family occupied in the village house ; the dead were invited
to revisit their old haunts, and the women wove 'small imitations of various
articles of personal and domestic use, which were afterwards hung on the
grave'. Sometimes when a man sat down to a meal he threw a pinch of
food under the house for the benefit of antu. We are told that there was a
belief in metempsychosis ; has this idea arisen from the fact that the word
antu was applied also to certain animals, such as an alligator and a snake ?617

Affliction of every kind was attributed to antu, and when an epidemic
occurred, 'little offerings of food and animals killed in sacrifice' were every-
where in evidence: 'This making of sacrifices is a frequently recurring
feature in Dyak life.' At first sight this appears to be clear evidence of
tendance, but since the Sea-Dyaks confused antu with petara (or to quote
Archdeacon Perham's anglicized plurals, 'the line of demarcation between
Petaras and antus is altogether indistinct'; Gomes translates the former
word 'gods' and the latter word 'spirits'; Perham assigns a capital P to
Petaras and withholds the subjective decoration from antus), the offerings
which are alleged to have been made to 'the dead' may have been made
to petara.618

We are told that 'spirits and magical virtues are largely associated with
stones; any remarkable rock, especially if isolated in position, is almost
sure to be the object of some kind of cultus'. The 'cultus' is not described ;

223 GENERAL SURVEY §140

we have to be content with such statements as 'Petara are not worshipped
in temples'. The association of petara (or antu) with the unusual is men-
tioned also by Gomes: 'Any unusual noise or motion in the jungle, any-
thing which suggests to the mind some invisible operation is attributed to
some spirit.' Moreover, people who previously had not seen a coloured
glass marble credited it with magic power. White men also were petara,
and concerning this use of the word Archdeacon Perham makes an inter-
esting comment : ' When I have remonstrated with them on this application
of the term,' he says (and from his writings I gather that he remonstrated
very often)' 'they have explained that they only mean that we appear to
manifest more of the power of Petara.' It is extraordinary that the Arch-
deacon's preconceived ideas about petara should have so blinded him to
the native usage that even then he failed to see that the Sea-Dyaks called
him petara because he was something unusual or beyond comprehension.
The word was applied also to great chiefs, hills, trees, &c.619

Just as the American Indian sought sgana, snam, sulia, tamanous, manitou,
wakan, &c, so the Sea-Dyak sought petara, and in a similar manner: 'A
man who is fired with great ambition to shine in deeds of strength and
bravery and who desires to attain the position of a chief, or to be cured of
an obstinate disease, will sometimes spend a night, or nights, by himself
on a lonely mountain, hoping to meet some benevolent spirit who will
give him what he desires. To be absolutely alone is a primary condition.
The custom was called nampok.^ By the power of petara the manang
interpreted dreams, exorcized 'spirits' (antu} petara}), and bewitched his
enemies. His incantations were unintelligible to his fellow citizens. If
he were 'possessed', he was called manang ngagi antu.621
I can find no explicit report in regard to weather control.

140. Summary and Chart. These facts are stated diagrammatically on

the opposite page. .

The association of the deistic condition with pre-nuptial chastity is
illustrated by the culture of the Gilbert Islanders. The Mikirs, Garos,
and Andaman Islanders are yet more instances of the coincidence between
pre-nuptial sexual freedom and the zoistic condition. The evidence con-
cerning the three manistic societies is less exact. We cannot assess the pre-
nuptial sexual opportunity of the Khasis; the Sea-Dyaks have been so
described that it is difficult to understand what the native customs were ;
the Tahitians daunt the bravest interpreter.

The power in the universe was atua (Tahitians), arnam (Mikirs), Met
(Khasis), lau (Andaman Islanders), and petara or antu (Sea-Dyaks). The
words which were used in this reference by the Gilbert Islanders and the
Garos have not been reported. The native usage of atua, arnam, blei, lau,
and petara (or antu) has not been fully described, but there is reason to
believe that they were orthodox conceptions. We have seen that among
those other tribes whose words have been elucidated more fully the same

§i4o MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 229

word was often used to denote 'something unusual', the dead, a magician,
and a white stranger. If, then, we find that a native word which has been
translated as 'spirit' or as 'god' was used in, say, two of these contexts, it
is probable that it was used in reference to the other phenomena also
and that the omission is due to the defective nature of the reports. The
Tahitians used atua in reference to the dead and to a magician; it is not
stated definitely that it was applied to anything unusual. The Mikir
arnam denoted anything striking or imposing ; it was applied also to white
men; there is no report of its application to a magician or to the dead.
Possibly the Khasi blei was used in reference to the dead ; a sohblei was a
magician ; blei was not a power which permeated all natural things : it was
manifest only in certain trees, rivers, &c; the inference is that there was
something unusual about these trees and rivers. Among the Andamanese,
lau was applied to the dead, to a magician, and to a foreigner ; we are not
informed definitely that it was used in reference to anything unusual. The
Sea-Dyak petara (or antu) was used in all four contexts.

Comparative and inferential evidence of this kind is not wholly satis-
factory, but we may conclude, I think, that these five conceptions con-
formed to the normal pattern.

MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES

Society

Tahitians .

Gilbert Islanders

Mikirs

Garos

Khasis

Andaman Islanders
Sea-Dyaks

o

T3
C

o
o

"Is

3

1

M

D

Z

Z

M

Z

M?

Treatment
of

affliction

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+
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+
+
+
+
+

u

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fl

03

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u

co
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03
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CO

Ph

+

Method

of
weather
control

e

03

o

CUD
as

5
o
o
o

+

o

CO

CD

•

u
Ph

6
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Treatment
of
ghosts

o

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be

03

a

-o

JJ

"o
u

d

o
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+

<u
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03
T3
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+
+

3

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<u

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JJ

£

Eh

10

+

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03

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"03

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II

*

+

Concerning the source of magic power, in the case of the Gilbert
Islanders, Mikirs, and Garos, there is no precise information. In three
cases the source of magic power was the possession of or by the power
in the universe, atua (Tahitians), lau (Andaman Islanders), petara or antu
(Sea-Dyaks). The Khasi sohblei was probably a man who possessed blei.

The information in regard to burial rites does not seem to reveal any

230 GENERAL SURVEY §140

discrimination in favour of magicians, but this may be due to the imper-
fection of our information. The Khasis erected special stones in certain
cases, but we are not told how the recipients of such honours were chosen.
The Andamanese are said to have discriminated between an ordinary
person and a person 'in the prime of life' ; but, though I accept the report as
it stands, I confess that I doubt if the whole truth on this point is known.
The Sea-Dyaks definitely selected a special resting-place for a magician,
manang. I suspect that the Tahitians may have paid greater honour to
a dead atua-mzn than they did to an ordinary dead citizen, for the stone
structures were built to receive the bones of 'chiefs', i.e. presumably arVi,
and all arVi were atua-men. The Mikirs and Garos are reported to have
conducted the same kind of ceremony for every one.

I have now stated in words the whole of the evidence represented
symbolically in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I), from which we made
our original induction (para. 24); but before closing this survey I wish
to draw attention to the method I have adopted. In the first place I have
taken care to describe in a separate paragraph the salient facts in regard
to each society. I have not selected a single cultural detail from one
society and then compared it with a similar cultural detail from another
society, specially chosen that the parallel might be drawn. I have fitted
each of the eighty societies to the same frame of reference and have
endeavoured to quote all the available facts in each connexion. Moreover
in the notes (which to the general reader are unimportant but to the
serious student are vital) I have drawn attention to conflicting statements,
if such exist, and have made an attempt to elucidate certain obscure
passages in the available literature. In this manner I hope to have avoided
the more serious imperfections of the comparative method. Secondly, by
classifying the societies not according to their beliefs but according to their
rites, thus approaching my problem from a behaviouristic point of view, I
have broken with time-honoured tradition. In the first chapter (paras. 4, 5)
I stated my reasons for distrusting not only the usual classifications but also
the evidence, and especially the translations, on which they are based; and
I have been at pains to supplement these theoretical considerations by con-
tinually pointing out, usually in the notes but sometimes in the text, some of
the difficulties and misunderstandings which have arisen from the current
method of studying uncivilized culture and of translating native terms.
And I do not believe that any discussion of any uncivilized society can be
profitable unless it includes such an appraisement of the evidence. The time
is surely past when we can accept at its face value any statement made by
any traveller, missionary, or administrator in reference to any uncivilized
custom or creed. Thirdly, the evidence which has been considered is only
the raw material of our inquiry. Broadly speaking, the evidence is this,
namely, that in the past certain types of sexual regulations have invariably

§i4o MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 231

been accompanied by certain types of cultural behaviour. It may be that
in the opinion of some students the meaning of the coincident facts can
be interpreted without further discussion. If so, I hope that before reading
the remaining chapters these enthusiasts will place their own interpretation
on the evidence. Those who attempt to do so at this point will suffer from
no handicap; indeed I have purposely adjusted my method to this end;
and in the following chapters I shall adduce no new material, and shall
merely refer to the paragraph or to the note which contains the piece of
information to which I allude. For my own part, however, before ventur-
ing to suggest the manner in which an extension or reduction of sexual
opportunity affects cultural behaviour, I desire a still closer analysis of the
available data. To this analysis, therefore, and to a discussion of native
ideas, I now proceed.

CHAPTER IV

THE CONNEXION BETWEEN SEXUAL OPPORTUNITY

AND CULTURAL BEHAVIOUR

A. ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE

141. Analysis of the Chart of Evidence {Appendix I). I will begin with
the Chart of Evidence. As I have said (para, u) the evidential value of the
entries is unequal ; and we must distinguish between the minus signs which
may denote a lack of information and those which express definite cultural
facts. The minus signs in Cols. 2-7 are in the former category; those in
Cols. 8, 10, and 11 represent exact evidence. I will now consider the entries
column by column.

So far as cultural behaviour is concerned (Col. 1), the three doubtful
entries are those which refer to No. 13, Orakaiva, No. 72, Sema Nagas, and
No. 77, Sea-Dyaks. It is certain that none of these three societies was
deistic, but the manner in which their cultural details have been described
precludes a decision concerning the conduct of post-funeral rites in honour
of the dead. We cannot say definitely whether they were manistic or zoistic.
The sign M ? expresses this uncertainty. The doubtful character of these
entries, however, does not detract from the value of our original induction
(para. 24), for the pattern of the pre-nuptial regulations which had been
adopted by these three societies (Col. 11) is equally uncertain, our authori-
ties having either concentrated their attention on sexual conduct or de-
scribed the regulations in an incomplete or unsatisfactory manner.

The other entries in Col. 1 are indisputable, with the possible exception
of that which refers to No. 69, Ao Nagas. The doubt, however, is too
slight to warrant the insertion of a question-mark.

The entries in Col. 2 inform us whether the treatment of sickness by
'magic' has been reported. Only one minus sign appears; it refers to No.
65, Tongans. It has not been reported that in their treatment of sickness
the Tongans employed charms, incantations, and other forms of magic, and
so it is impossible to insert a plus sign in this column ; but I suspect that
the reports are incomplete, and no argument can be based on this minus
sign which may not represent a definite cultural fact.

In Col. 3 a minus sign appears in reference to No. 3, New Britons;
No. 31, Ibibio; No. 64, Maori; No. 70, Angami Nagas; and No. 72, Sema
Nagas. A question-mark has been inserted in reference to Nos. 28 and 74,
Baronga and Garos. In these cases the minus-plus signs allude to the
uncertain character of the evidence; the question-marks denote that our
authorities have made a doubtful classification.

The information in regard to the New Britons (para. 32, n. 63) is scanty,
and some confusion has been introduced into the reports by Dr. Brown's

§ i4i ANALYSIS OF THE CHART OF EVIDENCE 233

unscholarly translation of tebaran as both 'spirit' and 'ghost'. It is impos-
sible to tell what was the purpose of the rites he calls 'exorcism'. They
may have been designed either to frustrate tebaran or to expel a ghost which
was thought to be 'possessing' a man.

The 'exorcism' which is alleged to have been practised by an Ibibio
'diviner' or 'clairvoyante' (the native term is not quoted, para. 42) may
have consisted of the pronouncement of counter-spells. If that was so,
the rite would come within my definition of 'magic' (para. 9).

Concerning the Maori rite takutaku, 'exorcism', the facts have been
reported only scantily. Moreover, in their treatment of sickness the Maori
are often said to have employed no other method than the recital of karakia,
incantations (para. 49, n. 190). Perhaps the reports refer to different areas,
but we are not told that this was the case.

As for the Naga tribes of Assam, interpretations of their rites have been
so intertwined with the descriptions that in many cases inferences seem to
have been promoted to facts. Before we can arrive at any decision con-
cerning the alleged transference or exorcism of terhoma by the Angami and
of teghami by the Sema Nagas, we should have to be assured that the sick-
ness which necessitated their exorcism was of a different nature from that
which a Lhota and an Ao Naga suffered from tsandramo and tsungrem
respectively, and which is stated to have necessitated the recapture of the
'soul'. These four conceptions seem to have been of a similar character,
and I am inclined to think that the curious differences and coincidences
mentioned in n. 230 are due to different interpretations of rites which in
native opinion achieved an identical result.

The Ronga rites which M. Junod has described cannot be called 'exor-
cism' in any exact sense of that word. M. Junod has applied a high-
sounding title to what appears to have been a commonplace form of magic.

In the case of the Garos (para. 136, n. 605) I do not think we are justified
in applying the term 'transference' to the rite which was apparently
designed merely to ward off sickness.

Transference and /or exorcism is definitely reported as having been a
common form of treatment among the SE. Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and
Sa'a), Banks Islanders, Fijians, Shilluk, Bakitara, Baganda, Banyankole,
Samoans, and Sea-Dyaks. A plus sign in Col. 3 represents the practice of
these rites.

In regard to the entries in Col. 4, it will be noticed that the plus signs
do not correspond with the plus signs in Col. 10; that is to say, all those
societies which erected temples are not reported as having approached a
temple in times of affliction. Similarly, the entries in Col. 6 also fail to
correspond with those in Col. 10; that is to say, all the deistic societies did
not approach a temple when they desired a change in the weather. A
minus-plus sign appears in both these columns in reference to No. 14,
Shilluk, and No. 17, Bakitara. These minus-plus signs have a different
significance. The Shilluk kengo was not a temple in the sense in which

234 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 141

I use the term ; but it was clearly a border-line case, and I have endeavoured
to indicate the difference between the behaviour of the Shilluk and that of
their neighbours by employing the minus-plus sign. Among the Bakitara
there was a god of healing and a god of rain, each of whom was approached
in a temple, but the Bakitara seem to have relied on their medicine-men
when they were sick and on their rain-makers when they needed rain.
I express their comparative neglect of these gods by inserting a minus-plus
sign in Cols. 4 and 6. This is the explanation also of the minus-plus sign
which appears in Col. 6 in reference to No. 66, Samoans.

Generally speaking, the information in regard to the control of the
weather is scanty and unsatisfactory. I am inclined to think that some harm
has been done by the manner in which the subject has been studied and
reported. Those students who adopt comparative methods have discovered
that in time of drought some uncivilized peoples conduct a rain-making
ceremony. They have collected examples of these ceremonies from all over
the world. In this manner they have given a bias to the study of uncivilized
culture, for the idea has spread that a rain-making ceremony is typical of
'primitive' man. Thus instead of inquiring what action the members of
any society take in time of drought, an untrained observer is apt to inquire
whether or not a rain-making ceremony exists. If he finds one, he describes
it; but if he finds none, he makes no reference to the matter, and neglects
to' report any other action which may take place under those circum-
stances.

In Col. 5 the plus signs have some evidential value, but in most cases
the minus signs have none. The value of the entries in Cols. 5 and 6 con-
sists in the contrast between the behaviour represented by a plus in Col. 5
and that represented by a plus in Col. 6.

Some methods of controlling the weather are not shown in the chart.
For instance, sometimes among Nos. 25, 26, and 29, Anyanja, Awemba,
and Amazulu, dead men were tended in time of drought in the belief that
they were withholding the rain because they were angry.

It will be observed that a plus sign does not occur in both Col. 5 and
Col. 6 in reference to any society. The rites conducted by the Bakitara
and Samoans are expressed by a plus in Col. 5 and a minus-plus in Col. 6.
I have explained the meaning of the latter entries.

The plus signs in Col. 7 tell us that the societies to which they refer
conducted certain rites designed to effect post-funeral magical control of
the dead by living men. They appear in reference to No. 3, New Britons ;
No. 5, Banks Islanders; No. 8, Kiwai Papuans; No. 16, Lango; Nos. 17-
19, Bakitara, Baganda, Banyankole; No. 26, Awemba; No. 29, Amazulu;
No. 31, Ibibio; No. 34, Ashanti; No. 42, NezPerces; No. 64, Maori; and
No. 77, Sea-Dyaks. In each case there is evidence that the ghosts which
were 'laid' were regarded as a source of trouble, this being the reason for
the 'laying'. Thus the appearance of a plus sign in Col. 7 indicates that the
members of that society credited ghosts with the power to cause affliction,

1

§i4i ANALYSIS OF THE CHART OF EVIDENCE 235

and that the living descendants believed that they could control magically
the activities of such ghosts, tendance being unnecessary.

In three cases, those of the New Britons, Maori, and Sea-Dyaks, the
words which are translated 'the dead' or 'ghost', tebaran, atuay and antu,
respectively, were applied also to other phenomena, and it is possible that
the rites which are reported as being connected with the dead may have
possessed another significance for the natives, the connexion of those rites
with the dead being due solely to our method of translating the native
terms. The members of all the other societies in the above list applied
a separate word to the ghosts of the dead.

In some cases (e.g. those of the Kiwai Papuans, n. 314; Ojibwa, para.
113 ; and Navaho, n. 552) we are told that certain rites, such as drawing a
line across the path by which they returned from the grave, deleting foot-
prints, or following a zigzag course, were performed by the members of the
funeral party, and that these rites were regarded as a means whereby the
ghost of the dead man was prevented from following. I have not included
such rites as 'control by magic' because they were part of the funeral rites.
In the study of uncivilized peoples the funeral rites must be carefully dis-
tinguished from those conducted after the funeral rites are completed.

The last four columns, Cols. 8-1 1, contain definite information; we may
argue both from the minus and from the plus signs. If a minus sign occurs
in Cols. 8 and 9, there is definite evidence that the society did not carry out
any post-funeral rites in honour of the dead; a plus sign discloses the
character of the rite according to the definitions I have formulated. In
these cases the negative entry is not a deduction; it is a definite cultural
fact. The question-marks in Col. 8 are the source of those in Col. 1.

In Col. 8 a minus-plus sign appears in reference to No. 3, New Britons ;
No. 13, Orakaiva ; No. 16, Lango ; Nos. 20-2, Akikuyu, Akamba, and Nandi ;
No. 28, Baronga; No. 31, Ibibio; No. 64, Maori; and No. 77, Sea-Dyaks.
These minus-plus signs denote either that the evidence is uncertain, or
that the rites appear to have been irregular and spasmodic. The latter may
or may not be due to the manner in which the rites have been described.

It is not necessary to comment on the entries in Cols. 10 and 11. They
represent the data on which our classifications were based, and are indis-
putable. A minus-plus sign has been inserted in Col. 10 in reference to
No. 14, Shilluk, in order to show that the Shilluk kengo was almost, but not
quite, a temple.

I have said (para. 24) that after considering the evidence contained in
this Chart a social scientist is compelled to induce that among uncivilized
peoples there is a close relation between sexual opportunity and cultural
behaviour. When we begin to consider the nature of that relation, we must
remember the limitations (paras. 1, 24) imposed upon us by the nature of
the material. When a chemist has discovered that a relation exists between
two chemical elements, he can secure himself against a superficial conclu-
sion by eliminating from his experiments those other factors which might

236 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE §142

be responsible for or contribute towards the observed result. In this
manner he can ascertain whether or not the result is produced by the
admixture of the two elements, and of them alone. When we are dealing
with human records, however, it is not enough for us to show that specific
variations of A are accompanied by specific variations of B, for it may be
that the variations of B are produced by a group of factors of which A is
merely a constituent. Before the coincidence between certain variations of
A and certain variations of B can be accepted as anything more than a
coincidence, some form of reasoning must take the place of the experiments
which are possible to the chemist but forbidden to the social scientist.
This substitute can be no other than an explanation of the process, that is,
an interpretation of the facts. For the chemist this explanation is a secon-
dary consideration, or at least a matter of subsequent inquiry; but for the
student of human affairs it is a necessary adjunct which promotes his con-
I elusion from a possibility to that kind of probability which is the limit of
human knowledge. From the nature of the case the explanation cannot be
supported by anything of an experimental nature ; it must rest on its own
credibility and likelihood ; and it is for this reason that I have distinguished
with all rigour between the facts and an interpretation of the facts.

It may be urged, particularly by those whose temperaments are opposed
to the meaning of our induction, that there is another reason why it is not
enough to demonstrate the accompaniment of specific variations of A by
specific variations of B. It may be said that we ought to show also that
these variations of B are not produced by other factors. This, however,
would be a reversal of the scientific method. We must argue from what
we know, not from what we do not know. If other factors are said to be
concomitant with the variations of B, the evidence of their existence must
be presented before they can be included in the discussion.

142. The Cultural Scale. Diagrammatically the facts presented in the
Chart of Evidence may be expressed also in another way. If the reader will
turn to Appendix II, he will see a rectangular chart which has been divided
into vertical and horizontal columns. The horizontal lines have been
marked zoistic, manistic {tendance), and manistic (cult), the top side of the
rectangle being marked deistic. These lines create a Cultural Scale upon
which the name of any uncivilized society can be entered in one of the
vertical columns, its cultural condition being denoted by the blackening of
the vertical column as far as the line marked zoistic, manistic (tendance),
manistic (cult), or deistic, according to the evidence. In this manner, too,
the cultural condition of any given society can be seen in pictorial relation-
ship with that of any other uncivilized society. Appendix II consists of a
completed Cultural Scale which has been divided into eighty vertical
columns; each of these columns bears the name of one of the eighty
societies which we have discussed. The societies are arranged in the same
geographical order as in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I). In the case of

§ I43 THE SCALE OF SEXUAL OPPORTUNITY 237

Nos. 13 and 72, Orakaiva (para. 79) and Sema Nagas (paras. 53, 54) the
entries are doubtful. The culture of these two tribes, however, seems to
have differed in certain details from that of their neighbours, so it is
represented by a line which ends half-way between the lines marked zoistic
and manistic (tendance). The culture of No. 77, Sea-Dyaks, is represented
as manistic (tendance), but, as I have indicated (para. 139), the classification
must be accepted with reserve.

Such a Cultural Scale reveals only the general pattern of a culture.
Within the pattern there was an intense variety.

143. The Scale of the Limitation of Sexual Opportunity. In a similar
manner, and on a chart of the same proportions (Appendix III), I have
entered the evidence which is available concerning the sexual opportunity
of these eighty societies. In this case the horizontal lines are marked Pre-
nuptial Freedom , Irregular or Occasional Continence, and Pre-nuptial Chas-
tity. The intensity of an Irregular or Occasional Continence is uneven,
however, and there is evidence on which we can separate from the others
some of the societies the regulations of which conformed to this pattern.
It is scanty, but concerning two societies, No. 4, South-east Solomon
Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a) and No. 14, Shilluk, comparative data are
available : the regulations of the former (para. 28) were more strict than
those of the other Melanesian societies which did not insist on pre-nuptial
chastity, those of the latter (para. 82) being more strict than those of, e.g.,
the Dinka and Lango. I have represented this variety by attaching the
title Irregular or Occasional Continence to two lines instead of to one line.
In order that the chart may reveal the comparative stringency of the
regulations which the members of these two societies had adopted, the
columns marked with their names have been blackened as far as the upper
of these lines, the columns bearing the names of the other societies (the
regulations of which conformed to the same pattern) being blackened only
as far as the lower of the lines. In this detail, but in this detail only, the
Scale of the Limitation of Sexual Opportunity represents the evidence
more accurately than the mathematical symbols employed in the Chart or
Evidence (Appendix I). I must point out, however, that although definite
evidence exists that the regulations of these two societies afforded a more
limited sexual opportunity than those of their neighbours, there is no basis
on which their regulations can be compared with one another. Their
identical position in the Scale must not be interpreted as indicating that
their compulsory continence was of the same intensity

The evidence in regard to the regulations of No. 13, Orakaiva (para. 79 ,
is inexact ; that concerning the regulations of No. 77, ^J^^'^
is doubtful. Thusnorehancecanbeplaced upon these entries. Jhere^s
to be some reason to suppose that the members of No. 72, Sema Nagas,
had adopted more stringent customs than those of ^
69-71 , Ao, Angami, and Lhota Nagas, but I am not confident that the Sema

238 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 143

regulations were such as would have imposed an Irregular or Occasional
Continence in the sense in which I use the term. Thus the entry in Col. 72
also must be accepted with reserve. One society, that of the Khasis,
cannot be placed on this scale; Col. 75 is therefore blank. For the reasons
of our inability to assess the sexual opportunity of the Khasis, see para. 59.

These two Scales, Cultural Scale and Scale of Sexual Opportunity, have
been printed on the same sheet in order that they may be compared at a
glance. It will be noticed that the black lines on the two charts coincide
almost exactly, the only exceptions being Nos. 13 (Orakaiva) and 72 (Sema
Nagas). In these cases the nature of the evidence is alone responsible for
the dissimilarity of the entries. Those two manistic societies, South-east
Solomon Islanders and Shilluk, which demanded a more intense pre-
nuptial continence than any of the other manistic societies were the only
ones the post-funeral rites of which partook of the nature of cult.

By the aid of these charts, Chart of Evidence (Appendix I), Cultural
Scale (Appendix II), Scale of Sexual Opportunity (Appendix III), the
coincidence between the various patterns of uncivilized behaviour and the
various patterns of sexual opportunity has been expressed as clearly as I am
able to express it. I do not wish to emphasize unduly the extraordinary
character of that coincidence. The facts speak for themselves. Two
questions arise : Are the phenomena connected ? If so, what is the nature ol
the connexion?

I shall answer the first question in the affirmative ; I shall also state what
to the best of my belief is the nature of the connexion; but, before I can do
so, it is necessary to appraise, analyse, and summarize the cultural evidence.

A change in human behaviour is due to a change in ideas. It is only when
opinions alter that activities are revolutionized. The ideas may be expressed
in words; alternatively they may be merely manifest in action. They may
be conscious or unconscious, pre-ideological or part of a clearly formulated
creed At the moment I do not discuss these things. My point is that,
although we assess the cultural condition of a society by observing its
behaviour, we shall understand why its behaviour alters only after we have
studied the nature of its ideas. But certain theories in regard to the nature
of uncivilized ideas are already current, and on these theories I must pass
some comments. Inevitably too these comments must be of a destructive
character. I must criticize the theories in order to facilitate the presen-
tation of my own suggestions, for I erect my theoretical edifice on the same
ground as that used by my predecessors, and a new building can be erected
on the same site only after the old one has been destroyed.

No man can consult the original sources of our knowledge of uncivilized
life without realizing that civilized men have drawn a veil of undefined
jargon over the opinions of uncivilized men, and that in this manner the
inherent simplicity of those opinions has been obscured. Just as when a
cloak is thrown over a statue the lively details of the sculptor's creation are
obscured so the description of uncivilized conceptions in terms of civilized

§i43 THE NATURE OF UNCIVILIZED IDEAS 239

thought obscures the clear outlines which are apparent when we use the
native terms. The assumptions contained in the word 'evolution' must be
challenged, the inferences and misapprehensions due to the use of such
words as 'spirits', 'gods', 'deities', 'supernatural ancestors', &c, must be
discarded, and the cloak of 'animism' removed, before we can hope to
comprehend the mental processes of those men and women whom our
forefathers called 'savages'. The power in the universe and men who
possessed that power, atua and atua-men, jok and^o^-men, ngai and ngai-
men, mulungu and mulungu-men, wakanda and wakan-meny god and god-
like men, God and His Saints — these are the powers which manifest them-
selves to the members of human societies. The manner in which they are
conceived, however, and the steps taken to maintain a right relation with
them, differ in different societies; and these differences constitute the
various cultural conditions into which human societies arrive. It is the
common basis on which these conditions are founded, and the nature of
the differences between them, that must be understood before we can
understand the influence on human behaviour of different sexual regu-
lations.

Thus our next task has a fourfold character. First, we must discover the
common basis on which cultural behaviour rests. Secondly, we must show
that current theories in regard to the alleged 'evolution' of human culture
are mistaken; and, if we can, we must demonstrate how the errors came to
be committed. Thirdly, from an analysis of the words used by our eighty
societies, and of their ceremonial activities, we must deduce the changes
in mental outlook which caused the observed differences in behaviour.
Fourthly, we must inquire if these changes in mental outlook were such as
to be the outcome of a limitation of sexual opportunity.

I fear that a somewhat technical, but not necessarily complicated, dis-
cussion is unavoidable ; but it will be facilitated if for the time being the
reader will banish from his mind his knowledge of the coincident facts
between sexual opportunity and cultural behaviour which have been stated
verbally in the text and diagrammatically in the charts. At present I wish
to concentrate on the cultural evidence alone.

There is one point, however, which I wish to emphasize again: a change
in opinion is never uniform throughout a society. When a society ascends
in the cultural scale, some sections of the people retain their old opinions
and remain in the lower cultural condition. Then the society is divided
into two cultural strata. Indeed, the higher a society ascends the greater is
the difference in the culture of the various strata, the number of those
strata depending on the nature of the rise of the society. In a deistic
society which passed direct from the zoistic into the deistic condition,
there would be a zoistic as well as a deistic stratum; in a rationalistic
society we may find a deistic stratum, and/or a manistic stratum and/or a
zoistic stratum, according to the manner in which the most devebped
stratum emerged. In every case each cultural change would leave evidence

240 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE §144

of its occurrence in the existence of the stratum for the culture of which it
was responsible. It is for this reason that the culture of a rationalistic
society is produced by a minority of its members, for only a few keep step
with the advance. Moreover, as time goes on, the cultural condition of each
individual stratum changes, either upward or downward, these cultural
changes being responsible for the revolutions and upheavals which are
the chief events in social, political, and religious history. The intense
variety which exists both in the occasions and in the descriptions of these
events has obscured the fact that the changes conform to certain definite
patterns, the change from one pattern to another being of the same nature,
and due to the same causes, as that which occurs in the cultural pattern of
a less developed society. It is in this manner that the material with which
at the moment we are more particularly concerned is related to the histori-
cal evidence ; and it is for this reason that among civilized societies some
sections of the people are in a cultural condition similar to that of uncivi-
lized societies (para. 70).

144. Method of Classifying the Evidence in regard to Uncivilized Ideas.
I have already said (paras. 61, 90) that no account of uncivilized ideas can
be accepted at its face value unless we are told both the native terms and
the contexts in which those words were used. I have stated my reasons for
coming to this conclusion and need not repeat them. I have also pointed out
some of the difficulties which have arisen when the native terms have not
been quoted and their contexts not explained. In approaching the study of
the native ideas, therefore, I classify the available evidence as indisputable,
probable, and inferential.

The indisputable evidence consists of explicit statements on the part of
reliable observers who have quoted the native words and explained the
contexts in which those words were used. Upon the strength of this
evidence, and of this evidence alone, a final conclusion may be drawn.

The probable evidence is to be found in the reports of competent observers
who have merely translated such native terms as they have seen fit to quote,
or who were unfamiliar with the language of the people about whom they
have written. These reports have little value unless they are considered
in the light of the indisputable evidence. They are not reliable enough to
be the foundation of an argument, and can be used only to corroborate
a conclusion based on the indisputable evidence.

If the native terms are not quoted at all, a statement has little value.
Usually the evidence is merely inferential.

It is rare, of course, for a report to be wholly indisputable, probable, or
inferential. Usually it varies, being on one point indisputable, on another
point probable, on another point inferential. Sometimes an observer
quotes, but does not elucidate, the native term for the power in the uni-
verse ; at other times he tells us the other contexts in which the word was
used, but, when speaking of magic power, omits to mention the native

§145 CLASSIFICATION OF THE EVIDENCE 241

terms, and states the facts in terms of 'spirits' and 'gods'. Sometimes, too,
the report of one observer on any point assumes a different value, even a
different meaning, after the report of another observer has been compared
with it. Again, there is often no indisputable evidence at all; sometimes
there is not even any probable evidence; yet, even in such cases as these, a
careful study of the report may reveal a piece of valuable evidence that has
almost unwittingly been communicated to us. So no general classification
of the available evidence in regard to the native ideas can be scrupulously
accurate in all details; the evidence on each point must be separately
assessed. In presenting a classification, therefore, I wish to say that the
classification is offered, and should be received, merely as a general guide
to the kind of evidence that is available in regard to the ideas of any particu-
lar society. Speaking generally, it may be said that in any description of
native ideas the amount of inference exceeds that of fact, but if a report
contains any indisputable evidence at all I place it in a higher class than
one that contains no information concerning the native use of native words.
As my analysis proceeds, I will state, so far as I can, the kind of evidence
that is available on any particular subject.

145. Classification of the Evidence in regard to the Ideas of the Eighty
Societies. Of our eighty societies forty-seven were zoistic, twenty- one man-
istic, and ten deistic, the cultural condition of two (Orakaiva and Sema
Nagas) being doubtful. In regard to their ideas, the nature of the evi-
dence is as follows :

Zoistic. (a) Native terms quoted and elucidated. Tannese, Banks
Islanders; Kiwai Papuans, Purari; Masai; Tlingit, Haida, Lillooet, Coast
Salish, Ojibwa, Dakota, Omaha, Hidatsa, Mandan, Crow. (15.)

(b) Native terms quoted but not elucidated. Loyalty Islanders, Trobriand
Islanders; Koita, Mailu; Klallam, Blackfeet, Arapaho, Iroquois, Winne-
bago; Ao, Angami, and Lhota Nagas, Mikirs; Andaman Islanders; Chuk-
chee, Koryak, Yukaghir. (17.)

(c) Native terms not quoted. Mafulu; Thompson, Shuswap, Nez Perces,
Dene, Hopi, Zuni, Sia, Navaho, Apache, Chickasaw, Creek, Natchez,
Pima; Garos. (15.) Total, 47.

Manistic. (a) Native terms quoted and elucidated. Lango, Akikuyu,
Akamba, Wayao; Maori; Sea-Dyaks. (6.)

(b) Native terms quoted but not elucidated. New Britons, SE. Solomon
Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a) ; Shilluk, Dinka, Banyankole, Nandi, Anyanja,
Awemba, Baila, Baronga, Amazulu, Basuto, Ibibio ; Tahitians ; Khasis.(i5.)

(c) Native terms not quoted. None. Total, 21.

Deistic. (a) Native terms quoted and elucidated. Fijians; Tongans,
Samoans. (3.)

(b) Native terms quoted but not elucidated. Bakitara, Baganda, Yoruba,
Dahomans, Ashanti; Gilbert Islanders. (6.)

(c) Native terms not quoted. Aztecs. (1.) Total, 10.

R

242 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 145

Thus in only twenty-four cases out of eighty are the native terms quoted
and elucidated ; in thirty-eight cases they have been merely translated ; in
sixteen cases they are not quoted at all. (The two unclassifiable societies are
not included in this calculation.)

Sometimes it is difficult to avoid ungenerous comments on the nature of
some of the reports, particularly when we remember that the unsatisfac-
tory character of some of the evidence is due not to a lack of knowledge or
industry on the part of the observer but to his preoccupation with academic
theories, evolutionary and otherwise. If, however, in all cases we distin-
guish carefully between the incident which was observed and the manner
in which that incident has been reported, and if we remember that it is only
on the strength of the indisputable evidence that a conclusion can be drawn,
we shall avoid most of the errors into which we have been led by those
who adopt the comparative method. Most of the societies which were in
the manistic condition at the time to which our information refers seem to
have developed from the zoistic condition ; those which were in the deistic
condition seem to have developed from the manistic condition. Thus it is
reasonable to expect that these three cultural conditions are founded on a
common basis and that this basis will be revealed most clearly in the reports
on the zoistic societies, strong indications of it existing among the manistic
societies, slight indications among the deistic societies. We shall see that the
evidence fulfils these expectations. I must emphasize again, however, that
the cultural process is not a one-way street. Cultural changes can occur
from a higher to a lower condition, as well as from a lower to a higher; and
some of the manistic societies (e.g. Maori, para. 166) appear to have been
deistic at some previous period in their history. Moreover it is not neces-
sary for a zoistic society to experience a period of manistic culture before
becoming deistic. It is true that at one time our ten deistic societies appear
to have been manistic, but there is at least one historical society which
seems to have proceeded to the deistic from the zoistic condition. I refer
to the Israelites. The Israelites are not included in this treatise, first,
because the facts, and especially the chronology, of their history are not
well authenticated, and secondly, because we do not know the native
meaning of the words which they used to denote the power in the universe,
Elohim, Jehovah, El Elohim Jehovah, Adonai, Shaddai, Sabbaoth,El Elyon,
&c. These words have been merely translated as God, Lord, Almighty,
Most High, &c. Since, however, at some later period of their career the
Israelites were deistic, that is, they erected temples wherein they main-
tained a right relation with the power in the universe, I wish to call atten-
tion to those ancient Israelite laws which ordained that a husband should
demand the tokens of virginity, that a bride who was not a virgin should be
stoned to death, and that the parents of the bride should defend themselves
against a false charge by the display of the tokens before the elders, or
'chiefs' (Deuteronomy xxii. 13-29). These customs are exactly parallel to
those which were in vogue among our deistic societies ; and it is interesting

§ 146 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE POWER 243

to observe that among the Israelites, at the period to which these laws
refer, a man who had pre-nuptial intercourse with a betrothed girl was
killed and that a man who deflowered an unbetrothed girl was merely
fined, the girl becoming his wife. This differentiation between intercourse
with betrothed girls and intercourse with unbetrothed girls is a common
feature of uncivilized life, and there is every reason to believe that if our
certain knowledge of Israelite chronology and customs were more exten-
sive, further evidence would be forthcoming in support of the induction
I have made (para. 24). Moreover, the facts illustrate forcibly that
the culture of no human society is founded on a basis which is peculiar to
itself.

The Arabs are another instance of a society which seems to have pro-
ceeded direct from the zoistic to the deistic condition.

146. The 'UnusuaV as the Power. My suggestion is that the basis of
human culture is the conception of, and reaction to, something unusual
or beyond comprehension. Fundamentally the power which manifests
itself in the universe is the strange quality exhibited by any unusual pheno-
menon. The agency through which a right relation is maintained with that
power is the 'unusual' man, that is to say, the man who is credited with the
possession of that quality. The place in which the rites are conducted is the
unusual place, that is, the place where the power is manifest. The recipient
of the offerings is either the power itself, conceived according to the mental
capacity of the people, or the man who is thought to possess or to have
possessed it.

First we will discuss the fundamental nature of the power. Some
members of a rationalistic society denote the unknown by such terms as
'Nature', 'First Cause', 'Unmoved Mover', 'Fortuitous Concourse of
Atoms'. Others hide their ignorance under a cloak of simpler character,
using the word 'God'; and to this word the members of each cultural
stratum attach their own meaning according to their mental capacity or
according to the tradition which they have inherited from their ancestors,
the members of the deistic stratum approaching God in temples. The
members of zoistic uncivilized societies are more uniform in their opinions ;
they divide the events of their experience into the usual and the unusual,
the normal and the abnormal. The word which they apply to anything
unusual cannot be rendered into a civilized language; its meaning is too
comprehensive. It is used in reference to every phenomenon which is out-
side normal experience, being applied to (1) any uncommon or impressive
natural feature ; (2) any unusual occurrence ; (3) any animal of supernormal
strength, of peculiar gait, or strange appearance; (4) any event the nature
of which is not understood, such as the birth of twins, the female menses,
a sudden death, or any unaccountable sickness ; (5) any man of outstanding
ability or skill, especially white men, and the articles of their equipment,
such as watches, compasses, rifles, &c; (6) anything superlative, such as

244 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 146

riches, poverty, excellent wives, neglectful wives, excessive rain, drought;
(7) g°°d luck, fortune, chance.

Here let me protest against the use of the word 'supernatural' in reference
to the conceptions of uncivilized men; it implies a conception of the
'natural' which is absent from their minds. It cannot be too greatly empha-
sized that the conception of the 'natural' is a civilized phenomenon,
characteristic only of rationalistic societies. If we wished to be accurate,
we should discard the word 'supernatural' even in reference to rationalistic
conceptions, for it suggests a transcendence or a contradiction of Nature,
whereas, if 'Nature' be accepted as a reasonable hypothesis, it follows that
no event can be regarded as contrary to Nature or even as transcending
Nature, for if that were true, the conception of the 'natural' would be
untenable. Another disadvantage which accrues to the word 'supernatural'
is that its meaning is relative to the knowledge of the rationalist who
employs it. So long as our knowledge of the 'natural' is limited, however,
there will always be a line of demarcation between what is understood and
what is not understood, and to those events which are beyond our under-
standing it is perhaps reasonable, or at any rate convenient, to apply the
term 'supernatural' ; but manifestly it is unreasonable to employ the word
in reference to the conceptions of men who have not arrived at a conception
of the 'natural'. The only manner in which we can express their attitude
towards the universe is to use the words 'normal' and 'supernormal', for it
is into those two categories, I submit, that they divide all the events which
come within their experience.

Let us examine the evidence. If the reader will turn to the Table of
Native Terms (Appendix IV), he will find a list of the words (so far as they
are available) which were used by the members of the eighty uncivilized
societies. The name of the society is in the first column. The second
column contains the word or words applied to the power or powers in the
universe. Usually in our reports these words have been translated as
'spirit' and /or as 'god' and/or by the equivalent and/or by the plural of
those terms. In the third column I have inserted the word which the
natives applied to anything unusual or beyond their comprehension, the
words 'No report' indicating that the native usage of the word in the first
column has not been explained. The word or words applied to a ghost or
to the dead are in the fourth column. The entries in the fifth column
summarize the available reports in reference to the source of magic power ;
and in the sixth column will be found the number of the paragraph which
contains a description of the culture of the society. At present we are
concerned only with the entries in the second and third columns, that is,
with those that refer to the power or powers in the universe.

In each of the twenty-four cases in which the native terms have been
quoted and elucidated the word denoting the power in the universe was
applied only to something unusual or beyond comprehension. To this
rule there are no exceptions. The twenty-four cases are :

§ i46

THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE POWER

POWER IN THE UNIVERSE
INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE

245

Society

The power in the

Word denoting something unusual

universe

or beyond comprehension

2. Tannese

uhngen

uhngen

5. Banks Islanders

vui

vui

6. Fijians

kalou

kalou

8. Kiwai Papuans .

ebihare

ebihare

10. Purari

imunu

imunu

16. Lango

jok

jok

20. Akikuyu

ngai

ngai

21. Akamba

ngai; mulungu

ngai; mulungu

23. Masai

ngai

ngai

24. Wayao

mulungu

mulungu

35. Tlingit

yek

yek

36. Haida

sgana

sgana

39. Lillooet

snam

snam

40. Coast Salish

sulia

sulia

44. Ojibwa

munedoo

munedoo

48. Dakota

wakan

wakan

ao Omaha

wakonda

wakonda

50. Hidatsa

mahopa

mahopa

51. Mandan

mahopini

mahopini

52. Crow

maxpe

maxpe

64. Maori

atua

atua

65. Tongans

otua

otua

66. Samoans .

aitu

aitu

77. Sea-Dyaks

petara; antu

petara; antu

This is the whole of the indisputable evidence concerning the meaning
of the words which were used in reference to the power in the universe. Of
these twenty-four societies fifteen were zoistic, sixmanistic, and three deistic.

If, then, we approach the study of our eighty uncivilized societies with
no preconceptions, and if we base our conclusions not on translations but
on the native usage of native words, we find that the only places wherein
the power in the universe was manifest were the 'unusual' places. Any
other conclusion is based on inference. Moreover by less developed
societies the power was conceived not as an entity but as a quality. 'On the
whole', Mr. Williams said in reference to the Purari imunu (para. 76), 'it is
safe to regard the word imunu as an adjective rather than a substantive. It
stands for a quality or a blend of qualities.' Mr. Hetherwick (para. 98)
was equally confident concerning the meaning of the Yao mulungu: 'The
untaught Yao', he said, 'refuses to assign to it any idea of being or person-
ality. It is to him a quality or a faculty.' The conceptions of the zoistic
American Indians were of a similar character. I select the Dakotan wakan-
da as my illustration. In reference to wakanda Mr. McGee remarked (para.
1 17) that it was rather a quality than an entity.

It is wrong to translate such words as if they referred to entities, yet this
is our invariable practice. It is only when we have rid our minds of our
own preconceptions in favour of entities that we can understand the native
meaning of these words. Then we can appreciate, for instance, what the

246 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 146

Akikuyu meant when they said (para. 85) that the sun, Mt. Kenya, and
thunder were 4 all the same thing', and how greatly we have been misled
by Dr. Codrington's rationalization of the Banks Island vuiy ' exceeding',
into 'spiritual being'.622 In every case except that of the Lango^'o^, and that
of the Purari imunu, the above listed words have been translated as 'spirit'
and/or as 'god' or as the equivalent or as the plural of those terms. If, then,
we are told that the members of any uncivilized society believed in 'spirits',
we should receive the report with reserve. Moreover, if we are told that the
members of any uncivilized society believed in a ubiquity of such 'spirits',
we can safely assume the inferential character of the ubiquity, unless the
evidence be quoted on which the statements in regard to the alleged ubi-
quity are based.623

Sometimes when the native usage has not been elucidated, we are told
that the word which has been translated as 'spirits' was used in some of
the above-mentioned contexts. In these cases it is probable that the word
denoted the strange quality which was manifest in something-unusual or
beyond-comprehension, and that the observer was prevented from inform-
ing us of the fact by his preconceptions in favour of 'animism'.

Probable evidence of this kind is available in no less than twenty-one
cases out of the remaining fifty-six. Of these twenty-one societies, eleven
were zoistic, seven manistic, and three deistic. They are:

POWER IN THE UNIVERSE PROBABLE EVIDENCE

Society

Word usually translated 'spirit',
'god', &c.

1. Loyalty Islanders

haze

2. New Britons

tebaran

4. SE. Solomon Islanders

akalo

(Ulawa and Sa'a)

9. Mafulu

unknown word translated 'spirits'

14. Shilluk

jwok

25. Anyanja

mulungu

27. Awemba

milungu

28. Baronga

tilo

32. Yoruba

orisha

33. Dahomans

vodu

34. Ashanti

bohsum

41. Klallam

tamanous

42. Nez Perces

tiwat (?)

43. Dene

unknown word compared with

Dakotan wakan, &c.

45. Blackfeet

natosio (natoye)

46. Arapaho

baataana (?)

53. Winnebago

hopini

54. Hopi

unknown word translated 'mystery'

73. Mikirs

arnam

75. Khasis

blei

76. Andaman Islanders

lau

§ 146 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE POWER 247

In each case there is an explicit statement that the natives used these
words in some of the contexts I have enumerated. In some cases, e.g. those
of the Mafulu and Hopi, the native word is not quoted, but we are told that
'spirits' or 'mystery' existed only in 'unusual' places. The evidence will be
found either in the paragraph in which the culture of the society is de-
scribed or in the note attached to the appropriate passage. It is mentioned
also in the summary which appears at the end of each section of the fore-
going chapters.

Concerning the remaining thirty-five societies the reports in regard to the
power in the universe are such as afford only inferential evidence. Twenty-
one of these societies were zoistic (Trobriand Islanders, Koita, Mailu;
Thompson, Shuswap, Iroquois, Zuni, Sia, Navaho, Apache, Chickasaw,
Creek, Natchez, Pima; Ao, Angami, and Lhota Nagas, Garos; Chukchee,
Koryak, Yukaghir); eight were manistic (Dinka, Banyankole, Nandi,
Ibibio, Baila, Amazulu, Basuto; Tahitians); four were deistic (Bakitara,
Baganda; Aztecs; Gilbert Islanders). The cultural condition of the remain-
ing two (Orakaiva and Sema Nagas) is doubtful.

I will briefly consider the nature of the reports on these thirty-five
societies.

Among the twenty-one zoistic societies are included three Naga, three
Palaeo- Siberian, and eleven American Indian tribes. I have already com-
mented (para. 90) on the reports concerning the three Naga and the three
Palaeo-Siberian tribes. These were written from a frank 'animistic' point
of view and contain all those inferences which are inseparable from it.
Some of those inferences will be discussed later (para. 148). Here we may
note that the Ao Nagas used the word tsungrem especially in reference to
conspicuous boulders (n. 219), that the Angami terhoma seems to have
denoted a quality which has been turned into a conception of entities
by our translations (n. 220), and that the Chukchee vairgin was applied
especially to large natural features (para. 56). These are slight indications,
but the facts suggest that these words were of the usual type and that their
native meaning has been obscured, even changed, by our translations. As
for the eleven tribes of American Indians it is reasonable to suppose that
they used their unknown words in the same contexts as those other American
Indians whose ideas have been described with greater care.

Concerning the other four zoistic societies, Trobriand Islanders, Koita,
Mailu, and Garos (paras. 73, 77, 7&> ^ nothing can usefully be added
to what I have already written. We must await further evidence.

Among the manistic societies there are the Banyankole, Nandi, and Ibibio.
On the descriptions of their culture I have commented in paras. 61, 90.
There is no need to repeat what I have said in their reference.

Our information concerning the Dinka (para. 83) is scanty. In their case
the word jok has been merely translated. Indeed it is doubtful if the
authorities upon whose testimony we must rely for our knowledge of Dinka
culture were sufficiently acquainted with the Dinka language to enable them

248 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 146

to describe the native usage of the word. Since, however, jok was a common
Nilotic word, and since the translations of the Dinka/o/e are identical with
those which have obscured the native meaning of other uncivilized words,
it is fair to assume that the Dinka usage was similar to that of the Lango
and of the Shilluk.

Concerning the Ila conception of musamo (para. 92) Mr. Smith and Mr.
Dale have written at length, using it as a basis for a philosophical theory
of uncivilized thought. Musamo was especially manifest, we are told, in
'strange, unusual things, uncommon sights, newfangled habits, strange
foods and ways of doing things', &c. I do not conceal my suspicion that
the word 'especially' is an inference and that actually musamo was a concep-
tion of the ordinary character, its alleged ubiquity being an inference due
to circumstances similar to those that caused the Rev. J. H. Holmes to
report the ubiquity of the Purari imunu (n. 623).

In the reports on the Amazulu and Basuto there seem to be some indica-
tions (nn. 415, 422) that the members of these societies used some of their
words in the same manner as the words that provide the indisputable and
probable evidence were used.

The last of these manistic societies, that of the Tahitians (para. 133),
employed atua in reference to the power in the universe, to the dead, and
to a magician. Perhaps, if we knew the complete native usage, we should
find that the Tahitians applied it to anything unusual or beyond their
comprehension.

There are no means of knowing the native usage of the terms employed
by the members of the three deistic societies, namely, Yoruba, Dahomans,
and Ashanti (paras. 42, 99, 100).

In regard to the power in the universe which manifested itself to the
members of these thirty-five societies the evidence is unsatisfactory either
(1) because the reports have been written from a frank animistic point of
view, or (2) because the contexts in which the native words were used have
not been explained, or (3) because the native words have not been quoted,
or (4) because the white man's philosophy has intruded upon the black
man's thoughts. But we can infer from the available data that, if the native
ideas had been described without bias, they would appear the same as
those of the societies which afford the indisputable and probable evidence.
On the strength of that evidence we must conclude that uncivilized men
react strongly to anything unusual or beyond their comprehension and that
by less developed uncivilized societies the power manifest therein is con-
ceived not as an entity but as a quality.

What, then, is the attitude of uncivilized men towards the 'usual' ? The
answer seems to be that they accept it without question or inquiry. The
hypothesis of 'spirits' as 'personified causes' is not supported, and is even
contradicted, by the evidence.

The Loyalty Islanders (para. 30) did not inquire into the causes of
things. In answer to the question 'Who made the flowers?' they replied,

§ 147 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE AGENCY 249

'Our old men'. Similarly the Tannese (para. 31) ascribed the existence of
the earth's fruits to some magician. The New Britons (para. 32) distin-
guished between the rain which had been created by a rain-maker and the
rain which had been 'made with us'; that is to say, they accepted without
demur or question the existence of those phenomena which were in the
world when they arrived ; they regarded other phenomena as having been
created by their magicians. In answer to the white man's questions the
Purari (para. 76) said that the rain and sunshine came of their own accord,
but previously it does not seem to have occurred to them to search for
a cause of these normal things. The Orakaiva, Mr. Williams says (n. 340),
took the phenomena of nature for granted; only in face of an unusual
calamity did they seek for a cause. Dr. Stannus says (para. 98) that when
the Anyanja saw something new or extraordinary they were not at all
surprised or puzzled; to them it was obvious that the unusual character
of the phenomenon was due to the employment of 'medicine'. Many more
examples of this mental attitude could be cited, but a multiplication of
instances does not always intensify an argument ; so, after drawing attention
to the reports that the Amazulu supposed all natural phenomena to have
'come of themselves' (n. 415), and that the question of the creation of things
was a matter which had 'never entered the heads' of the Basuto (n. 423),
I conclude with a reference to M. Dupuis's declaration (n. 459) that the
intellectual faculties of the Africans whom he met did not 'stray from the
usual routine of human pursuits to explore unprofitable mysteries'.

If, then, the course of daily life runs smoothly, the members of a zoistic
or manistic uncivilized society accept their environment without question
or inquiry, but as soon as something unusual or supernormal occurs they
conclude either that some one is manipulating the power manifest in every
supernormal event or that the power itself is present in the place where the
incident occurs.

Now let us consider the source of magic power. The evidence is tabu-
lated in the fifth column of the Table of Native Terms (Appendix IV).

147. The 'Unusual' as the Agency. I have already discussed at some
length (para. 63) the question of the agency through which a right relation
was maintained with the power in the universe. I suggested that there was
no criterion by which we could distinguish a magician from a priest, and
that a priest was a magician who was a member of a deistic society. The
sources of magical and priestly power, I submitted, were identical, viz.
possession of or by the power in the universe. I will now analyse the

collected evidence.

In this connexion the eighty societies divide themselves into four groups,
consisting of twenty-four, seven, eight, and forty-one respectively.

1 . Concerning twenty-four societies there is a complete lack of reliable
information.

The culture of fourteen zoistic American Indian tribes has not been

250 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 147

described in a very definite manner, the appropriate native terms not
being quoted ; these are Thompson, Shuswap, Nez Perces, Dene, Iroquois,
Hopi, Zuni, Sia, Navaho, Apache, Chickasaw, Creek, Natchez, and Pima.

The reports on the deistic Gilbert Islanders are scanty, and no details
are available in regard to the deistic Aztecs whose priests were trained in
seminaries.

Among the three Palaeo- Siberian tribes, Chukchee, Koryak, and Yuku-
ghir, the magicians became 'possessed' (n. 238), but no information is
forthcoming concerning the nature of the 'possession'.

Concerning the source of magic power among the five other societies,
Koita, Banyankole, Nandi, Awemba, and Ibibio, no evidence of any kind
is available.

2. In seven cases, those of the Trobriand Islanders, Kiwai Papuans,
Mailu, Orakaiva, Amazulu, Basuto, and Garos, we are told that magic
power depended on the possession of spells. We are not told the native
term for the power which was inherent in the spells.

3. Probable evidence is forthcoming in eight cases, and to the considera-
tion of these I shall return. They are the Mafulu, Bakitara, Baronga, Baila,
Wayao, Anyanja, Khasis, and Mikirs.

4. In the remaining forty-one cases there is indisputable evidence. In
each case there is an explicit statement to the effect that the source of magic
power was the power in the universe. They are:

THE SOURCE OF MAGIC POWER
INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE

Power

Source of

Power

Source of

Society

in the

magic

Society

in the

magic

universe

power

universe

power

1. Loyalty

haze

haze ,

39. Lillooet

snam

snam

Islanders

40. Coast Salish

sulia

sulia

2. Tannese

uhngen

uhngen

41. Klallam

tamanous

tamanous

3. New Britons

tebaran

tebaran

44. Ojibwa

munedoo

munedoo

4. SE. Solomon

akalo

akalo

45. Blackfeet

natosio

natosio

Islanders

46. Arapaho

baataana (?)

baataana (?)

(Ulawa and

48. Dakota

wakan

wakan

Sa'a)

49. Omaha

wakonda

wakonda

5. Banks Islanders

vui

vui

50. Hidatsa

mahopa

mahopa

6. Fijians

kalou

kalou

51. Mandan

mahopini

mahopini

10. Purari

imunu

imunu

52. Crow

maxpe

maxpe

14. Shilluk

jwok

jwok

53. Winnebago

mahopini

mahopini

15. Dinka

jok

jok

64. Maori

atua

atua

16. Lango

jok

jok

65. Tongans

otua

otua

18. Baganda

lubare

lubare

66. Samoans

aitu

aitu

20. Akikuyu

ngai

ngai

67. Tahitians

atua

atua

21. Akamba

ngai; •

ngai;

69. Ao Nagas

tsungrem

tsungrem

mulungu

mulungu

70. Angami Nagas

terhoma

terhoma

23. Masai

ngai

ngai

71. Lhota Nagas

tsandramo

tsandramo

32. Yoruba

orisha

orisha

72. Sema Nagas

teghami

teghami

33. Dahomans

vodu

vodu

76. Andaman

lau

lau

34. Ashanti

bohsum

bohsum

Islanders

35. Tlingit

yek

yek

77. Sea-Dyaks

petara

petara

36. Haida

sgana

sgana

§i47 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE AGENCY 251

It would be difficult to imagine more convincing evidence.

Most of the above-mentioned words have been translated as 'spirits';
thus the idea has grown that among uncivilized peoples magic power comes
from 'spirits'. Nothing could be more false. As we have seen (para. 146)
in thirty-five cases out of forty-one there is indisputable (twenty-two cases)
and probable (thirteen cases) evidence that the word which denoted the
source of magic power was applied only to anything unusual or supernormal.
In the other six cases, those of the Baganda, Dinka, and the four Naga
tribes, the meaning of the native words, lubare, jok, tsnngrem, terhoma,
tsandramo (or potso), and teghami, has not been explained; they have
merely been translated as 'spirit', or as 'god', or in some such way. The
inference is, as I have said (para. 146), that these words were used in the
same sense as those of the thirty-five tribes and that their real meaning
has been obscured by our translations.

Fundamentally, then, a man is credited with magic power because he is
thought to possess the power in the universe. Now this power is manifest
only in 'unusual' phenomena. It seems to follow that fundamentally a
magician is merely an 'unusual' man.

Of this conclusion there are three corroborative lines of argument ; and
these arguments confirm also our conclusions in regard to the fundamental
nature of the power in the universe.

In the first place, among some societies the word translated 'magician'
literally meant 'skilled', and was applied to any man who exhibited excep-
tional skill in any form of human activity, whether it was building, sailing,
tattooing, healing, fishing, carpentry, or witchcraft. The Maori tohunga
(n. 188), the Zulu nyanga (para. 94), and the Tahitian tahua (para. 133)
are examples. The natives seem to have explained a man's possession
of outstanding skill by crediting him with the possession of the power
which was manifest in all supernormal things. Moreover, throughout the
Area of Profound Mystery (para. 96), and among other sections of the
Southern Bantu, a form of the word nyanga was used to denote a magician,
e.g. Wemba nganga, Ronga nanga, Ila nganga, Suto ngaka, Yao nanga. It
seems probable that in these cases also the literal meaning of the word was
'skilled' and that once more our translations have misled us by emphasizing
only one of the contexts in which the word was used (in this case in reference
to a magician) and by implying that its use in that context exhausted its

meaning. f
Secondly, we sometimes find that the association between the 'unusual
and magic power is implicit, though not explicit. For instance, the Akamba
(para. 86) used to credit a man with the possession of magic power for no
other reason than that the manner of his birth had been abnormal, that is
to say, mulungu was manifest in that event, and therefore, the natives sup-
posed, it was manifest also in him.

The third argument is even more convincing. A magician can possess
the power in the universe in one of two ways. In the first place, he himself

252 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE §147

may be its vessel or container. This was the case among the Maori (n. 181),
Samoans (para. 50), and Tongans (n. 209). These societies spoke of a
magician as the 'canoe' of atua, aitu, and otua, respectively. A similar
phrase was used by the Purari (n. 323), who called a wonder-working
basket a 'canoe' of imunu. (This basket was also called kaieimunu, lit.
'thunder-zmwra*', and possessed a tremendous mouth, which doubtless
represented the native conception of the mouth which emitted a roar of
thunder.) Secondly, a magician might possess an instrument which seemed
to be charged with the power. Commonly such an instrument was a stone,
as among the Loyalty Islanders (para. 30), Tannese (para. 31), Banks
Islanders (n. 293), Koita (n. 331), Dakota Indians (n. 522), Crow Indians
(n. 530), &c. Now when we are told the method by which these stones
were selected (as in the case of the Banks Islanders and Koita) we find
that they were credited with magic power only because they were either
of an unusual shape or of an uncommon type. And a further illustration
of the tremendous power credited to an unusually-shaped stone is afforded
by a report concerning the Basuto. We are told that if a Suto (para. 95)
found a strange-looking fossil he would refrain from bringing it home lest
sickness should break out. A similar attitude towards any unusual pheno-
menon is evinced by the uncultivated members of our own, and indeed
of any civilized, country.

Sometimes we are told that there was a definite word to denote a man
who was manifesting great power. Thus among the Maori (n. 191) a
tohunga, 'skilled man', who was giving evidence of his prowess, and whose
power was due to his possession of atua, was said to be mana. The word
was Polynesian, but it was current also in the Melanesian Banks Islands.
Dr. Codrington placed an interpretation upon it which is vitiated by the
testimony of F. E. Maning. Even in 1876, as Maning said, the word had
been 'bandied about a good deal', and now is best avoided, for by this time
it possesses not its native meaning but one that the white man has attached
to it. The Akikuyu, too (para. 85), had a word, mugu, which they applied
to any man or natural feature which possessed the power in the universe,
a medicine-man being mundu mugu, a ngai-tret mutt mugu.

Now let us consider the source of magic power among the eight societies
concerning which only probable evidence is available. They are the Mafulu,
Bakitara, Baronga, Baila, Wayao, Anyanja, Khasis, and Mikirs.

We are told that the Mafulu (para. 75) considered the possession of
magic power to be due to 'spirits', but in their case we are definitely told
that 'spirits' existed only in 'special peculiar and unusual' places. It seems
to follow that among them a magician was merely a 'specially peculiar and
unusual' man. Similarly a Ronga rain-maker was said to possess tib; and
this word was also applied to the birth of twins, convulsions, and 'certain
great cosmic phenomena, more especially those of a sudden and unexpected
nature' (para. 93).624 Thus in these two instances also the word denoting
the source of power was applied only to inexplicable, incomprehensible

§ 148 SOME MISINTERPRETATIONS 253

phenomena. I have conjectured (para. 146) that this was the case also among
the Baila, for it was the possession of mmamo which differentiated an Ua
magician from an ordinary man, and musamo seems to have been manifest
only in strange unusual things.

As for the Bakitara we can only say either that a magician was a man who
was 'possessed' by muzimu, 'ghost', or by muchwezi, 'god', or that he pos-
sessed a mayembe, that is, a 'god', 'fetish', or 'shrine'. We know neither the
real meaning of muchwezi nor the native term for the power inherent in
mayembe or in the man who manufactured it.

We are not told the source of magic power among the Wayao. Possibly,
indeed probably, it was mulungu. The Yao term for a magician was nanga,
which may be compared to the Zulu nyanga, 'skilled'.

By the Anyanja 'medicine' was associated with 'anything unaccount-
able'.

In regard to the Khasis and Mikirs we must infer their opinions from the
words which have been translated 'spirits'. Blei is one of the many Khasi
words which Col. Gurdon translates 'spirits'; a sohblei was a magician.
Undoubtedly, I think, the 'spirits' to which the Mikirs ascribed the power
of their magicians owe their existence to our method of translating the
word arnam, which was applied also to white men. In many passages,
however, the native word is not quoted ; in other passages arnam is trans-
lated as 'god'.

Such is the evidence in regard to the source of magic power. Funda-
mentally the magician seems to be a man who is believed to possess the
power in the universe, this power being conceived as a quality. He is
credited with its possession either because he is an outstanding citizen or
because he possesses an instrument of an uncommon shape or type. Alter-
natively he may be possessed by the power; in this case it is probable that
the word which denoted the power was applied to him because in his
ecstatic condition he himself was a strange, unusual phenomenon. By virtue
of his possession of the power in the universe the man is credited with the
ability to cause or to cure sickness, to manufacture charms, to divine the
future, to control the weather, to multiply the fruits of the earth, to identify
a criminal, to dispel or to bring back love, and to give advice in the per-
plexities of life. All these things and many others can he do in the opinion
of his fellow citizens. Their faith in his power is based on their conviction
that in him is manifest the dangerous but powerful quality which is
exhibited by all unusual outstanding phenomena.

148. Misconceptions and Misinterpretations. Before proceeding farther
in an attempt to understand the various contexts in which uncivilized men
used the word applied to anything unusual or beyond comprehension, it is
well to discuss some of the reasons why its inherent simplicity has been
hitherto concealed. Certain misconceptions in regard to uncivilized ideas
have sunk so deep into our consciousness, and have been given such world-

254 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 148

wide consent, that they must be dispelled before the native usage of the
word can be understood. It is also well to assess the amount of inference
contained in many, if not most, descriptions of uncivilized culture.

We must remember that field- workers publish opinions as well as facts.
Indeed sometimes it seems that the amount of opinion exceeds that of fact.
Doubtless it is enlightened and well-informed opinion, but therein lies its
danger, for inevitably a man's opinions are influenced by his presentiments ;
he is apt to find what he expects to find ; and the nature of his expectations
is affected not only by the character of his own philosophy but also, so far
as the study of uncivilized culture is concerned, by those academic theories
with which he is acquainted. In my view some of these theories are
inherently misleading, and before our discussion of the facts can conveniently
be continued I must endeavour to expose the fallacies which appear to have
been responsible for them. I shall be better able to do this if I try to explain
how these fallacies seem to have arisen.

In the main, I think, they have been due to four causes, viz. to some lack
of scholarship, to inferences from inaccurate translations, to a desire to
prove evolutionary theories, and to our use of the word 'primitive'. Those
who have been responsible for evolutionary hypotheses have tried to show
that the evolution of human culture has proceeded in a straight line from
primeval man to twentieth-century white man. These have tended to
present uncivilized culture as if it were of a totally different character from
our own, whereas the truth seems to be that it is founded on the same basis.
And as for the word 'primitive', it has been employed to denote uncivilized
culture in general, the implication being that the members of all uncivilized
societies shared the same opinions, whereas the fact is that their opinions
varied between extremely wide limits.

One example of inaccuracy in translation is to be seen in the rendering
of a native term by many different English equivalents, and in the rendering
of different native terms by the same English equivalent; thus either we
distinguish what the natives confused or we confuse what the natives dis-
tinguished. In both cases the native conceptions are misunderstood. There
are numerous instances of this fault, a few of which may be cited. Canon
Roscoe has translated the Bantu words mandwa and mayembe in many dif-
ferent ways (paras. 37-9, nn. 116, 119, 134; cp. para. 61), mandwa being
'priest', 'high priest', 'medium', and 'medicine-man', and mayembe being
'fetish', 'god', and 'shrine'. The Maori atua (nn. 178-80) has been trans-
lated by such a multitude of English equivalents that to the unwary student
the Maori appear to have believed in the existence of diverse powers instead
of in one power only. Professor Seligman (para. 83) has translated the
Dinka jok as 'High God', 'spirit', 'totem', 'spirits of the dead', 'the powerful
dead', and 'spirit of the clan'. No less than four separate unrelated Man-
ganga words (n. 445) have been rendered as 'God', presumably by different
workers in the missionary field. I do not deny that these various English
equivalents may be convenient. My point is that they conceal rather than

§148 SOME MISINTERPRETATIONS 255

elucidate the nature of the native conception, and that the ideas they
represent have been read into and not out of the native culture.

If the native terms are quoted, however, a careful student can overcome
the handicaps imposed upon him by this method of translating native
terms; but, when he has succeeded in doing so, he will have to be on his
guard against certain other confusions which are characteristic of modern
social anthropology. Indeed it is doubtful if an eclectic method of transla-
tion has been responsible for so much misunderstanding as the confusion
between the meaning of the word and the phenomena to which it was
applied. Especially is this confusion apparent in the reports on the American
Indians. The alleged identification of the sun and Old Man Coyote by the
Crows (n. 529) seems to have been assumed from the fact that the same
word, maxpe, was applied to both, and I cannot doubt that Mrs. Stevenson's
report (para. 125) that the Sia regarded some forms of sickness as being
due to certain animals was based on the fact that the Sia applied the same
word to an unusual sickness and to certain animals. The same criticism
must be made in regard to a similar report in reference to the Pima (n. 565).
And the reports on the Haida (para. 104), Blackfeet (n. 510), Arapaho
(n. 514), Dakota (n. 522), Mandan (n. 529), and Winnebago (para. 120;
n. 531) are remarkable for the manner in which a native word, employed
adjectivally or adverbially, has been translated as a substantive. The same
indiscrimination seems to have been responsible for the inconsistencies
which are apparent in Mr. Williams's interpretation of the Orakaiva sovai
(para. 79), for the translation of the Koita sua both as 'soul' and as 'spirits
of the dead' (n. 330), and perhaps also for some of the reports concerning
the Solomon Islands akalo (n. 86) and the Akikuyu ngoma (n. 362); while
the alleged 'connexion' between rainfall and abnormal births among the
Baronga (n. 410) seems to be merely an inference from the fact that the
Baronga applied the word tilo to both of them. We are told that the Anda-
man Islanders regarded white men as 'ghosts', but again the report appears
to be an inference from the fact that the word lau was applied both to white
men and to dead men (n. 614).

This confusion between the adjectival meaning of a word and one of the
phenomena to which it was applied has been particularly widespread. It
has produced many reports of 'sun-worship' and 'monotheism' which
obviously we must reject as soon as we study the native use of the word.
For instance, the Crow Indians (para. 119) applied maxpe to the sun and
to many other outstanding phenomena, and the maxpe-quality of these
phenomena was, to use Professor Lowie's phrase, the 'badge of their
divinity'. The sun was not remarkable qua sun, but because it was maxpe.
The attention to the sun, however, attracted the notice of superficial
observers, and the Crows were described as 'sun-worshippers'. Moreover,
the sun was then called 'Supreme Deity'; and from this misleading con-
clusion Dr. Radin (n. 468) inferred that the Crows were 'monotheists .

Sometimes we find that the power has been confused with the agency

256 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 148

through which a right relation was maintained with it. In these cases the
same native term is translated both as 'priest' and as 'god' (or its equivalent).
It seems hardly credible; yet the confusion is apparent in the reports on
the Banyankole and Bakitara. The word mandwa (n. 116) has been rendered
as 'spirit' and as 'priest'; the Kitara bachwezi (n. 122) have been called a
'priestly clan' as well as 'gods'. A Tahitian word also, fanau po, lit. 'born
of night', has been described both as a deity and as a priest (n. 585); and
another example of the confusion between the power which a man pos-
sessed and the man who possessed it is to be found in the reports on the
Maori matakite (n. 194).

' Some of our authorities are apt to promote descriptive terms to the status
of divine beings. I will cite two instances only. In the Tahitian language
tabu-tabu- a-tea meant 'it is very sacred'; raa signified 'taboo'. Tabu-tabu-
a-tea is said to have been a proper name which was applied to several stone
structures; raa is included as a 'god' (n. 582). Again, in the reports on the
Gilbert Islanders (n. 599), we are often told that the natives revered a god
called Tapuariki. The literal meaning of the word is 'sacred chief. There
is some difference of opinion among our authorities concerning the status
of this alleged 'god'. Some of them affirm that he was more revered than
Wanigain ; others imply that he was the same as Wanigain, and even less
revered. The truth seems to have been that Wanigain amongst other 'gods'
was tapu-ariki, 'sacred chief, and that the attention paid to him was a form
of cult.625

I draw attention to these lapses in order to show that no description of
uncivilized beliefs can be accepted at its face value ; still less can it be used
as the basis of a theory in regard to the development of human culture. Yet
the most fashionable theories have been founded on reports which have no
greater value. Throughout anthropological literature one is confronted by
an inference which is nothing less than a crime against scholarship: the
ubiquity of 'spirits' has been inferred from the fact that the word trans-
lated 'spirit' was applied only to unusual uncomprehended phenomena.
I have already called attention to it (paras. 62, 112 ; n. 356). The inference
is revealed also in Dr. Landtman's monograph on the Kiwai Papuans
(para. 74; nn. 309, 310). The word ebihare, Dr. Landtman tells us, was
applied to unusual things, and only to unusual things, but he gave it an
'animistic interpretation'; it was this 'interpretation' that credited ebihare
with its alleged ubiquity. Mr. Dundas's report on the Akamba (n. 370)
affords another example of the same mistake ; and in my view the comparison
which Mr. Smith and Mr. Dale made between electricity and the Ila con-
ception of musamo (n. 404) is vitiated by their failure to distinguish between
that which is omnipresent and that which is manifest only in supernormal
phenomena. Indeed the assumption that the power in the universe must
be all-pervasive has become so common that sometimes we read of the
existence of a mysterious power which is manifest 'more especially' in
strange unusual occurrences. The words 'more especially' betray the pre-

§ 148 SOME MISINTERPRETATIONS 257

conception, for there is no evidence that the mysterious power was manifest
in any other place or at any other time. This inference may have been
encouraged by a vague pantheism which still lingers in some of our minds,
but in the main it has been due, I think, to a common presentiment that
to a 'primitive' man 'spiritual beings' exist in every natural object. Yet
clearly the idea is contradicted by the native usage of the word which we
translate 'spirit'.

It is upon the inference of the ubiquity of 'spirits' that Sir James Frazer
bases his theory concerning the evolution of religion (para. 62). He sug-
gests that the 'despiritualizing' of the universe has been a very slow and
gradual process, 'lasting for ages', and due, he thinks, to a desire for sim-
plification and unification. 'After men had peopled with a multitude of
indwelling spirits every rock and hill, every tree and flower, every brook
and river . . . they began,' he says, 'in virtue of what we may call the

economy of thought, to limit the number of the spiritual beings Instead

of a separate spirit for every individual tree, they came to conceive of a god
of the woods in general, a Silvanus or what not ; instead of personifying
all the winds as gods, they imagined a single god of the winds, an Aeolus.
. . . The innumerable multitude of spirits or demons was generalized and
reduced to a comparatively small number of deities ; animism was replaced
by polytheism.'

Sir James proceeds to submit that by a further process of simplification
and elimination the many gods 'were deposed in favour of one solitary
deity' ; but with this startling suggestion I am not concerned. I have quoted
the first part of his evolutionary theory because it contains all the errors
and inferences which I wish to discuss. As I have already pointed out
(para. 62), there is no evidence that in the opinion of any of our uncivilized
societies there was a separate spirit in every tree ; the power was manifest
only in particular trees. Thus the very foundations of Sir James Frazer 's
theory are demolished. Moreover, if that theory were correct, it would
appear that the natives would use one word for the spirits in trees, another
for the spirits in winds, another for the spirits in rocks, &c; but the fact
is that they used the same word to denote the power, whether it was in
a tree, in a rock, or in any other place. How, then, can a Silvanus be a
generalization of tree-spirits, for the alleged spirits were never ubiquitous
as to trees and the natives did not distinguish between the power in a tree
and the power in a rock ? Is it not plain that Sir James has based his sugges-
tion first upon a false inference, and then upon a misleading translation?

It is on misleading translations that all theories as to alleged 'nature-
spirits' and 'nature -worship' have been founded. These have been respon-
sible for many unacceptable theories in regard to uncivilized ideas. For
instance, some scholars have interpreted the presence of sacred groves
among some deistic peoples as evidence of nature-worship, basing their
interpretations of the facts upon the assumed existence of nature-spirits.
A close study of the facts reveals the untenable character of these theories.

s

258 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 148

Among some of our zoistic and manistic societies the sacred grove was
connected with the power in the universe, a grove being sacred because it
was unusual either in itself or as the result of a magician's dream. Usually,
however, the grove was produced by the growth of sticks which were
planted round a dead man's grave. It was the custom among the zoistic
Winnebago (para. 120) to plant trees around the grave of a distinguished
man. In a similar manner the manistic SE. Solomon Islanders exposed
the corpses of their great men in canoes which were placed on sticks. After
a time these sticks grew into trees ; and such trees could be seen at most of
the landing-places, marking the spot where exposures had been carried out
(n. 85). Another and more complete example of a sacred grove which had
developed from sticks around a dead man's grave is to be found in the
reports on the Baila (para. 92).

Around the graves of their distinguished citizens the Baila planted a
circle of sticks, mabwabwa; these took root and grew, and in a few years
there was a grove of trees to mark the spot, this grove being sacred to the
memory of the dead man. A caretaker was appointed to look after it; none
but he dared to enter. He was assisted by a medium who was 'possessed'
by the dead man's ghost and announced his will or his desires. The Baila
did not remember these dead men for long, but if the length of their
memory had been extended, we should have been confronted by a cultural
phenomenon similar to that which is found among some historical deistic
societies. If after the disappearance of the Baila from their present habitat
a wandering student should find these sacred groves and be ignorant of
their actual history, he might interpret their existence as evidence of nature-
worship. Thanks, however, to the industry and care of Mr. Smith and
Mr. Dale their true character is known. Thus when I learn that the deistic
Yoruba (para. 42), or any other deistic society, conducted certain rites in
similar groves, I tend to connect the celebrations with a cult of the dead,
remembering at the same time that the comparative argument, unsup-
ported by relevant data, is weak.

The errors to which I have referred are also noticeable in the reports
concerning the causes of sickness. We continually read that sickness was
thought to be due to malignant demons, evil spirits, maleficent sprites, &c.
In my view all such reports are untrustworthy. In many cases these English
phrases are translations of the same word as that which in other contexts
is rendered 'God', 'deities', 'good spirits', &c. Often it is the same word
as that which was applied to anything unusual or beyond comprehension.
In the latter case it seems that the natives were confronted by something
which they did not understand. They concluded, therefore, that the event
was vui (Banks Islanders, n. 295), ebihare (Kiwai Papuans, para. 74),
imunu (Purari, para. 76), ngai (Masai, para. 88 ; n. 385), tamanous (Klallam,
para. 109), lau (Andaman Islanders, para. 138); jwok (Shilluk, para. 82),
jok (Dinka, para. 83), jok (Lango, para. 84), ngai (Akikuyu, n. 365), tilo
(Baronga, para. 93), mulungu (Anyanja, para. 98), atua (Maori, n. 187),

§ h8 SOME MISINTERPRETATIONS 259

petara or antu (Sea-Dyaks, para. 139); aitu (Samoans, n. 204), otua
(Tongans, n. 212). As soon as we substitute the native word for our
English translations, we can understand how greatly those translations
have deceived us. Just as under the influence of the animistic theory an
inference of ubiquity has been made in regard to a power which was
manifest only in strange, unusual things, so also we have assumed that
uncivilized men ascribed all forms of sickness to 'spirits', whereas the
truth is that an ordinary sickness was recognized by them as such, and was
treated in an ordinary manner, but an unusual sickness was attributed to
the power responsible for all unusual uncomprehended phenomena.

Professor Malinowski has made this point in reference to the Trobriand
Islanders (para. 73). If the Trobriand Islanders understood the nature of
the complaint from which a man was suffering, they treated it according
to their knowledge ; but if a man suffered from a sickness which was outside
their normal experience they hypothesized a supernormal cause, subjecting
him to a course of treatment which would remove that cause. The above-
quoted words show that the members of many other uncivilized societies
(six zoistic, eight manistic, two deistic) shared these opinions, each of
those words being used only in reference to supernormal phenomena. The
shortness of the list is due solely to the unsatisfactory nature of the reports
in regard to the causes of affliction. Seldom do our authorities quote the
native words when they declare sickness to have been due to 'supernatural
agents'; rarely do they realize that we wish to be told not only their
inferences from the facts but also the bare facts themselves.

Another observer also has confirmed this interpretation of the available
data. Canon Roscoe has told us (paras. 37, 38) that among the inhabitants
of Uganda the exorcism or transference of a ghost did not cure the patient
who was thought to be suffering from the effects of ghostly anger; the
treatment merely placed him in such a condition that the appropriate
medicine could be administered with success. The same opinions were
current also among the Basuto (para. 95). Among the Dahomans the
ghostly theory of causation was adopted only after medicine (in the native
sense) had failed to effect a cure (para. 99).

Much credit is due to Professor Malinowski and to Canon Roscoe for
these important contributions to the study of uncivilized men. It will be
noticed that they studied not the beliefs but the rites.

An unaccountable sickness, then, was ascribed to the power in the
universe, and it is in this manner that the cause of sickness and affliction
is connected with 'religion'. Indeed among uncivilized peoples the two
questions are so closely related that they cannot be discussed separately.
Nor is it only an unaccountable sickness which is ascribed to the power;
anything abnormal is attributed to the same cause. For instance, among
the Shilluk (para. 82) an ordinary death was regarded as an ordinary event,
but if a sudden or a violent death occurred, jwok was manifest. Similarly
the Amazulu (para. 94) attributed anything abnormal to tangata, magic,

260 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 148

that is, to the power of a magician who (as we have seen) was a man who
wielded the power in the universe. If anything unusual occurred among
the Basuto (para. 95), a magician was consulted.

This special regard for anything unusual or beyond comprehension is
also revealed in the attitude towards all forms of sky-activity. In the opinion
of the Akikuyu, Akamba, and Masai (nn. 362, 366, 377, 383) thunder,
lightning, excessive rain, and drought were ngai, the different colours
which the sky assumed at different times being called black ngai, red ngai,
white ngai j &c. The inference is that there was something incomprehen-
sible about these celestial phenomena, so they were credited with the pos-
session of that quality or power which was inherent in all incomprehensible
things.

Under the same circumstances the Baronga (para. 93) employed the
word tilo, which they used also in reference to an unaccountable sickness and
to the birth of twins. The word tilo has been translated 'Heaven'; that is
to say, the meaning of the word has been confused with one of the many
phenomena to which it was applied. Tilo has also been called a 'sky-god',
so greatly have we read our ideas into the native mind. Parenthetically,
I have read in books by reputable authors, and have heard from competent
lecturers, that sometimes magicians were possessed by 'sky-spirits'. I do not
quote any examples of such fantastic nonsense ; obviously it is a rationaliza-
tion of the fact that the word which denoted the power in the universe was
applied both to the sky and to magicians.

Throughout this discussion, indeed throughout this treatise, I am using
the word 'spirit' as distinct from 'ghost'. I am trying to remove the cloak
of misunderstanding which we have cast over the uncivilized conception
of the power in the universe. For this misunderstanding the word 'spirit',
as applied to natural phenomena, to the cause of sickness, and to the source
of magic power, is largely responsible. Ghosts, or disembodied souls, are
in a different category. Some uncivilized men did not credit ghosts with
the power to affect the lives of men ; others ascribed some misfortunes to
ghostly activities. Further, I am trying to understand the basis on which
human culture rests, so I am speaking more particularly of zoistic and
manistic (tendance) societies, for, as I have said, it is among them that the
basis is more apparent. Societies which were in the manistic (cult) or in
the deistic condition did not share all these opinions, especially those con-
cerning sky-activity. For instance, the manistic (cult) SE. Solomon Islanders
(para. 33) were of the opinion that certain powerful ghosts controlled the
rain. The deistic Tongans (n. 211) thought that thunder was caused by
the heated arguments of the gods. These differences in opinion are
important; they have been obscured only because we have been careless
enough to apply the epithet 'primitive' to all uncivilized societies, tacitly
assuming that their ideas must have been identical. The difference can
also be seen in the opinions held by manistic (cult) and deistic societies
concerning the source of magic power.

§ 148 SOME MISINTERPRETATIONS 261

In the previous paragraph (para. 147) I discussed the evidence which has
persuaded me that the source of magic power was the possession of or by
the power in the universe ; by virtue of this power the magician was credited
with the ability to cause or cure sickness and to control the phenomena
of nature. Now the rites which were conducted by the members of zoistic
and manistic (tendance) societies were of a simple character ; the magicians
acted directly of their own volition; but when we consider the rites of
manistic (cult) and deistic societies we discover some striking variations.
The magician was still the man who possessed the power in the universe,
but he did not always act single-handed ; by making appropriate offerings
in the proper place he secured the help of the ghost or of the god he owned
or served. Thus among the SE. Solomon Islanders (para. 33) the strength
of a man's magic depended on the power of the ghost (li'oa) whose name
concluded his incantations. This Woa was his iusi, 'twin'. Similarly the
Fijian (m)hete (para. 34) was not always credited with the power of direct
witchcraft; it was by the power of his kalou that his curses were made
effective. The deistic Samoans (n. 201) prayed at a graveside when they
wished to inflict ills upon their enemies. In Tonga (n. 212) articles which
were to be bewitched were placed in a temple. In Dahomey also (para. 99)
direct witchcraft was not in vogue ; the power of vodu had to be instilled by
a voduno, an owner of vodu, or priest. The Dahomans were a highly
developed society; among them, as among the Aztecs, Yoruba, and
Ashanti, the training of priests was highly organized. Each aspirant
learned his trade during a three years' novitiate, and was admitted after the
vodu, orisha, or obosum had signified, by 'possessing' him, its willingness to
accept him. Doubtless this 'possession' was often a farce, but this only
means that the Dahoman intelligentsia did not share all the archaic beliefs
of their fellow citizens. A cultural advance is not uniform throughout a
society, and in a developed society the members of an organized profession
can often throw dust in the eyes of the mob. As a matter of fact in Dahomey
any layman could become a priest by payment of heavy fees (n. 453). The
calling was a lucrative one, and doubtless the payments were a good
investment. And just as among the zoistic Purari (para. 76) any man or
instrument possessing imunu was thought to manifest a 'dangerous
potency', so the members of the deistic societies were apt to regard the
priests as a separate class whom it was dangerous, yet sometimes helpful,
to approach.

The use of the word 'spirit' (as distinct from 'ghost') has been responsible
for other misinterpretations also. Our use of the word has resulted in all
uncivilized men being credited not only with the conception of an entity
but also with a notion of causality which is alien to their consciousness,
such causality being due to our interpretation of our own word 'spirit'.
Thus we are told (n. 226) that among the Angami Nagas 'to terhoma most
natural phenomena were ascribed'. The bare fact seems to have been that
the word teihoma was applied to some natural phenomena; the conception

262 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 148

of terhoma as a cause is due to its representation as an entity. 'Most' is an
eloquent word in that sentence; not all but only a number of natural
phenomena were terhoma. Apparently Dr. Hutton did not inquire into
the method by which these phenomena were selected ; yet the absence of
ubiquity might have warned him that he was wrong in giving terhoma an
'animistic' interpretation.

Another convert to the Tylorian hypotheses has made a similar inference
in regard to 'possession'. Usually a 'possessed' man talks incoherently ; and
Mr. Mills tells us that when the Ao Naga magicians were 'possessed', they
'conversed with spirits' (n. 227), and that among the Lhota Nagas 'potsos
held converse with the village seer' (n. 230). The bare fact seems to have
been that the man, being in a strange, unusual condition, was called potso
(potsos being an anglicized plural). The application of potso to 'highly
respected persons' (n. 222) should have caused Mr. Mills to wonder
whether he was not transforming a quality into an entity, and inventing
a cause of the 'possession' which was alien to the native mind.

In the same manner, and on the strength of the same translations, we
have broadcast certain ideas about the causes of sickness which no native
seems to have conceived and which seem to have been due solely to our
own conceptions concerning cause and effect. Thus we are told that when
a Lhota Naga was ill, a medicine-man was called in 'to extract from the
body the bit of earth or wood or hair which the evil spirit had put there'
(n. 230). Apparently the sentence is innocent; actually it contains three
false inferences. First, the 'evil spirit' has been created by our translation;
so in the native opinion it cannot have been the maleficent agent. Secondly,
there is no reason to think that the bit of wood was 'there' at all, even in
the mind of a Lhota Naga ; it has been placed there by the white man's
logic. Thirdly, the identification between the bit of wood and the sickness
is not complete. Yet upon such statements as these we have founded what
is known as the intrusive theory of sickness.

Sickness is said to have been regarded as intrusive by the zoistic Tlingit
(n. 473), Haida (para. 104), Ojibwa (para. 113), Arapaho (para. ii5)>
Dakota (para. 117), Omaha (para. 118), and Koita (n. 332), by the manistic
Dinka (para. 83) and Basuto (n. 423), and by the deistic Ashanti (n. 467).
There is no reason to think that this list is exhaustive ; probably the rite on
which the report is founded was common among many other societies also.
It was of a simple character : a medicine-man was observed to go through
the motions of sucking out or of withdrawing something from the sufferer ;
then he produced a piece of stone or wood, asserting that this article was
the pain or the cause of the pain. Now it is not permissible to interpret
this action as proof that the people regarded sickness as intrusive. When
among ourselves a child falls and bruises his leg, his nurse may put her lips
to the injured limb and pretend to suck out the pain ; she may also draw
her other hand away as if she were pulling out something that was inside
the leg ; she may even produce a block of wood so as to assure the child

§ 148 SOME MISINTERPRETATIONS 263

that the pain has been extracted; but I am by no means persuaded that
either she or the child can be said to have regarded the pain as intrusive.
So long as the pain disappears, the child does not question the curative
method. On feeling no pain and on seeing the block of wood he may be
mystified, but many things are mysterious to him. If the pain has gone
and if nurse says that the bit of wood was the pain, who is he to question
it ? This simple analogy is exact. In both cases the patient is content to be
cured; he does not inquire into cause and effect. The actions of the nurse
and of the medicine-man are identical, both of them knowing that the piece
of wood was not extracted. The difference between their ideas is this: the
nurse knows that she has merely succeeded in persuading the child to
forget his injury ; the medicine-man is convinced that, though he may pre-
tend to have extracted the bit of wood, actually he cured the patient by
virtue of his magic power. And in his possession of that power both he
and his patient have complete faith.

The intrusive theory of sickness is not held by uncivilized men; it has
arisen because we have credited them with our idea of the relation between
cause and effect. No 'spirit' intrudes pieces of wood into the bodies of
uncivilized men ; the idea has been created by our translation as 'spirit' of
a word that meant 'mysterious', 'incomprehensible'.

It will be remembered that according to Sir E. B. Tylor (para. 62)
'spirits' were regarded not only as 'causes', but also as 'personified causes'.
Psychologically, this alleged personification of the power in the universe is
of great interest, but the interest lies in the psychology not of uncivilized
but of civilized men. We have always been determined that uncivilized
men shall believe in 'spirits' and 'gods', and have read our thoughts into
their minds.626 Sometimes this may have been unconscious, as when we
credit the conception of a 'Supreme Being' to the minds of the Banyankole
(n. 116), Bakitara (n. 122), Masai (n. 180), Koryak (para. 56), Amazulu
(n. 415), and Tahitians (n. 585); at other times it seems to have been
almost wilful, as in the reports concerning the Fijian tevoro (n. 97), Banks
Island tataro (n. 296), Shilluk (n. 346), Masai ngai (n. 383), Dahoman
mawu (n. 451), and Ashanti nyame (n. 462). Now some of us conceive of
a personal cause; thus, we consider, uncivilized men must do the same;
and the conclusion has been encouraged, if it was not originally suggested,
by the native habit of always using the masculine or the feminine but never
the neuter gender (nn. 320, 5 26).627 Usually natives speak of everything
as 'he' or 'she', but we must not interpret this as signifying a personal con-
ception of everything. The habit is characteristic of undeveloped minds.
Any one who is familiar with the speech of our own uncultivated classes
will realize how often they substitute 'he' or 'she' for 'it', and address
inanimate objects as if they were alive. It is absurd to suggest that they
personify these inanimate objects, yet the alleged personification of 'spirits'
rests on this insecure ground. In the pidgin-English of the Papuans the
word 'it' does not exist. For instance, in reference to the gope (para. 74)

264 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 148

which the Kiwai Papuans erected as a protection against sickness, a man
said: (Gope he look; he watch; sick he no can come.'

Gradually, then, the fallacies are being exposed. In uncivilized culture
there are no nature-spirits; these owe their existence to our translations.
Thus there is no worship of nature. There are no tree-spirits or rock-
spirits. No tree or rock is revered qua tree or qua rock. It is regarded with
veneration because the power in the universe is manifest there, the power
being the same whether it be in a tree or in a rock. This power is often
conceived not as an entity but as a quality, the idea that it is a personified
cause being due to what Mr. Swanton (n. 471) has called our 'European
lineage'. The alleged causation has been created only by our translations.
If life proceeds smoothly, an uncivilized man does not concern himself
with the causes of things ; he is concerned only when something unusual
occurs. Then he tries to place himself in a right relation with the power
which is manifest in unusual things. On being examined the theory of
animism is found to be guilty of all these fallacies ; thus it must be abandoned.

We must abandon also the idea that uncivilized men believe in gods.
Perhaps this is a more startling suggestion. Let me amend it, then, by
saying that we must abandon the idea until the word 'god' has been defined.
What is a god ? In what manner does a god differ from a spirit ? Some-
times it seems that there is no difference between them, for the same native
word has often been translated both as 'spirit' and as 'god'. Yet we are
faced by the suggestion that 'spirits' have become 'gods'. Let us suppose
that we travel to a distant land and live among an uncivilized people, trying
to discover the nature of their creed. How shall we decide whether they
believe in gods or in spirits ?

As soon as the question is put in this way, its absurdity is apparent. The
word 'god' lacks precise meaning and cannot be used as a basis of classifica-
tion. It is a neuter Teutonic word which was used by the Teutonic peoples
before their conversion to Christianity, Gothic guth, Dutch god, Swedish
gud, German gott. We do not know the old Teutonic usage of the word ;
we only know that it was applied to some natural phenomena and to certain
objects of veneration. If a conjecture were permitted, I should suggest that
it was employed in the same contexts as the Polynesian atua or the Nilotic
jok. On the conversion of the Teutonic peoples the word was adopted as
the name of the Christian Supreme Being ; it was applied also to the Persons
of the Trinity ; and this process continues to-day, the meaning of various
native words, such as atua and jok, being changed in the same way.628

The word 'god' has also been used as our English equivalent of the Greek
theos, Latin deus, and other words by means of which the members of other
civilized societies denoted the power or powers in the universe. We do
not know the oldest meanings of theos and deus; we only know that the
Hellenic conception of theos and the Roman conception of deus changed
with the passing of time ; but since the word 'god' has been used in reference
to the conceptions of civilized men the idea has grown that a belief in gods

§ 148 SOME MISINTERPRETATIONS 265

is more civilized than a belief in spirits. On such a flimsy foundation do
our evolutionary theories rest. Sometimes we read that a dead man was
deified ; but in what detail does the deification consist ? My own view is
that we can define the difference between a ghost and a god only by the
manner in which a right relation was maintained with them. A god,
I suggest, is a power which is manifest in a temple, and, according to the
definitions which I should like to adopt, it is manifest only to deistic
peoples; but I am aware that if this definition were adopted, most com-
mentaries on historical religions would have to be rewritten. Moreover,
the definition is based not on beliefs but on rites. Yet the theory that
animism was replaced by polytheism is founded on a study of beliefs alone.
The difficulty is real: when it is said that a native conception is that of
a god, we do not know by what criterion it has been judged whether it is
a god or not. Is it not plain that Mr. Fewkes was right when he said (para.
123) that 'in the use of the words gods, deities, and worship we undoubtedly
endow the subject with conceptions which do not exist in the native
mind' ?

I have spoken of the ascription of incomprehensible events to the agency
of the power in the universe. This is a fundamental feature of human life.
It exists in some of the cultural strata of our own society ; not long ago it
was common to all members of our society. There seems to be no difference
between the cultural condition of our own uncultured classes and that of
simpler peoples (para. 70), and since at one time the opinions of our uncul-
tured classes were shared by the great majority of our forefathers, we cannot
be surprised that any unusual incomprehensible event is known to them
as an 'act of God'. The phrase is still extant in our legal documents, in our
forms of contract, and in our bills of lading. Moreover, it is the equivalent
of the Tannese uhngen, Nilotic jok, Bantu mulungu, Polynesian atua,
American Indian wakanda, and of all the other words which were used in
the same contexts (para. 146). When we say that an event was due to an
'act of God', we mean that there is no reasonable explanation of its occur-
rence; it is strange, unusual, outside normal experience, incomprehensible.
The similarity between the ideas of our forefathers and those of uncivilized
men has been obscured because, with a natural and comprehensible egocen-
tricity, we have tried to interpret the culture of simpler societies in such
a manner that the result would reflect to our own glory and bear witness
to the great difference between us and them. We have tried to prove the
existence of an evolution from primeval man to twentieth-century white
man. We shall never succeed in understanding either ourselves or any
other men if we study human affairs in so unscholarly a manner.

At the same time, of course, I do not wish to suggest the phrase 'act of
God' as a fair translation of uhngen,jok, mulungu, atua, and wakanda. The
phrase has only a relative meaning ; its meaning is relative to the conception
of God in the mind of the man who speaks. My point is that the culture
of uncivilized societies is founded on the same basis as our own culture.

266 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 149

Now we can proceed with our analysis of the evidence unhampered by
conceptions of spirits, gods, personified causes, or any other beings which
by our translations have been credited to uncivilized minds.

149. The ' Unusual' as 'the Dead1. The word applied to the power in the
universe and to the source of magic power was used also in another
important context; and often, when used in this manner, it has been
translated as 'the dead'.

Here we arrive at the most intricate part of our problem. I will state as
clearly as I can both the nature of the difficulties and my solution of them.

The word or words (so far as they are available) which the eighty societies
used in reference to the dead will be found in the fourth column of the
Table of Native Terms (Appendix IV). First I will discuss the zoistic
societies, then the manistic ones. The words used by the deistic societies
will be considered in the next paragraph (para. 150).

There are forty-seven zoistic societies ; but in no less than thirty-seven
cases there is a lack of reliable evidence. In each case one or another of the
native words is missing. In discussing the subject of 'the dead', therefore,
we must concentrate, so far as zoistic societies are concerned, on ten
societies only.

The thirty-seven zoistic societies which must be omitted are :

(a) Trobriand Islanders, Mafulu, Koita, Mailu.

We do not know the native term for the power in the universe which
was manifest to the Trobriand Islanders or to the Mailu.629 Concerning the
Koita also we must await further information. Moreover, I suspect that
the word sua, which has been translated both as 'soul' and as 'spirits of the
dead', may have been used in other contexts of which we are ignorant.

The native terms have not been quoted in the report on the Mafulu.

(b) Twenty-five out of twenty-eight American Indian tribes, the necessary
information being available only concerning the Tlingit, Haida, and Lillooet.

The word wagi appears in the Table in reference to No. 40, Dakota; but
I suspect that wagi was applied not to the new identity assumed after death
but to a spook.

(c) Ao, Angami, and Lhota Nagas, Mikirs, Garos; Chukchee, Koryak,
and Yukaghir.

Our knowledge is incomplete in regard to the words used by these eight
societies.

The ten zoistic societies concerning which the required evidence is
available are the Loyalty Islanders, Tannese, Banks Islanders; Kiwai
Papuans, Purari; Masai; Tlingit, Haida, and Lillooet Indians; Andaman
Islanders. The native terms are tabulated on the opposite page.

Of these ten societies seven, namely, Loyalty Islanders, Tannese, Masai,
Tlingit, Haida, Lillooet, and Andaman Islanders, used the same word in
reference to the dead as they applied to the power in the universe. The
remaining three, Banks Islanders, Kiwai Papuans, and Purari, used a dif-

§ i49 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS 'THE DEAD' 267

ferent word. I will discuss them later (para. 166). For the moment I wish
to confine my attention to the first seven, for the problem is to re-discover
the native meaning of the word applied to the power in the universe.

•

Society

The
power
in the
universe

Word denoting
something unusual
or beyond
comprehension

Word translated as
or applied to ghost
or the dead

The source
of magic
power

Loyalty Islanders

haze

? haze

haze

haze

Tannese

uhngen

uhngen

uhngen

uhngen

Banks Islanders

vui

vui

tamate

vui

Kiwai Papuans

ebihare

ebihare

oboro

Native term

not quoted

Purari

imunu

imunu

a' avaia

imunu

Masai

ngai

ngai

menengai

ngai

Tlingit

yek

yek

kinayek

yek

'dead braves'

Haida

sgana

sgana

? sgana

sgana

Lillooet

snam

snam

snam

snam

Andaman Islanders

lau

? lau

lau

lau

How is it that by these seven zoistic societies the same word was used to
denote both the power in the universe (something-unusual or beyond-
comprehension) and 'the dead'?

First it is necessary to assess the amount of inference which the reports
contain. When a word is said to have meant 'the dead', we do not know if
it was applied to all ghosts or only to some ghosts. Throughout anthropo-
logical literature some authorities say one thing, some another; in both
cases difficulties arise. When the word is said to have been applied to all
ghosts, there is a danger that the statement is an assumption, and possibly
a false one, from its application to some ghosts. When it was definitely
applied only to some ghosts, we are seldom told on what principle these
ghosts were selected. There is also another point. Zoistic societies appear
to have regarded a man's death as his final extinction. At any rate they
carried out no such rites as would persuade us that they cherished a belief
in his continued existence after death. Thus, when in a report on a zoistic
society a word is translated as 'the dead', the truth may sometimes have
been that it was applied merely to corpses, or to some corpses, and that
our authorities have assumed the word to have meant 'the dead' because
a conception of the dead is a common 'primitive' phenomenon. Hitherto
we have been so accustomed to regard 'primitive' men as uniform in their
opinions that we must always be on our guard against the inferences due
to this assumption.

Two examples will illustrate what I mean.

In the Masai language menengai, a compound of ngai, is said to have
meant 'corpses' or 'ghosts' (n. 384). Now the Masai were one of those
tribes which appear to have regarded a man's death as his final extinction.
As a son and heir went out of the kraal on the morning after he had cast

268 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 149

the corpse of his father into the bush, he kicked from his path the dead
man's skull, this having been denuded of flesh by the beasts that prowled
in the night. I doubt, therefore, if we can credit the Masai with the con-
ception of 'ghosts'. I am inclined to regard the second translation of
menengai as being due to the author's preconceptions, for, a number of
African tribes having been reported as believing in ghosts, he may have
assumed that all African tribes did so. Moreover there is explicit evidence
that the Masai did not trouble their heads about a man after he was dead.
So I accept 'corpses' but not 'ghosts' as a fair rendering of menengai , adding
a rider to the effect that the word may have referred not to all corpses but
only to some corpses.

The second example is of a different character. We are told (para. 63)
that among the Loyalty Islanders 'a ghost or departed spirit was also some-
times called a haze' . Let us first subtract the animistic inference which has
transformed the quality haze into an entity, and then appraise the word
'also'. The sentence does not mean, I think, that usually another word
than haze was applied to ghosts and that sometimes haze was used in their
reference; it means that sometimes a ghost also, as well as e.g. a stone,
was called haze.

We are not told how the natives distinguished between a ghost which was
haze and one which was not haze. If the word was really applied to ghosts,
and not merely to corpses, my suggestion is that a man's ghost was haze
if he had possessed haze when he was alive ; that is to say, by their use
of haze in that context the Loyalty Islanders distinguished between the
ghosts of supernormal men and those of ordinary men. And this suggestion
seems to be supported by the fact that the manistic Dinka (para. 83) used
jok only in reference to the powerful dead, and that the Tlingit Indians
(para. 103) employed a compound ofyek, kinayek, when they spoke of dead
braves. Yet it is at least possible that in this case also the natives were
referring not to the ghost but to the corpse, for there is no reason to suppose
that they had arrived at a conception of ghosts. When a Loyalty Islands
k^-man died, would-be magicians contended for the possession of some
part of his body (para. 30), hoping thereby to secure for themselves some
of the magic power which was inherent in every part of it. Such a custom
does not seem compatible with the conviction that the man had assumed a
new identity ; but it does suggest a special regard for a haze corpse. Now
if I am right in thinking that by the Loyalty Islanders the word haze
was applied not to some ghosts, as has been said, but merely to certain
corpses, it would appear to follow that it was used only in reference to
the corpses of those men who had possessed haze when they were alive.
In a similar manner I conjecture that by the Masai menengai was used only
in reference to the corpses of those who had possessed ngai when they
were alive.

Thus, when azoistic society is said to have applied to 'the dead' the same
word as they applied to anything unusual or beyond their comprehension,

§ 149 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS 'THE DEAD' 269

the first possibility is that the word was applied merely to corpses, or,
more probably, only to some corpses. In the latter case we can understand
the native terminology if we assume that the corpses were those of men
whose manner of birth, life, or death had been supernormal. But there is
another possibility too, and of a different nature. It refers to all reports
concerning the word meaning 'the dead', whatever the cultural condition
of the society under discussion.

Dr. Stannus has explained (para. 98) that in reply to many questions to
which they had no ready answer, the Wayao used to ejaculate, Mulungu,
using the word in the same careless manner as that in which we say ' God
knows'. By 'God knows' we mean either that the matter is beyond our
understanding or that we are not interested in the subject ; and it is possible,
I think, that in answer to insistent questions concerning the fate of the dead
many natives have used the words jok, mulungu, atua (or their analogues)
in this manner, and that our authorities have reported this declaration of
uninterested ignorance as if it were a straight answer to a direct question,
telling us either that mulungu, j ok, atua, &c, meant 'the dead', or that the
souls of dead men became merged in mulungu, jok, atua, &c, whereas the
truth was that the natives, being a little tired of the white man's question-
ings, were merely saying 'God knows'.

I do not know how far this conjecture is correct. It is at least sufficiently
plausible to warrant the assumption that the reports in connexion with 'the
dead' cannot be accepted at their face value. I am inclined to think that
when a word meaning 'unusual' is said to have meant 'the dead', either it
was used impulsively, in the sense of our 'God knows', or that it was con-
nected in the minds of the natives with the corpses or with the ghosts of
'unusual' men, the alleged application of the word to the dead in general
being a false inference from this fact.

There are three corroborative lines of argument.

In the first place, so far as the natives were concerned, the word denoted
the quality in anything supernormal ; thus it could be applied only to super-
normal events or persons.

Secondly, much confusion has arisen out of the vague use of the word
'ancestor- worship'; and if we accept the suggestion, this confusion
disappears.

It is an extraordinary fact that hitherto, as soon as an uncivilized people
have been observed to conduct a post-funeral rite, we have concluded that
they worshipped their ancestors. We have not inquired whether or not
all ancestors were treated in the same manner, or how the selection, if any,
was made. Nor have we troubled to make sure that the recipients were
'ancestors' in any exact sense of the word. Yet clearly these points are of
paramount importance.

The reasons for the inadmissible character of many reports of alleged
'ancestor-worship' are these. First, the term implies that the recipient of
an offering was related by blood to the person who made it, whereas among

270 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 149

uncivilized peoples, as we have seen in the foregoing chapters, this was not
always the case. Secondly, the word 'worship' is devoid of precise meaning.
Almost certainly, as I have pointed out (para. 148), the rites we call 'spirit-
worship' have never existed as such. Undoubtedly the rites called 'ancestor-
worship' have existed; but I am by no means persuaded that their object
was the worship of an ancestor. Indeed, when the facts have been carefully
studied, it is plain that no manistic society conducted post-funeral rites in
honour of every dead person ; attention was paid only to the ghosts of those
whose manner of birth, life, or death had been supernormal.

In the manistic SE. Solomon Islands (para. 33), when a man died, the
natives consulted with one another as to whether any relic of him should
be preserved or not ; the inference is that they debated whether or not the
dead man was powerful enough to harm or assist them in their daily lives.
The manistic Akamba (para. 86), Wayao, and Anyanja (para. 98) honoured
only the ghosts of distinguished citizens. The manistic Amazulu (para. 94)
are said to have paid post-funeral attention only to the heads of families and
to'chiefs'. In reference to the manistic stratum of the deistic Bakitara (n. 1 28)
Canon Roscoe has said that the ghosts of people who had no property or
power in this world were not feared and that no steps were taken to keep
them in a good temper. Our knowledge of Tahitian rites is imperfect
(para. 133 ; n. 586), but we know that post-funeral attention was paid only
to those who had been distinguished in some form of human activity when
they were alive, only those being remembered who had excelled their con-
temporaries in adventure and exploit. And that it was the supernormal
character of these men's lives which was responsible for offerings being
made to them is clear from the fact that the natives regarded in the same
manner any one whose manner of death had been supernormal. Thus
normally the Bakitara (n. 128) did not trouble their heads about the ghosts
of any female, but the ghost of a woman who had committed suicide was
feared greatly. The special attention which the zoistic Kiwai Papuans
(para. 74) paid to the corpse of a man who had been killed by a crocodile
(sibara-adiri) is another instance of the same mental attitude.

A manistic society, therefore, cannot be accurately described as wor-
shipping its ancestors ; its members paid post-funeral attention only to the
ghosts of supernormal persons, that is to say, to the ghosts of persons in
whose manner of birth, life, or death jok, mulungu, atua (or analogous
power) was manifest. Is it not natural, then, that these words should be
applied to the ghosts ? Do not these facts confirm my suggestion (supported-
by evidence, already cited, from the reports on the Dinka and Tlingit
Indians) that when a word meaning 'unusual' is said to have meant 'the
dead', actually the powerful dead only were referred to? Admittedly we
are sometimes told, as for example in the report on the manistic Baronga
(para. 93) that any man can become a 'god' ; but in my view such statements
are misleading and betray the romantic nature of the report. It seems to
me that the observer has noticed that post-funeral attention has been paid

§ i49 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS 'THE DEAD' 271

to some dead men, and, neglecting to make exhaustive inquiries, has con-
cluded that the same attention was, or might be, paid to all dead men.

The differentiation between normal and supernormal men, which is so
marked in the rites of manistic peoples, is also a fundamental feature of
zoistic life. And this is the third corroborative argument which I wish to
advance.

Among zoistic societies it is common for different methods of burial to be
adopted for different men ; and when we are told the reason for the differentia-
tion it is plain that the corpses of some men are treated in a special manner
because the manner of their birth, life, or death has been supernormal.

I will recount such evidence as I have been able to collect. Its quality
is not high; and as I am speaking only of those zoistic societies which
definitely applied to the dead the same word as that by which they denoted
the power in the universe, I exclude the five Assam societies, Ao, Angami,
and Lhota Nagas, Mikirs, and Garos; the three Palaeo-Siberian, Chukchee,
Koryak, and Yukaghir; the five Papuan, Kiwai Papuans, Mafulu, Purari,
Koita, and Mailu ; and two of the Melanesian, Banks Islanders and Tro-
briand Islanders. Out of the forty-seven zoistic societies thirty-two remain,
Loyalty Islanders, Tannese, Masai, Andaman Islanders, and twenty-eight
American Indian.

Among the Loyalty Islanders and Tannese various methods of disposal
were adopted ; but we are not told on what basis the matter was decided.630

Among the Masai only some people were buried ; the corpses of other
people were merely thrown away. Unfortunately the reports concerning
their identity conflict (para. 88; n. 384). Perhaps Christian influence had
affected the native customs before the later reports were written, this being
the explanation of the difference between the statements of the earlier and
later authorities. Among the Akikuyu (para. 85) and Akamba (para. 86),
who were only just manistic, only 'leading citizens' were buried, the corpses
of ordinary citizens being thrown to the hyenas.

I doubt if our knowledge of Andamanese burial customs is exhaustive ;
but we are told (para. 138) that while the corpses of ordinary people were
merely buried, that of a person who died 'in the prime of life' was placed
in a tree. It seems possible that to the natives there was something incom-
prehensible in the death of a person who was in full possession of his or
her powers.

The evidence in connexion with the American Indians is disheartening
to a student who wishes to possess reliable evidence. In seven cases, those
of the Thompson, Shuswap, Coast Salish, Hidatsa, Mandan, Crow, and
Hopi, Christian influence had become paramount before the native cus-
toms were studied. In nine cases, those of the Nez Perces, Dene, Arapaho,
Iroquois, Omaha, Winnebago, Sia, Chickasaw, and Natchez, the pagan
rites are little known. Only concerning the remaining twelve tribes is any
information available ; the members of all these tribes adopted different
methods of disposal for the corpses of different people. It seems hardly

272 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 149

credible, yet in no less than six of these twelve cases, those of the Klallam,
Lillooet, Dakota, Navaho, Apache, and Creek, our authorities did not
inquire, at any rate they have not reported, how the matter was decided.
In the other six cases, those of the Tlingit, Haida, Ojibwa, Blackfeet, Zuni,
and Pima, we are told that the body of a magician was treated in a special
manner, being carefully placed in a high, isolated or other special place.
Moreover, we are told also that among the Tlingit, Haida, and Pima the
burial-place of a man who had possessed the power in the universe was
especially revered and feared.

Thus there is reason to believe that in zoistic societies the special regard
for a living magician was paid also to his corpse. It was treated in a special
manner; its burial-place was feared. His sole claim to preferential treat-
ment lay in the fact that in him the power in the universe was manifest.
His burial-place was feared not because it was a burial-place but because
the power in the universe was manifest there, this being confirmed by the
fact that the same attention was paid to the corpse of a twin or of a suicide,
or indeed of any person whose manner of birth, life, or death had been
supernormal.

Granted, therefore, the division of phenomena into usual and unusual,
normal and supernormal (I am concerned not with the psychological origin
of this mental attitude but with the bare fact of its existence), it is rational
for a zoistic society to apply the same word

first, to the power in the universe, manifest in strange uncomprehended

things (para. 146);
secondly, to a magician who fundamentally is merely a supernormal
man (para. 147);

thirdly, to the corpses of those whose manner of birth, life, or death had
been supernormal.

To this simple philosophy I have applied the term Dead Level of Con-
ception (para. 66) : and having analysed and appraised the evidence in its
connexion, we have completed our most difficult task. A dead level of
conception is the rational outcome of a reaction against anything unusual
or beyond comprehension; and upon this basis, I submit, uncivilized cul-
ture (in my sense of the word 'culture') rests.

An important item in manistic life has also emerged from our analysis
of the words applied to the dead, namely, that post-funeral attention was
paid only to the ghosts of supernormal persons.

Now let us examine the words which our manistic societies used in
reference to these ghosts.

There are twenty-one manistic societies. Concerning three, Ibibio,
Khasis, and Nandi, the relevant evidence is either lacking or inadequate.
The remaining eighteen divide themselves into three groups, containing
four, six, and eight societies respectively. Those of the first group applied
to the dead the same word as they used in reference to the power in the
universe ; but the evidence in their connexion is of a poor quality. Those

§ i49 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS 'THE DEAD' 273

of the second group used a different word ; this evidence is not relevant to
the subject of this paragraph. Those of the third group used the same word
as well as a different word; in these cases the evidence is good.
I will analyse the available material in each case.

1. The first group consists of the New Britons, Maori, Tahitians, and
Sea-Dyaks. The native words are tabulated in Table 1 (p. 274).

I have already made a preliminary evaluation of some of this evidence
(para. 90). In the case of the New Britons (para. 32), Maori (para. 49), and
Sea-Dyaks (para. 139) anglicized plurals, tebarans, atuas, and petaras,
have been formed out of the native words, and the hybrid given an ang-
licized meaning. The words have been translated as 'spirits', 'gods', and
'ghosts', a polymorphic culture thus being fabricated out of a simple con-
ception. Moreover in each case the post-funeral rites, such as they were,
have been only vaguely described. I can do no more, therefore, than record
that their conceptions were founded upon a dead level of conception, this
being obvious from the fact that the same word was used in reference to the
power in the universe, 'the dead', and the source of magic power.

The conceptions of the Tahitians also (para. 133) were founded on a dead
level of conception ; but no more can safely be said. Our knowledge of their
post-funeral rites is imperfect ; in the appropriate passages the native words
are not always quoted. Sometimes the word tit has been translated (by
Ellis) as 'the dead' ; but as it was applied also to the figures placed on the
top of the stone structures and on canoes, I doubt if we can accept the
translation as a fair rendering of the word.

2. The manistic societies which used a different word for the dead from
that which denoted the power in the universe are shown in Table 2 (p. 274).

The imperfect character of the evidence is apparent. Indeed, five of the
societies inhabited a part of the Area of Profound Mystery (para. 60). The
reports on the Banyankole are not good, and have already been discussed
(paras. 61, 90).

3. The remaining eight societies applied to 'the dead' two different
words, one of these words being that which denoted the power in the
universe. The native terms are tabulated in Table 3 (p. 274).

From my analysis of this evidence I shall exclude the Akikuyu and
Anyanja. The ideas of the former seem to have been the same as those of
the Akamba; but in their case we are faced by some conflicting reports
(para. 85). As for the Anyanja (para. 98), their ideas and habits were almost
identical with those of the Wayao, but our knowledge of the latter is more
extensive. The Akamba, Wayao, Lango, Dinka, Shilluk, and SE. Solomon
Islanders remain.

It is clear that the ideas of these societies were founded on a dead level
of conception, for they used the same word to denote the power in the
universe, 'the dead', and the source of magic power; but when we analyse
their practices we see that the development from that mental condition
had been uneven.

ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 149

Table i

Society

The
power in

tne
universe

Word denoting
something unusual

/\ t- Kpvnnn

comprehension

Word translated as
or applied to 'ghost'
or 'the dead'

The source
of magic
power

New Britons

tebaran

No report

tebaran

tebaran

Maori

atua

atua

atua

atua

Tahitians

atua

No report

atua; tit

atua

Sea-Dyaks

petara

petara

petara

petara

antu

antu

antu

antu

Table 2

Society

The
power in

the
universe

Word denoting
something unusual
or beyond
comprehension

Word translated as
or applied to 'ghost'
or 'the dead'

The source
of magic
power

Banyankole

Not given

No report

mizimu (pi.)

No definite

report

Awemba

milungu

No report

mipashi (pi.)

No report;

sometimes

'possession'

Baila

leza

No report

mizhimo (pi.)

musamo

musamo

Baronga

shikzvembu

No report

shikzvembu (sing.)

Inherited ;

tilo

tilo

Amazulu

?

No report

itongo (sing.)

Inherited,

idhlozi (sing.)

&c.

Basuto

molimo

No report

balimo (pi.)

Learnt

Table 3

Society

The power
in the
universe

Word denoting
something unusual
or beyond
comprehension

Word translated as
or applied to 'ghost'
or 'the dead'

The source
of magic
power

Akikuyu

ngai

? ngai

ngoma-ngai

ngai

Akamba

ngai

ngai

aimu-ngai

ngai

mulungu

mulungu

mulungu

mulungu

Wayao

mulungu

mulungu

mulungu

? mulungu

lisoka (sing.)

Anyanja

mulungu

No report

mulungu

No report

mizimu (pi.)

Lango

jok

jok

tipo

jok

jok

Dinka

jok

No report

atiep

jok (of tiet)

jok

SE. Solomon

akalo

? akalo

akalo

akalo

Islanders (Ulawa

IV oa

and Sa'a)

Shilluk

jwok

jwok

tipo

jwok

jwok

\

§ i49 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS 'THE DEAD' 275

The Akamba (para. 86) conceived of aimu, 'spirits of the dead', but they
so confused aimu with ngai {mulungu), the power in the universe, that to our
authorities it was always uncertain for which an offering was intended.
Moreover their conception of 'the dead' was not formulated clearly, for
they seem to have thought of the dead in a mass, this mass being confused
with ngai {mulungu). The Akamba, too, had a short memory, for they
believed that after a time 'the dead' disappeared, being replaced by other
'dead' which vanished in their turn. Yet, as I remarked when I sum-
marized their culture (para. 89), the Akamba must have made some dis-
tinction, albeit a vague one, between aimu and ngai {mulungu), for otherwise
they would not have used two words to denote them.

In a similar manner when the Wayao (para. 98) used mulungu in reference
to 'the dead', they conceived of 'the aggregate of the spirits of the dead',
'a village of departed spirits'. In reference to an individual ghost, however,
they used the word lisoka, pi. masoka. When they passed the grave of a
mulungu-man, the people said, Masoka; but the offering at the grave-hut
was made not to masoka but to mulungu, the confusion between the various
meanings of the word being so great that no one could tell whether the
offering was made to mulungu as a group of ghosts, to mulungu as an
individual ghost, or, presumably, to mulungu as the power in the universe.
Moreover, Yao memory was short, for when a mulungu-man died, the
tendance of his predecessor ceased, the newly deceased man being the
lisoka (or mulungu) which was placated.

The same ideas were current among the Lango (para. 84), who used the
word jok in reference to the power in the universe, to the source of magic
power, and to 'the dead'; but just as the ideas of the Wayao (by virtue of
their conception of an individual ghost) were more developed than those
of the Akamba, so the ideas of the Lango were more developed than those
of the Wayao. By the Lango an individual ghost was called tipo ; but among
them there was no such confusion between/o& and tipo as existed among the
Wayao between mulungu and lisoka. In this detail the Lango made a dis-
tinction which the Wayao disregarded; the Wayao were guilty of a con-
fusion which was foreign to the clearer thought of the Lango. The length
of Lango memory, however, was not greater than that of the Wayao, for
no man handed over to a successor the shrine of his tipo. Eventually every
tipo lost its individual identity and became merged (we are told) in jok.

When we turn to the Dinka (para. 83) we find that these differences are
accentuated. By the word jok the Dinka denoted the power in the universe,
the source of magic power, and the powerful dead, the ghost of an individual
ghost being atiep; but among them some dead men were tended for more
than one generation, the care of their shrines being handed over to a suc-
cessor. A magician, Deng-dit, who may have been a noted rain-maker, for
his name meant 'Great Rain', was both remembered and tended for several
generations. So also were his sons. Yet even among the Dinka there was
some confusion between the power in the universe (or the powerful dead

276 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 149

in a mass) and Deng-dit, for sometimes Deng-dit and jok were spoken of
as if they were identical.

(I am inclined to place the Tahitians on the same level as the Dinka.
If our information were sufficiently good, we should find, I think, that such
beings as Matatine and Matabu-fenua (n. 586) were tended in the same
manner as Deng-dit.)

The SE. Solomon Islanders (para. 33) differed from the Dinka in so far
as their post-funeral rites partook of the nature of cult as well as of the
nature of tendance ; but in regard to the length of their memory we must
bracket them with the Dinka. They placed the relics of successful fisher-
men (n. 79) and of renowned warriors (n. 86) in special sacred places, the
cult of these powerful ghosts being handed over to a successor; but the
cult of any individual ghosts soon sank into oblivion before the rising
importance of a newly dead man, the neglected relics of his predecessor
being the only memorial of him that remained.

It is clear, therefore, that in the manner of their remembrance of indi-
vidual dead men the mental powers of the SE. Solomon Islanders and the
Dinka had developed to a greater extent than those of the Lango, and that
the Lango in their turn were more developed than the Wayao, the Wayao
than the Akamba, and the Akamba than the zoistic Masai, who celebrated
their dead warriors in a dance and then forgot them (n. 384). The one
common trait in the ideas of all these societies is that their ideas were
founded on a dead level of conception. Manifestly too the ideas of the
Shilluk also were founded on the same basis, for they used jwok in those
contexts in which the Lango used jok. The memory of the Shilluk, how-
ever, was considerable. They not only conducted a cult as well as a
tendance of the powerful dead ; they still honoured a number of powerful
men some of whom, according to the natives, had been dead for eleven
generations.

Thus according to the manner in which they remembered and placated
their powerful dead, these six societies may be placed in this order:

(1. Akamba.
2. Wayao.
3. Lango.
4. Dinka.

Tendance and J 5. SE. Solomon Islanders.
Cult \6. Shilluk.

I must beg that their relative positions be noted, for I intend to place
them on another scale according to the manner in which they elaborated
their sacred places. We shall see that they occupy the same relative posi-
tions. In this manner I shall be able to corroborate my conclusions and to
justify my criteria, for if according to different standards of judgement the
same societies arrange themselves in the same order, the inference is not

§ iSo THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE RECIPIENT 277

only that they have been placed correctly but also that the standards of
judgement were well conceived.

Let me summarize the first truth that has emerged from the analysis of
the manistic evidence in regard to the word translated 'the dead'.

The conceptions of manistic societies appear to have developed from a
dead level of conception ; but the first great difference between their ideas
and those of a zoistic (dead level of conception) society was a consciousness
of the past. These manistic people remembered and conciliated their
powerful dead, while the zoistic people forgot and neglected them. Thus
when a society ceased to be zoistic and became manistic one of the details
of the cultural change seems to have consisted in the growth and extension
of their memory. Now it seems to me that this extension of memory cannot
have been due to anything but a mental effort. Thus, so far as the memory
of 'the dead' was concerned, the factor responsible for the change from the
zoistic to the manistic condition must have been one that induced thought
and reflection. It must have been absent in zoistic societies and present in
manistic societies. Moreover it must have been present in uneven force
among the manistic societies, being operative to a greater degree, for
instance, among the Wayao than among the Akamba, and among the
Shilluk than among any other manistic society.

Now we will consider, first, the recipient of the offerings made by our
eighty societies, and, secondly, the place in which these offerings were made.
In zoistic (dead level of conception) societies the recipient was the strange
quality in anything unusual ; the place in which the offerings were made was
the 'unusual' place, all human ideas of taboo, sin, and sacredness being
derivative from these sources; but among manistic and deistic societies
a change of opinion is apparent, offerings being made by manistic societies
first to the powerful dead, then to a single powerful ghost for a short
period, then to a single powerful ghost for a long period. Coincident with
these changes of opinion there occurred an elaboration and decoration of
the places in which the offerings were made.

When we have considered this evidence, we shall have seen that

1. each type of behaviour, zoistic, manistic, and deistic, is founded upon
a conception of the 'unusual';

2. a change from one type of behaviour to another occurred as a result
of a change in ideas, any cultural advance being produced by mental
energy.

150. The ' Unusual1 as the Recipient. It is self-evident that the offerings
of a zoistic (dead level of conception) society were made to the power in
the universe, for this is the only power of which it conceived. I shall
not describe the nature of these offerings or the method of their presenta-
tion; for these details I refer the reader to the appropriate paragraphs in
the preceding chapters. Here I shall do no more than select a few illustra-
tions from the available evidence. And, even if this method were not

278 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 150

desirable for the sake of brevity and lucidity, inevitably it would be forced
upon me, for, as I have often said, most of our observers have neglected
to describe the native rites, having concentrated their attention on the
native beliefs alone. Moreover, of our forty-seven zoistic societies, twenty-
eight were American Indian; and of American Indian pagan rites we are
sadly ignorant.

Generally speaking the offerings made by zoistic societies were designed
either as a defence against danger or as a means of securing help.

When a Tlingit Indian (para. 103), on passing the burial place of a
magician, threw some food into the sea, he was warding off the danger of
contact with yek. He made no such sacrifice when he passed the grave of
an ordinary man. Similarly, when the Masai (n. 384) threw stones on the
graves of those people whom they buried, they were shielding themselves
from the perils of ngai. The Masai conducted no post-funeral rites in
honour of their dead for the simple reason that they did not trouble their
heads about the ghosts of men, who were forgotten as soon as they died.

These two examples are of offerings which were made to the power in
the universe at the graves of powerful men. The offerings which were
made at any unusual place were of an identical character. The Mafulu
(para. 75) guarded themselves against the 'spirits' (the native term is
missing) which were manifest in 'specially peculiar and unusual' places
by throwing aside a handful of grass as they passed. The food which was
offered to kaieimunu, imunu of the thunder, by the Purari (para. 76) was
regarded as a defence against imunu. If a Dakotan Indian (n. 522) dreamt
that he was in danger, he went a few yards away from his tent, cleared
away the grass, put his wakan-stone in the middle of the patch, and placed
before the stone some feathers or tobacco. In this manner, he considered,
he protected himself from the calamity which threatened him.

The other idea, that of securing the help of the power in the universe,
is apparent in the behaviour of the Loyalty Islanders (para. 30), to which
I have already drawn attention. In the Loyalty Islands, when a magician
or a haze-man died, his bones were literally bones of contention; the
survivors contended for the possession of parts of his body, their object
being to secure for themselves the haze which was inherent in every part
of it. To the Loyalty Islanders, as also to the Tannese (para. 31), Banks
Islanders (para. 72), Koita (n. 331), Dakotan (n. 522), and Crow Indians
(n. 530), the power in the universe was also manifest in stones of an unusual
shape or of an uncommon type; and a man 'sacrificed' at such a stone in
order to secure the assistance of the power which it contained. A Banks
Islander (para. 72) also placed offerings before an unusual animal, or in the
place where he had seen it. Indeed, whenever he was impressed by the
sight of an unusual phenomenon, he apprehended the presence of vui; and
he scattered offerings there. The recipient of these zoistic gifts was not
a spirit or a god in our sense of those vague words, but vui, haze, ngai,
imunu, wakan, or yek, according to the language of the people. The mem-

§ i5o THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE RECIPIENT 279

bers of our other zoistic societies called the power uhngen, sgana, snam,
sulia, tamanous, munedoo, natosio, maxpe, or lau, according as they were
members of the society of the Tannese, Haida, Lillooet, Coast Salish,
Klallam, Ojibwa, Blackfeet, Crow, or Andaman Islanders. There was no
difference in the pattern either of the conception or of the rite, for each of
those words denoted the strange quality in anything unusual, wherever it
was manifest.

Now this power, the recipient of zoistic offerings, was manifest not only
in any unusual place, in any place where anything unusual had occurred,
and in the burial place of a dead magician, but also in a living magician ;
and fundamentally the objects of the payments made to him by zoistic
societies were identical with those of the 'sacrifices' I have already men-
tioned. For a magician, as we have seen (para. 147), was simply a man who
possessed the power in the universe ; and just as his contemporaries made
offerings to the power in the universe either to ward off the danger inherent
in any of its manifestations or to secure it for themselves, so they made
payments to him either to prevent him from doing them harm or as a
reward for exercising his power on their behalf. The American Indian
who made a payment to a living man for the help of a magic 'bundle' was
acting from the same motives as his brother who placed an offering before
a wakan-stone or before wakan in the sun. In each case the help of the
power in the universe was being acknowledged or requested. Moreover, the
character of the offerings made directly to the power in the universe was
identical with that of the payments made to living men. Usually the
offerings made to the power consisted of food, drink, tobacco, cloth, or of
anything else that appealed to human frailty or satisfied a human desire.

I do not wish any doubt to arise on this important point, for unless it is
understood it is almost impossible to comprehend the nature of the change
from the zoistic to the manistic condition. The identification by zoistic
societies of the payment to a living magician and an offering to the power
in the universe has been obscured only because we have called the former
a payment and the latter a 'sacrifice'. Moreover, after we have used the
word 'sacrifice', we have been inclined to assume that there existed in the
native mind some of the ideas which we associate with it. In this manner
we have not only concealed the native ideas but also transferred to them
some of our own. The faults are apparent as soon as we speak in native
terms ; and the meaning of the Banks Island oloolo shows clearly what I
mean ' It was applied both to the payments made to living magicians and
to offerings made to the power in the universe, both to the money set aside
for the recital of an incantation and to that placed in a marana, sanctuary.
Indeed it denoted the money paid for any exertion of supernormal power,
whether the power was exerted by a stone, rock, animal, or living man.
Oloolo has been translated as 'sacrifice', but the translation is both inexact
and misleading. A man was said to oloolo his money when he consulted
a magician. If he had a ^z-stone, he was said to oloolo on or at the stone.

280 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 150

He was never thought to oloolo to the stone or to vui which was manifest
in the stone. Yet that is what our word 'sacrifice' implies. It was the same
if a man scattered money in front of an animal that possessed some unusual
or uncommon characteristic ; he was said to oloolo not to the animal but in
the place where he had seen it. Incalculable harm has been done to our
study of uncivilized ideas by the translation of such words as oloolo as
'sacrifice' and of such words as vui as 'spirit', for by virtue of such inaccur-
ate translations, and by no other means at all, we have concluded that
uncivilized men propitiate 'spirits', whereas the truth is that according to
the native terminology zoistic men simply place offerings in 'unusual'
places, their object in doing so being identical with that of the payments
made to living magicians (n. 294).

The ideas of manistic societies are similar. They also regard the power
in the universe as dangerous to touch, yet precious to possess; they also
consult their magicians when they need help or protection ; they also make
offerings to the power and payments to magicians, and for identical pur-
poses; but whereas zoistic societies only make payments to a magician
when he is alive, manistic societies continue to make payments to him
after he is dead. And it is in this important detail that manistic behaviour
differs from zoistic behaviour. We have already seen (para. 149) that the
first fundamental difference between zoistic and manistic societies lay in
their memory of the powerful dead: whereas the former forgot them, the
latter remembered them for varying lengths of time. Now we come to the
second fundamental difference: manistic societies not only remembered
the powerful dead but also propitiated them, their behaviour being ten-
dance or cult according as their desire was to escape danger or to secure
assistance. I have suggested that the first difference was due to thought and
reflection. This seems to be the explanation of the second difference also.

Let us try to imagine what happened when a zoistic society became
manistic. First we must grant the premises on which zoistic societies base
their conduct. Let us suppose, then, that a zoistic magician had been
called in to heal a sick man, that he had pronounced without effect the
counter-spells which were the usual corrective in a case of witchcraft, and
that the sick man had not been guilty of trespass on sacred ground or of
any other sin. Normally in a zoistic society the magician could think of
no other method of treatment; he excused his failure by saying that the
sickness was due either to the machinations of a more powerful magician
or to the power in the universe. Now let us suppose that for some reason
or other the power of his thought had been stimulated or intensified. My
suggestion is that his mind would turn from the living to the dead. Perhaps
the patient was an enemy of a recently deceased magician, and their
differences had not been adjusted before the latter died. Perhaps a
notorious wizard was newly dead. Since no living man had caused the
trouble could it be that the responsibility lay with the dead man ? Would
it not be worth while to placate him in case the idea was correct ? I do not

§ iso THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE RECIPIENT 28 1

know how many visits our friend would make to his patient before he
resolved to put his theory into practice, or how many vigils he would keep
on the hillside while he wrestled with his problem ; but my suggestion is
that after due consideration he decided to make an attempt to placate the
dead man by making to him such a payment as would have been made to
him had he been alive. So the sick man would be told to place some food
aside for the ghost of the dead man and to announce in a loud voice that
he had done so.

In some such manner as this, I submit, the rites of tendance were
inaugurated in a zoistic society. The rites having been generally adopted,
the cultural condition of the society changed from zoistic to manistic.

There is another possibility. In zoistic societies, indeed throughout
uncivilized life, the youths were under the close surveillance of their elders,
who chid them if they infringed the social customs, insisted on a rigid
observance of the established order, and punished any disregard of con-
vention. Moreover, especially in a patrilineal society, a father was angry
if he was neglected or disobeyed. Let us suppose that in a zoistic society
a rich young man was being afflicted by a series of misfortunes. There was
no apparent reason for his ill luck; he had tried the usual counter-magic
without success; the magicians could not help him. Normally in a zoistic
society nothing more was done; the afflictions were ascribed to more
powerful magic or to unwitting sin. Now let us suppose that for some
reason or other the power of the youth's thought was stimulated or in-
tensified. I suggest that his mind would revert to his late father who had
been a powerful and influential man when he was alive. Perhaps the youth
would remember that recently he had done certain things of which his
father would have disapproved. Is it fanciful to suggest that after due
consideration the youth would attribute his misfortunes to his father's
anger? Would he not hasten, after a period of reflection, to placate the
dead man's anger by an offering of food or drink ? In a zoistic society no
such rites were conducted ; but every manistic society adopted the ghostly
theory of causation after unassisted magic had failed.

In order to account, therefore, for the inauguration of the rites which
we call tendance, and thus for the change from the zoistic to the manistic
condition, we must find a factor, present in manistic and absent in zoistic
societies, which intensified thought and reflection.

It is only possible to make these suggestions in a very general manner.
Manistic rites were so various that even if it were desirable to trace the
growth of them all, the argument would be swamped by a flood of detail.
Thus I shall do no more than illustrate by these examples what I consider
was the probable line of thought which zoistic societies followed when they
began to become manistic, the change being complete when the new rites
had become part of the inherited tradition of a proportion of the society.
Before this could happen, however, a number of people must have been
persuaded of both the necessity for and the efficacy of the rites, for unless

282 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 150

they had been convinced of both these things, the rite would not have been
generally adopted. It is unlikely that all the people adopted them, for, as
I have said (para. 145), a cultural advance is seldom uniform throughout
a society ; usually in a manistic society there remains a zoistic stratum ; but
some section of the society must have seen fit to conduct the new rites or
they would have fallen into desuetude. It is possible, perhaps, for an out-
standing man to devise a rite of a higher cultural pattern, and for other
people to adopt his ritual without thought or reflection ; indeed there is no
doubt in my mind that in many zoistic societies some experiments of this
character are often made ; but unless the converts to the new methods had
indulged in the same thought and reflection as was necessary for the
original revolution, those methods would be discontinued on the death of
their originator. If, on the other hand, the converts also had applied the
power of their reason to the innovation, and found it desirable, they would
not only continue to conduct the rites ; they would also hand them on to
their children. Thus the actual change in the cultural condition of the
society would depend not only on the genius of the individual revolutionary
but also upon the psychological condition of his contemporaries.632

The rites which we call tendance, then, seem to have developed from the
payments which zoistic societies made to a living magician, these being
identical with those which they made before the power in the universe.
Let me put forward a corroborative argument.

The zoistic rites, I submit, changed into manistic rites as the result of
thought and reflection. Naturally the mental effort first changed the con-
ceptions ; the new rites were merely the outward manifestation of the new
ideas. If, then, I am correct in tracing the development of the rites of
tendance from an offering before the unusual, wherever manifest, we should
expect some manistic societies to conceive of ghosts as existing in places
where zoistic societies see only the strange quality manifest in anything
unusual. The facts fulfil this expectation. In Africa large trees (especially
fig-trees), rather than stones, were regarded as the residence of the power
in the universe, impressing the people by their unusual, incomprehensible
character. This is especially reported in reference to the Akamba (para. 86),
Lango (n. 356), Wayao (para. 98), and Baila (n. 403) ; but between the ideas
of these societies there was an interesting difference which supports my
suggestion. In these trees the Lango and Wayao beheld the power in the
universe, jok and mulungu, respectively; the Akamba saw both mulungu
and aimu, the power in the universe and ghosts; the Baila regarded the
trees as the residence only of ghosts, mizhimo.

According to the evidence, the majority of our twenty-one manistic
societies only tended the powerful dead; they did this, as we have seen,
for varying lengths of time ; but they did not carry out any post-funeral
rites which were exclusively an appeal for help {do ut des). Only two of
them, indeed, Shilluk and SE. Solomon Islanders, can definitely be said
to have conducted a cult of the great dead. And it is noteworthy that the

§ iso THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE RECIPIENT 283

memory of these two societies was longer than that of most other manistic
tribes. The fact suggests that our standards of judgement are not mistaken
for the same societies occupy the same relative position to each other
according to two different criteria.

If the above suggestions be acceptable, the development of a do ut des
rite is not difficult to understand. The idea of a powerful dead man as the
cause of affliction having sunk into the native consciousness, it is only
a small step to the conviction that a powerful ghost can assist in an under-
taking. Once again all that seems to have been needed is an intensification
of thought and reflection. Instead of relying on their own unaided magic
the natives requested the help of a man who recently had lived among
them. It may be that the first man to inaugurate a cult of the great dead
had lost confidence in his own magic powers. Possibly he may have gone
farther and perceived the futility of all magical incantations, refusing to
accept any longer the excuses made by living magicians to account for
their failures. Again, he may have contemplated an unusually dangerous
or difficult operation, and doubted his ability to perform the task single-
handed. Provided that the man's thought was intensified, I can conceive
of all these and many other reasons for his introduction of a new rite. By
some students, however, humility and disillusion may be regarded as part
of the white man's psychology and as alien to an uncivilized mentality. In
that case I should attribute the inauguration of cult to mere self-interest.
With a natural regard for his own interests the man wished to bring all
possible power to bear, and to secure all possible help ; so after due con-
sideration he approached the sacred precincts not in order to placate the
dead man's anger but in order to secure his help.633

Thus all that would be needed to change manistic (tendance) into
manistic (cult) behaviour would be a further intensification of the same
thought and reflection which was responsible for the change from the
zoistic to the manistic (tendance) condition. The factor responsible for
the latter seems to have been responsible for the former also, but evidently
it was present in manistic (cult) societies to a greater degree than in
manistic (tendance) societies.

It is interesting to observe the new meanings which creep into the
native words when a cult of the dead is established. In reference to jwok
the Shilluk (para. 82) used the word lamo, 'conjure5, but to a dead hero they
were said to kwacho, 'ask for, beg'. In the SE. Solomon Islands (para. 33)
an ordinary akalo was thought to ta'e'li, to possess or inspire a man, but
a powerful Woa was his tusi, twin. No man exorcized a R'oa, as he exorcized
an akalo, tola akalo\ such treatment was beneath the dignity of a Woa,
which was approached by prayer and sacrifice.

We have now followed the change from the zoistic to the manistic
pattern according to

(a) the growth of memory, which makes the survivors think of a power-
ful man who otherwise would have been forgotten ;

284 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 150

(b) the introduction by an individual, and the adoption by the society,
of post-funeral rites in honour of that powerful man ;

(c) the extension of memory as the society proceeded up the manistic
cultural scale, the dead man being remembered for an increasing
period of time;

(d) the change from tendance to cult.

In each case, I suggest, the change was due to mental effort.

Now we must discuss the change from the manistic to the deistic pattern.

Hitherto most students of human affairs have been accustomed to speak
of the more advanced uncivilized societies as believing in gods, but, as I
have said (para. 148), before we can say that any particular society believed
in gods as distinct from any other power or powers, we must define the
criteria by which we judge whether a power be a god or not. Moreover,
those criteria must be such as to be applied with ease and certainty to the
culture of any uncivilized people. For my own part I do not understand
how the power or powers in the universe, as conceived by uncivilized men,
can be classified except according to the manner in which a right relation
was maintained with them, and for this reason I should like to define the
word 'god' as a power manifesting itself in the universe with which a right
relation is maintained in a temple; but this is not the meaning attached
to it by the writers on whose testimony we must rely for our knowledge
of uncivilized culture. These use the word 'god' in an extremely loose
manner. For instance, according to Sir A. B. Ellis (paras. 42, 62), the greater
power and sway of the Yoruba gods had caused ancestor-worship to be
relegated to an inferior position, but Sir Arthur does not say how he
decided which powers were ancestors and which gods. Certainly he cannot
have relied on his knowledge of the native terminology, for the word which
he translates 'god' is orisha, and, according to Mr. Dennett, orisha also
meant 'deified departed one' (n. 145). Similarly, Dr. Brown considers
(para. 50) that among the Samoans 'ancestor- worship had gradually given
place to the worship of a superior order of supernatural beings'. Dr.
Brown does not tell us by what criteria he judged whether a power was
an ancestor or a superior kind of 'supernatural being' ; nor can his report
have been founded on native terminology, for the same native word, aitu,
was applied both to a dead man and to those superior beings. Among the
Tongans, too, we are told (n. 208), 'the number of gods was liable to
constant augmentation by the deification of the illustrious and well-beloved
dead'. The author does not say how he decided that a ghost had been
deified, or in what the deification consisted. When, indeed, does a ghost
cease to be a ghost and become a god ?

It is obvious that no conclusion can be satisfactory if it is founded on
such loose phraseology. Let us examine, then, the meaning of the terms
by which the natives denoted the powers which were manifest in their
temples. They are to be found in the Table of Native Terms (Appendix IV)
and are available in nine out of ten cases, the Aztecs being the only instance

§ i5o THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE RECIPIENT 285

in which the information is lacking. The nine other deistic societies are
the Fijians, Bakitara, Baganda, Yoruba, Dahomans, Ashanti, Samoans,
Tongans, and Gilbert Islanders. Four were Oceanic, five were African!
The evidence in regard to the former is indisputable, in regard to the latter
probable and inferential.

In a Fijian temple (para. 34) the kalou-vu was manifest; he was an illus-
trious dead man. It was only in degree that the kalou-vu differed from the
kalou-yalo, a less powerful but still eminent dead man who was conciliated
in another place. Similarly, the Samoan aitu (para. 50) was 'he that is
dead'. The Tongan word otua (para. 51) was applied to anything unusual
or beyond Tongan comprehension and to the souls of the dead; this
exhausts the native use of the word. We do not know the precise manner
in which the Gilbert Islanders used atua; but among them tapu-ariki is
said to have been a famous god (paras. 134, 145). Literally the word meant
'sacred chief; but in the available literature this purely descriptive term
has been spelt with a capital T, our authorities debating at great length the
relative importance of Tapuariki, Wanigain, and other 'gods'. Some of
them say that Tapuariki and Wanigain were identical ; others affirm that
Tapuariki was identical also with other gods. The truth seems to have been
that the power manifest in every Gilbert Island temple was tapu-ariki,
a sacred chief or dead chieftain.

To the members of these Oceanic societies, therefore, the powers which
were manifest in their temples were ghosts. We may call them 'gods', but
if we do so we must remember that for the purpose of classification we
are merely applying a technical term to the native conceptions. From the
native point of view there was no difference, except in degree, between
the kalou, aitu, or otua placated at the graveside and the kalou, aitu, or
otua approached in a temple.

Now let us consider the five African societies.

We do not know the native meaning of the Kitara word muchwezi or of
the Uganda word lubare, but that 'bewildering collection of beings', the
Kitara bachwezi, who were manifest in the Kitara temples, are said to have
been dead kings (para. 38). Similarly, the Uganda balubare were dead
rulers of Uganda, whose mutual relationship was remembered by the
people (para. 39). Until they were converted to Christianity, the Baganda
built a new temple wherein was placed the jawbone of a newly dead king.
To the jawbone, they considered, the ghost attached itself especially. A
similar opinion was held by the Tahitians (para. 133). Moreover, dead
kings were not the only mortals that were deified by the Baganda. A dis-
tinguished female medium of the rain-god Musoke became the goddess
Nagawonyi, and in time of drought female supplicants were dispatched to
her temple (n. 137).

In regard to the three West African societies, Yoruba, Dahomans, and
Ashanti, there is little direct evidence. Admittedly the Yoruba word
orisha has not only been translated 'deified departed one' but also been

286 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 150

equated with the Dahoman vodu and Ashanti bohsum (n. 145) ; but it would
be rash, I think, to conclude on such slender evidence that the latter words,
like orisha, were used in reference to the dead. In two of these cases,
however, the native traditions support the conclusion based on the Oceanic
evidence. Just as among the Fijians the kalou-vu Ndengei and Tanovu
are said to have been immigrant rulers, the former being recognized
throughout the Fijian Islands except the Lau group, the latter being kalou-
vu of Ono,634 so also among the Yoruba and Dahomans temples are said
to have been erected to distinguished foreigners. Thus among the Daho-
man 'gods' there were two kings and two sailors. Both the kings are reputed
to have wielded great power when they were alive. One was king of Porto
Novo, the other of Dahomey proper. Of the two sailors one was captain
of the first ship which anchored in the harbour ; the other was his assistant.635
Both Mr. Johnson and Mr. Talbot assert that the Yoruba 'god' Shango
was the fourth king of that land, and that the 'goddess' Odudua, his reputed
grandmother, was an immigrant.636

Thus there is much probable and inferential evidence which supports
my first conclusion; but since I am appraising as well as analysing the
evidence I should add that without the indisputable evidence such illustra-
tions as these would have no evidential value. To base an argument on
them alone would be as foolish as to maintain that Jupiter had once been
a man because temples were built to Caesar.

The recipients of the offerings made by our deistic societies, then, seem
to have been the same as the recipients of the manistic offerings, namely,
the ghosts of powerful dead men ; and the great difference in this connexion
between the deistic and the manistic societies is that by the former the dead
men were remembered and placated for a longer time.

There are two corroborative arguments.

In the first place, we have seen that it was the custom for manistic
societies to placate the ghosts of powerful men who when they were alive
excelled in some human activity. Thus the manistic SE. Solomon Islanders
(para. 33) used to preserve the relics of their famous men in special relic-
houses. When they went to sea or to war they placed offerings before the
relics of successful fishermen or of noted warriors, and begged for their
assistance. These men, however, were remembered only for a short time;
soon their place in the popular estimation was taken by the ghosts of newly
dead men whose earthly exploits were fresher in the memory of the people.
Now among the deistic Fijians many professions had their special kalou,
'god', who was approached under appropriate circumstances. Thus
Aokova and Rokola were invoked by carpenters, Vava by fishermen, and
so on.637 The rites conducted in their honour have not been described;
yet is it not plain that these 'gods' were dead men who had been skilled
in carpentry and fishing when they were alive ? From the native point of
view they cannot well have been anything else, for the natives called them
kalou.

§ i5o THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE RECIPIENT 28y

I place a similar interpretation on the Samoan 'gods' Ponge and Toafa
the parents of Saato, the 'god' of rain (n. 203). To a Samoan Saato was
aitu, 'he that is dead'; and the inference is that he was a noted rain-maker
and that the stone which is said to have 'represented' him was the magical
instrument by means of which he had wrought his miracles.

Similarly, the Tongan 'gods' of artificers and arts appear to have been
dead craftsmen, Toobo having been an eminent sailor, Alai-valoo a success-
ful healer, and Alo-alo a rain-maker (n. 208). Probably, too, the Dahoman
Atinbodum, patron saint of medicine-men, had been a successful medical
practitioner (para. 99). The Aztec 'god' Quetzalcoatl, according to native
tradition, was once a mortal man (n. 157).

The great difference between these ghosts and those to which the manistic
societies made offerings was, first, that these had been remembered for
a longer time, their cult being handed on from generation to generation,
and, secondly, that temples were erected in their honour.

The second corroborative argument refers to the Ashanti. Three of the
most important ceremonies which the Ashanti conducted were the adaey
affrahbi (afahye), and odwira (ojirrah). Concerning the recipients of the
offerings which were made during the celebrations, the reports conflict
(n. 466) : the offerings which according to Capt. Rattray were made to the
gods are said by Sir A. B. Ellis to have been made to ghosts; those which
Sir A. B. Ellis connects with the gods are said by Capt. Rattray to have
been a propitiation of the ancestral spirits. Neither of these observers
quotes the native terms; neither of them states the facts on which their
opinions were based. My suggestion is that the reports do not contradict
one another; their contrariness seems too complete. From the native point
of view the recipients may have been the same in each case, the distinction
between ghosts and gods being due to the translation of one native word
by two different English words.

So far as the recipients of the offerings were concerned, therefore, the
change from the manistic to the deistic condition was of the same nature
as that from the zoistic to the manistic condition. From a dead level of
conception there emerged a conception of an individual ghost. By manistic
societies a dead man was remembered and conciliated for varying lengths
of time ; but in the deistic societies his cult was handed on from generation
to generation, and to a new generation he appeared not merely as a ghost
but as a definite and formidable power which could be approached only
in a temple and which was in charge of some natural or human activity.

The conclusion which I draw is that the change from the manistic to
the deistic condition was produced by the same factor as that which
produced the change from the zoistic to the manistic condition; but
evidently the factor was operative in the deistic societies to a greater degree
than in the manistic societies, for just as the memory of the manistic
societies was greater than the memory of the zoistic societies, so the memory
of the deistic societies was greater than that of the manistic societies.

288 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 151

The last evidence which I wish to analyse and appraise is that which
is available concerning the place in which the offerings were made.

151. The 'Unusual' as the Place. We have already seen (para. 150) that
the place in which the members of zoistic societies conducted some of their
rites was the 'unusual' place, that is, either a place which for some reason
was of an impressive character or a place where a dead magician was
buried. There is no need to refer again to the evidence. Zoistic people,
however, seem to have conducted some rites in other places also, the
selection of these places depending either upon the whim of a magician
or upon the nature of the matter in hand. Hitherto I have spoken of the
place in which a rite was conducted as if it were identical with the place
in which an offering was made, but many zoistic rites did not involve the
presentation of an offering, and we must distinguish these from the others,
for it is only in those entailing an offering that we are interested.

There are difficulties, however, for the rites have been reported but
scantily, and it is not always clear whether an offering was made or not.
For instance, sometimes incantations had to be sung when a canoe was
being made, when the completed canoe was launched, or when a special
canoe went forth to face the unknown perils of the open sea (as distinct
from the more familiar dangers of the local waters). Usually these incan-
tations were sung by magicians, but occasionally the ordinary citizens
uttered them. In the latter case no offering may have been made, so no
problem arises. In the former case we are not always told whether the
magician was or was not paid for his services. If he was paid, the payment
would be the equivalent of an offering to the power in the universe, for his
selection as precentor was solely on account of his possession of that power.
If, on the other hand, he was not paid, the rite involved no offering; the
man acted as an honorary benefactor to the community. Similarly among
some zoistic agricultural peoples certain magical rites had to be conducted
when the crops were planted and reaped, when rain came in too great or
in too small quantities, or when the even tenor of life was interrupted by
an untimely event. Maybe on these occasions too the magicians who
recited the appropriate chants were not paid for their services ; they merely
placed their outstanding genius at the service of their fellow men ; but if
they were paid, the payments they received were identical with the
offerings made to any other manifestation of the power in the universe.
Naturally the variety of these rites depended greatly on the geographical
environment in which the people lived : an inland people would not trouble
themselves about the dangers of a sea which they had never seen ; a pastoral
tribe would conduct no rites at planting and harvest ; an agricultural society
would possess no magic formulae for the counteraction of cattle-disease ;
and in all cases the choice of the place in which the offering (if any) was
made would depend upon circumstances. Such variety is to be expected,
but the cultural pattern was the same: the magician, or the utterance of

§151 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE PLACE 289

the incantation, placed the people in a right relation with the power in
the universe.

Again, the place in which a zoistic offering was made might depend
not only on the whim of the individual magician but also on the whereabouts
of his victim or of his patient. Thus, as we have seen (paras. 147, 150), the
Loyalty Islanders, as well as the Tannese, Banks Islanders, Koita, Dako-
ta and Crow Indians, searched for stones of an unusual shape or of an
uncommon type ; they considered that such stones possessed the powerful
quality which was manifest in all unusual things. The man who was
fortunate enough to possess such a stone was consulted in cases of sickness
and distress, and became rich and influential according to the power that
he exhibited. Such a man exercised his power in whatever place he hap-
pened to be. Indeed he might carry the stone with him on his daily rounds.
It was the same with the magic 'bundles' of the American Indians. The
men who possessed them manipulated their power wherever they lived,
and earned distinction according to the cures they effected or the miracles
they wrought. In all these cases, though usually a payment was made to
the owner of the stone or bundle, there was no special place in which the
rites were conducted; its choice depended upon circumstances or upon
the whim of the magician. The same is true of such an offering as a Crow
Indian made before maxpe in the sun (para. 119). There was no rigid rule
in regard to the place in which it had to be made ; the place where the man
stood was selected in accordance with his own peculiar fancy. When,
however, an offering was regularly made to the power in the universe
manifest elsewhere than in the sky or in a living man, it was always made
in an unusual place, that is, in a place of outstanding character, in a place
where something unusual had occurred, or at the burial-place either of
a dead magician or of a man whose manner of birth, life, or death had been
unusual. And this was natural, for only in these places was the power
manifest.

Inevitably a complete report of a society which made its offerings in
all those places is hard to find. We may be told that offerings were made
at an unusual place, but our authorities may not have noticed, or at any
rate described, the other places in which similar rites were carried out.
Sometimes we learn that the grave of a notable citizen was specially sacred
and that passers-by threw some offering in its vicinity. In these cases there
may have been other places also in which the people did the same thing,
and the scantiness of our knowledge alone prevents us from saying that all
unusual places were regarded in the same way. In one case, however, that
of the manistic Akamba (para. 86), the facts have been reported in full.
A Kamba place of sacrifice was called ithembo. There were many ithemboy
including almost every large tree and grove, especially fig-trees, graves of
distinguished citizens, and every place in which anything unusual had
occurred or been encountered. Among zoistic societies the idea is seen
most clearly in the actions of the Banks Islanders (para. 72), who appre-

u

290 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 151

hended the presence of vui whenever and wherever they were impressed
by any new, unusual, uncomprehended work or event. If a man found a
stone which struck his fancy, or if he saw an animal which seemed to him
unusual, he scattered money in the place where he had seen it. The place
was then rongo, sacred, because vui was there; it was also called tano oloolo,
which referred to the deposit of the money paid for an exertion of magic
power. The man spoke of it as his marana, sanctuary, and forbade any one
else to trespass on his sacred ground. If a stranger did so, he was guilty of
sin, for he had disobeyed the master of the sanctuary, the possessor of vui.
In a similar manner, if a man was impressed by the appearance of a boulder
or of a rock, he concluded that vui was there; then the rock was rongo, the
place in which it was situated was rongo, and the space around it was the
marana of its discoverer. No one but himself and those brought by him
could enter. Any one who trespassed fell ill, for he had broken the taboo
and sinned.

The same conception of sin as a cause of sickness existed also in many
manistic and deistic societies, and it is in this manner that human ideas of
sin and sacredness are founded upon the division of men and phenomena
into the usual and the unusual. Thus among the manistic Baila (para. 92)
all strange, unusual things were tonda, taboo, for musamo was manifest;
any one who came into contact with that mysterious power fell ill. The
manistic Maori too (n. 187) ascribed some afflictions to hara, sin, the break-
ing of a taboo, such tapu being connected with atua, or the word of an
atua-mzn. Similar opinions were held by the manistic Wayao (n. 440).

Not long ago, when a sickness was incurable or seemed incomprehensible,
our own forefathers used to attribute it to the sin of the sufferer or to the
power in the universe ; and even now the same idea lingers amongst us, both
among the members of the deistic stratum in our society and among those
members of the rationalistic stratum whose faith in their rationalism is not
great enough to withstand the effect of an untoward calamity.

Another type of taboo was the one attached to the utterance of a spell
which a man inherited or purchased. An example of this is to be found in
the reports on the zoistic Mailu (para. 78), among whom the efficacy of an
incantation depended upon the due observance of the sora which belonged
to it. The man who uttered it was compelled to refrain from certain kinds
of behaviour. If he broke these rules, he was discredited. Presumably
these captious regulations had been formulated by the original inventor
of the spell or had been adopted by him after some experience of its working.
Possibly on one memorable occasion when by means of the spell he had
succeeded in performing a task beyond his wildest dreams he had done
certain things in a certain way; and ever after he behaved in the same
manner in the hope that he would secure an equal success, the taboo arising
from a false correlation between cause and effect.

I am only touching lightly on the questions of sin and sacredness in
order to make good my claim that the whole of human culture (in my sense

§ i5 1 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE PLACE 291

of the word 'culture') is founded on the reaction against the 'unusual'.
Having indicated in a general manner the nature of the connexion, I will
consider the places in which the manistic societies made their offerings
either to the power in the universe or to the dead. Like those of zoistic
societies these places were the 'unusual' places, but manistic societies
decorated and elaborated them, these elaborations being due, I submit,
to thought, reflection, and social energy. I will discuss these elaborations
in order, taking the least important first. In this connexion, however, it
must be remembered that our judgements concerning the comparative
importance of any cultural item have no permanent value, for sometimes
if one item has been described in great detail we assume that it is important
for that reason alone, a rite which is casually mentioned being dismissed
as insignificant. Yet often the paucity or abundance of our information is
due solely to the manner in which an observer has made his report; and
we shall come to a sorry pass if we minimize the importance of a rite simply
because an observer, possibly owing to his lack of knowledge, to a personal
disinterest, or to lack of time, has devoted only a few lines to its description.

The elaborations to which I refer consisted of the erection of platforms,
frameworks of sticks, and small huts.

Concerning four of our twenty-one manistic societies, New Britons,
Nandi, Amazulu, and Basuto, there is an almost complete lack of informa-
tion; a few facts can be gleaned concerning the places in which the
Ibibio, Sea-Dyaks, Akikuyu, Baronga, Tahitians, and Khasis performed
their rites ; but in the main the evidence in this connexion is derived from
the reports on the remaining eleven manistic societies, SE. Solomon
Islanders, Banyankole, Shilluk, Dinka, Lango, Akamba, Wayao, Anyanja,
Awemba, Baila, and Maori.

The Banks Island mar ana , to which I have already referred, was not
decorated in any way. It is an example of the 'cut-off' place (Lat. templum ;
Gk. temenos) in its simplest form. The Sea-Dyaks too (para. 139) placed
offerings before any remarkable rock, especially if it was in an isolated
position, but they are not said to have decorated the rock; and this is an
interesting phenomenon, for, as I noted when I described their culture,
it is doubtful whether the Sea-Dyaks were manistic or zoistic. By the
manistic Maori, however (para. 49; nn. 184, 186-7), tne 'cut-off' place,
tuahu, was slightly elaborated, and I think this is true also of the Kikuyu
village shrines (para. 85) of which we know little but which are said to
have been marked by specially gathered stones. Usually a Maori tuahu,
situated in the open air, was marked by a few rough stones ; but sometimes
the people erected a stone column. Such tuahu as these were small open
spaces in the bush or in a grove, chosen by a tohunga, or atua-mzn. Others
were indoors. Unfortunately these have not been described in detail; but
they seem to have possessed a tiepa, a framework of sticks or a platform
on which offerings were placed. These frameworks or platforms seem to
have existed also in other places out-of-doors, perhaps near the wai tapuy

292 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 151

sacred stream, where rites were regularly conducted. Frameworks of
sticks were erected also by the Dinka (para. 83). In the SE. Solomon
Islands (para. 33 ; n. 85) offerings were made in still more elaborate places.
The 'cut-off' places contained built-up altars, and were surrounded by
special stone walls, liliheu, like those which were erected to keep the pigs
out of the gardens. Inside the enclosure was the or a, sacrificial fire-place.
Trees were planted both inside and outside the wall. Another Oceanic
society also, that of the Tahitians (para. 133), erected platforms in the
marae, open space ; on these platforms were placed the offerings made to
atua. The Tahitian platform, ewatta, was raised on pillars, and seems to
have consisted of a thatch on four posts in front of which was placed the
lattice of sticks. The Banyankole (para. 37) erected shrines (concerning
which no details are available) at their bedsides or at the kraal gate, the
latter being a sacred place also among the Baila (n. 402). In the kraal of the
Ankole Mugabe ('king') there was a special place, kagondo, which was
'devoted to the shrines of past rulers'. No details are available concerning
either the kagondo or the shrines; but we may conclude, I think, that the
latter were noticeable features, or they would not have been mentioned
even in that vague manner. The Baila (n. 402) and Baronga (para. 93)
erected pronged poles (Ila Iwanga, Ronga nkonola) as places of offering.

From these vague indications of manistic enterprise, we turn to more
definite evidence. It concerns the relics of the dead. Some zoistic societies
preserved relics of their dead, but they neither made offerings to them nor
took any trouble to house them in any special manner. Thus the Purari
(para. 76) placed exhumed skulls in the corners of their houses, but no
regular attention was paid to these skulls, which were preserved but neither
propitiated nor honoured by the erection of special huts or shrines. Simi-
larly the zoistic Mailu (para. 78) placed some relics in the corners of their
houses. These were affectionately regarded, but no attempt was made
either to conciliate them or to build huts for them. The zoistic Andaman
Islanders too (para. 138) were accustomed to attach certain relics to their
persons, and carried them about 'for luck', as we should say, but no offer-
ings were made to these relics, which were worn in quite a careless manner.
Indeed the people used to exchange skulls, so that after a time no one knew
the identity of their original owners. Now manistic societies also preserved
relics, but in their case offerings were placed before them. Moreover,
special shrines and huts were built in which the relics were preserved.
Our authorities have told us few details, having concentrated on a descrip-
tion of the native beliefs, and neglected to describe the shrines which they
were seeing every day; but from the available evidence it is immediately
apparent that among the manistic societies there was an energy and an
enterprise which was lacking among the zoistic societies. Thus the
manistic Ibibio (para. 42), having exhumed the skull of a 'chief, placed
it on a post on the verandah or in a little shrine. The manistic Tahitians
(para. 133) kept the relics of ordinary persons in the house, displaying and

§ i5i THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE PLACE 293

propitiating them on certain occasions such as weddings. Those of famous
men were placed in the pyramidal stone structures which were erected in
the marae, open space. It was in front of these stone structures that the
altars and thatched huts were erected. The manistic SE. Solomon Islanders
(n. 79) preserved some relics in special relic-cases, these being placed and
conciliated in the house. They also built special relic-houses, tawau> in
which they preserved the relics of great men. These relic-houses were
equipped with an altar and sacrificial fire-place.

Similar houses were erected by deistic societies also. By some deistic
societies special temples were built for the relics of great men. Thus in
the Uganda malalo (n. 131) were placed the jaw-bone and umbilical cord
of a dead king, the malalo being specially erected for this purpose.

Among the deistic Yoruba (n. 153) a skull was sometimes exhumed and
placed in a small hut where offerings were made to it. Unfortunately we
know neither where the hut was erected nor what it looked like. In the
reports on the deistic Samoans (n. 197) we are told that there were some
small wooden houses from which a priest announced the will of his aitu.
It seems possible that this building contained some relics of the dead man.
The deistic Tongans too (n. 208) appear to have erected similar houses,
but we do not know what they contained. The reports are vaguely expressed
and the native terms are not quoted. The information in regard to the
'shrines' and temples of the deistic Bakitara (paras. 38, 40) is inexact; but
some of them seem to have contained relics.

If we collect all this scanty information we may say that manistic societies
preserved a different attitude towards the relics of their dead from that
which was characteristic of zoistic peoples. This difference is revealed not
only in offerings of conciliation but also in the erection of relic-houses in
which offerings were placed. I have already suggested that the acts of
memory (para. 149) and of conciliation (para. 1 50) were due to thought and
reflection ; my further submission is that the erection of altars and houses
was an exhibition of social energy.

Another elaboration introduced by manistic societies into the 'unusual'
place consisted of the erection of a small hut.

An 'unusual' place might be 'unusual' not only because of its peculiar
character or because a great man was buried there, but also because a
magician had dreamt that the power in the universe was there. A simple
instance is to be seen in the culture of the zoistic Ojibwa Indians (para. 113).
Old Jack dreamt that munedoo was manifest in a certain tree which was
taller than any other tree in the neighbourhood. He desired to share the
tree's virtue, so on returning from a successful hunt he placed some of his
best game at the foot of the tree. He did not decorate the tree, or place
a wall around it; it did not occur to him to erect a platform or a hut
beneath it. In his view these things were not worth while. Munedoo being
in the tree, he endeavoured to secure the help of munedoo by making a
simple offering. The same idea was current among some manistic peoples,

294 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 151

but in their case we find that the place was decorated and elaborated.
Thus, if among the manistic Akamba a 'prophetess' dreamt that ngai was
in a certain tree (para. 86), the tree became sacred, and a small hut, in
which offerings were placed, was erected on the spot. The native terms
are not quoted, nor is the hut described, but these details are available
concerning the small huts which were built under similar conditions by the
manistic Lango (para. 84), Mr. Driberg again being responsible for the
more accurate report. If a headman dreamt that jok was in a certain tree,
he went out at dawn, and standing at a safe distance (jok being dangerous)
asked the tree's advice and counsel (jok being precious to possess). If the
tree demanded a shrine, a diminutive hut was built consisting of a grass
roof supported on four posts one foot high, the hut being about eighteen
inches in diameter. This hut was called an abila; it was known also as
ot jok, house of jok. Food and drink were placed inside.

I call attention to the name 'house of jok\ If the Lango had exhibited
a greater energy than actually was the case, it is reasonable to suppose that
the house of jok would have been a larger and more elaborate structure.
Perhaps a caretaker would have been appointed, assisted by a medium who
would have revealed the will of jok. If their energy had been greater still,
they would have chosen other materials such as stone or brick; greater
thought would have been expended on the edifice, the interior of which
might have been decorated by mural paintings, and by the addition of an
altar. This building would have been called by the same name, house of
jok, and to the uprising generations jok would have appeared as a different
power than actually was the case. As things were, the manistic Lango
displayed only a small amount of energy, so the house of jok was small
and humble.

As we have seen, the manistic Akamba made offerings at many other
places than those of which a ngai- woman dreamt; indeed ithembo were
numerous ; but the Akamba are not reported as having erected huts either
at a dead magician's grave or at the places where anything unusual had
occurred. The manistic Lango, however, though less enterprising than the
deistic societies, exhibited a greater energy than the Akamba, for sometimes
they erected an abila to the ghost, tipo, of an individual dead man. This
abila was identical with an otjok, house oijok, the difference being that the
offerings were made to the dead man instead of to the power in the universe.
We do not know where these huts were erected. This detail, however, is
available in other cases, for example, that of the Baila. Inside the circle
of sticks, mabwabwa, which the manistic Baila (para. 92) planted round the
grave of a distinguished man a small hut was erected, consisting of a few
short uprights and a roof of grass ; offerings were placed inside it. We are
told that sometimes these huts were erected by the Baila in other places also,
but unfortunately we are not told how these places were selected. The
Baila manifested their energy also in another way. Sometimes an eminent
citizen was buried in the hut in which he had lived. At first this hut was

§ i5i THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE PLACE 295

kept in repair, but afterwards a new one, smaller and flimsier, was erected
(n. 4O2). Offerings were placed inside it.

This habit of erecting huts over the graves of the powerful dead was not
uncommon in the Area of Profound Mystery. For instance, the manistic
Awemba (para. 91) built large huts {mafuba} n. 393) over the graves of
their leading citizens. These were furnished; two wives of the deceased
remained to tend the ghost. We can deduce the size of these huts from the
fact that if the headman dreamt of the dead man, he went inside, made
obeisance and presented gifts of beer and tobacco. No such shrine was
erected over the grave of an ordinary man, who was tended in the house.
Probably among the manistic Baronga too (n. 408) similar huts were built
over the graves of some magicians, for although M. Junod has neither
described them, nor mentioned them in his narrative, he has published a
photograph of such an addition to the grave of a medicine-man. Obviously
the Wemba huts were of a more elaborate character than those of the Baila,
and, if our knowledge of Wemba culture were more extensive, I should be
inclined to argue that in this detail the Awemba exhibited a greater social
energy than the Baila. As it is, I draw attention to this cultural item among
the manistic societies which lived in the Area of Profound Mystery, and
leave the matter there. None of them affords such certain evidence as is
needed for an understanding of a cultural change.

By the manistic Wayao and Anyanja also (para. 98) grave-huts were
built. Among the former the hut consisted of a framework of bamboo and
a grass roof, the wall being left open on one side ; from the bamboo rafters
offerings were suspended. This hut was the village shrine. Similarly the
Anyanja built a kachisi over the grave of leading citizens, as well as at the
foot of any large tree (n. 446). Offerings were made there to mulungu
and /or mzimu. The Yao hut does not appear to have been a larger edition
of the Lango abila ; it seems to have been an elaboration of the framework
of sticks to which I have already referred.

Grave-huts were erected also by the manistic Dinka (para. 83), the
graves being those of their most distinguished men. Information is scarce
in their reference; the native words are not quoted, and no description of
any particular hut is available. We know, however, that Deng-dit and his
sons were honoured in this manner, their shrines being tended by a special
caretaker.

It is unfortunate that our knowledge of Dinka practices is so limited,
for it seems possible that these Deng-dit huts were erected in places other
than his burial-place. If that was so, such cenotaphic huts would be an
important cultural item; but, although their existence seems to be implied
in the scanty reports, a definite conclusion is impossible. Moreover, there
was great confusion in the native mind between Deng-dit and jok; so even
if a hut had been erected in another place than over the grave, it might
have been built in honour of jok and not of Deng-dit.

Among our manistic societies an instance of a cenotaphic grave-hut is

296 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 151

found only among the Shilluk (para. 82). The Shilluk distinguished
between the grave of a commoner and that of a ret ('king') by calling the
former roro and the latter kengo. The word kengo was applied also to the
hut which was erected over the great man's grave. The Shilluk were not
content to build this single hut ; they erected kengo also in other places in
addition to that in which the man was buried. Most of these cenotaphic
buildings were smaller and more slender than ordinary living-huts, but
larger and more elaborate examples were not unknown, some being
decorated by mural designs. Certain old women and some of the wives
of the dead man lived near the kengo and kept it clean. The oting ret,
magicians who were inspired by the ghost, were attached to its service.

Thus among manistic societies the place of offering was the 'unusual'
place, but certain elaborations had been introduced. In the place which
was unusual owing to its peculiar character a platform was erected ; some-
times a fire-place also was provided; in other cases a small hut was built.
Similar platforms and huts were erected also in other places which possessed
a peculiar sanctity. A framework of sticks might be erected, which in some
cases developed into a three-sided hut. Sticks might be planted around
the graves of distinguished men; these took root and grew, and in a few
years a sacred grove was formed. In the place which was unusual as the
result of a magician's dream a small hut was erected ('house of god'), these
huts being larger in some cases than others. Similar huts were built over
the graves of some distinguished men. In the available reports we can
trace the development of this hut from a diminutive erection into a large
decorated building; in one case, perhaps in another case also, such a build-
ing was erected elsewhere than in the place where the man was buried.

My suggestion is that the erection of these huts was an exhibition of
energy, and apparently the amount of this energy was greater among some
manistic societies than others. Thus in this detail the change from the
zoistic to the manistic condition seems to have been due to a factor which
produced or intensified human energy. This factor must have been absent
in zoistic societies but present in manistic societies. Moreover, it must
have been present to a greater degree in some manistic societies than in
others.

In a previous paragraph (para. 149) I placed six manistic societies on a
scale according to the length of time during which they remembered and
placated a powerful ghost. They arranged themselves in this order, those
with the shortest memory being placed first :

ri. Akamba.
Tendance I 2. Wayao.

only I 3. Lango.

^4. Dinka.

Tendance and J 5. SE. Solomon Islanders.
Cult \6. Shilluk.

§151 THE 'UNUSUAL' AS THE PLACE 297

The amount of energy displayed by these societies was also uneven. It
can be roughly assessed by considering the manner in which they elaborated
their sacred places. According to this criterion they arrange themselves
thus:

1, 2, 3. Akamba, Wayao, Lango — small huts;

4. Dinka — huts (not described); possibly cenotaphic huts;

5. SE. Solomon Islanders — relic-houses with altars and fire-places;
sanctuaries equipped with fire-places and surrounded by a wall ;

6. Shilluk — large elaborate cenotaphic grave-huts, built in special
enclosures, sometimes decorated with mural paintings.

It will be noticed that those societies which remembered and placated
a powerful ghost for the longest period were also those which manifested
the greatest energy. Moreover, those two societies, SE. Solomon Islanders
and Shilluk, which introduced the greatest elaborations into their sacred
places, and among which a sense of the past was most highly developed,
were also those the post-funeral rites of which partook of the nature of
cult as well as of tendance. Thus according to three different standards of
judgement these were the most developed manistic societies.

Now we will consider the places in which the deistic societies conducted
their rites.

We call them deistic because they erected temples (para. 7) ; and a study
of the native terminology (so far as it is available) reveals that these temples
were simply either elaborate cenotaphic grave-huts or larger editions of
such buildings as the Lango ot jok, house of jok ; and the difference in this
connexion between a manistic and a deistic society lay in the extent of the
elaborations introduced into the 'unusual' or sacred places, that is to say,
in the extent of its energy. Thus the factor responsible for the change
from the manistic to the deistic condition seems to have been one which
intensified social energy, and to have been the same as that which produced
the change from the zoistic to the manistic condition. It must have been
present in deistic societies, however, to a greater degree than in any
manistic society, for the energy of the deistic societies was greater than
that of any manistic society.

In the reports on the deistic societies the native terms have not always
been quoted; nor have many of the temples been described. The follow-
ing is a summary of the evidence which is available.

The Fijians (para. 34) built small huts, mbure kalou, over the graves of
some distinguished men ; this name was applied also to the larger structures
which they used as temples. In the erection of the temples no pains were
spared, each one being built on a separate mound of earth and approached
by a winding path or steep slope. The word mbure meant 'house', a house
of kalou being the exact equivalent of the 'house of jok' which was erected
by the manistic Lango. The difference between the Fijian mbure kalou
and the Lango ot jok lay in the character of the building, the former being
a large and complicated structure, the latter a small hut a foot high.

298 ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 152

A Samoan temple (para. 50) was called fale-aitu, 'house of aitu\ Some
Samoan temples had a stone floor and roof, this being an indication of
a greater social energy than that exhibited by the Fijians. The Samoans
are not reported as having erected huts over graves.

The Tongan temples (para. 51) were like ordinary houses, but more
care was taken both in building them and in keeping them clean. The native
word was fale-tapu, sacred house, or fale-lotu, house of supplication. The
same words seem to have been applied to the huts which were erected over
some graves.

There is no information in regard to the words used by the Yoruba
(para. 42), Dahomans (para. 99), and Ashanti (para. 100) to denote a
temple; nor do we possess any detailed descriptions of their temples.
Plainly, however, their culture was of a similar pattern to that of the other
societies, for over the grave of a Dahoman and of an Ashanti king a hut
was erected wherein the dead man was tended, special women (Dahoman
tonsino, Ashanti barimfo) being detailed for this task.

I have already noted that some of the temples erected by the deistic
Samoans, Tongans, Bakitara, and Baganda appear to have been relic-
houses of a specially elaborate nature. In some cases the Kitara and
Uganda temples may have been additional houses in which the priests
kept their paraphernalia. The evidence, however, has not been stated
clearly.

There is no information in regard to the words which the Gilbert
Islanders and Aztecs used for their temples. We only know that the build-
ings were of a complicated character.

This concludes our analysis and appraisement of the cultural evidence.
I will summarize the results we have obtained.

152. Summary of the Foregoing. 1. In the opinion of zoistic uncivilized
men there was a strange, mysterious, dangerous quality in anything unusual
or beyond their comprehension. This quality was manifest in outstanding
natural features, in stones of unusual shape or uncommon type, in a violent
death, in the birth of twins, in the female menses, in the white man and the
articles of his equipment, in an unaccountable sickness, and in any other
event, incident, article, or machine the nature of which was not understood.
If a man exhibited exceptional skill in any department of human activity
or fell into an ecstatic condition, he was credited with the possession of
this quality or power, and became what we call a magician.

2. The word which denoted this quality is untranslatable. The transla-
tions which have been made are unacceptable and misleading because they

(a) represent it as an entity;

(b) suggest that different powers were in different places;

(c) destroy its comprehensive meaning.

On these translations Sir E. B. Tylor founded his theory of animism.
A knowledge of this theory on the part of observers and travellers has been

§152 SUMMARY 299

responsible for many unsatisfactory descriptions of uncivilized culture,
such descriptions being based on false inferences from the observed facts.

Upon the animistic theory also some other unacceptable theories in
regard to human culture have been based, uncivilized men being repre-
sented as

(a) inquiring into the causes of things, the truth being that they accept
the 'usual' without question or inquiry;

(b) conducting a worship of nature qua nature, whereas they revere
only those natural features which possess unusual characteristics ;

(c) conceiving of a ubiquity of 'spirits', whereas the power in the
universe was manifest only in 'unusual' places.

3 . It has been suggested that as man evolved from a primeval condition
animism was replaced by polytheism and that polytheism gave way to
monotheism. Such evolutionary theories are inadmissible because

(a) there is no reason to suppose that the ideas of that hypothetical
organism, primeval man, were the same as those of uncivilized
societies ;

(b) the replacement of animism by polytheism is based on the false
assumption that 'spiritual beings' were ubiquitous;

(c) they are founded on a study of 'beliefs' which cannot be accurately
studied apart from the rites which are based upon them ;

(d) even if the beliefs have been reported without preconceptions or
subjective intrusion on the part of the observer, there is no definite
criterion by which we may judge whether an idea is that of a spirit
or that of a god ;

(e) they assume (i) that all uncivilized ideas are primitive and therefore
identical, (ii) that our own culture is founded on a different basis
from that of uncivilized culture ; whereas the truth is that uncivilized
ideas vary between wide limits and that our own culture is founded
on the same basis as uncivilized culture.

4. A zoistic society which applied the same word to (i) anything unusual,
(ii) the source of magic power, (iii) the corpses or ghosts of powerful men,
was at a dead level of conception. The recipient of its offerings was the
power in the universe. The place in which the offerings were made was
the unusual place. The objects of these offerings were identical with those
of the payments made to a living magician, the offerings being designed
either to ward off the danger of the power or to secure its help.

From a dead level of conception our manistic and deistic societies appear
to have developed.

5. In a manistic society the power in the universe was still the strange
power manifested in anything unusual or beyond comprehension; but
there was a difference in the attitude of the people towards the powerful
dead. Payments were made to powerful men not only when they were
alive but also after they were dead, these men being individually remem-
bered for varying lengths of time.

3oo ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL EVIDENCE § 152

Among the majority of our manistic societies these offerings were
designed to ward off danger (tendance), but in two cases, those of the SE.
Solomon Islanders and Shilluk, they were also made to secure the help of
a powerful dead man (cult). These two societies also remembered and
conciliated their powerful dead for a longer period than the other manistic
societies.

Manistic offerings, like zoistic offerings, were made in 'unusual' places,
but by manistic societies these places were decorated and elaborated by the
erection of huts, the provision of fire-places, and the building of platforms.
In this connexion the SE. Solomon Islanders and the Shilluk displayed

the greatest energy.

My suggestion is that the introduction of post-funeral attention and the
act of memory were due to thought and reflection, and that the elaboration
of the places in which the offerings were made was due to an energy lacking
among zoistic societies. Thus the factor responsible for the change from
the zoistic to the manistic condition must be one that produces thought,
reflection, and energy. It must have been absent from the zoistic societies,
but present in all the manistic societies. Moreover, it must have been
present to a greater degree among the SE. Solomon Islanders and Shilluk
than among the other manistic societies.

6. Our deistic societies also reacted strongly to anything unusual or
beyond their comprehension, but their offerings were usually made to the
powers that were manifest in their temples. A study of the native ter-
minology shows that these powers were the ghosts of powerful dead men,
the difference in this connexion between a manistic and a deistic society
being that by the latter these men were remembered for a longer period
than they were by the former.

Deistic offerings were made in specially erected houses which were
elaborations of the huts built by manistic societies.

Thus a change from the manistic to the deistic condition was of the same
nature as a change from the zoistic to the manistic condition, the difference
being that both the memory and the energy were intensified. The factor
responsible for the change, therefore, must have been one which intensified
thought, reflection, and social energy. Moreover, it must have been the
same factor as was responsible for the change from the zoistic to the manis-
tic condition, but operating to a greater degree in deistic societies than in
any manistic society.
Now the evidence is:

1. All the zoistic societies permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom; con-
versely, all the societies which permitted that freedom were in the zoistic
condition.

2. All the manistic societies had adopted such regulations as compelled
an irregular or occasional continence ; conversely, all the societies which
had adopted such regulations were in the manistic condition.

The two societies, SE. Solomon Islanders and Shilluk, which remembered

§ i52 SUMMARY 301

and conciliated their illustrious dead for a longer period than the other
manistic societies, which introduced more elaborations into the 'unusual'
place, and which conducted a cult as well as a tendance of the dead, in-
sisted on a greater degree of continence than their manistic neighbours.

3. All the deistic societies insisted on pre-nuptial chastity; conversely,
all the societies which insisted on pre-nuptial chastity were in the deistic
condition.

Is there any causal relationship between the compulsory continence and
the thought, reflection, and energy which produced the change from one
cultural condition to another? Psychology, not social anthropology, must
answer the question.

One thing is certain: if a causal relation exist, the continence must have
caused the thought, not the thought the continence. There is no possibility,
for instance, that the thought which produced the cultural advance was
responsible for the reduction of sexual opportunity. This is important.
Crediting zoistic men with mental processes which are peculiar to rational-
ists, an unwary student might think that continued failure to account for
and to cure their misfortunes would awaken the power of reason in zoistic
men, and that they would then change not only their cultural habits but
also their sexual regulations. A little reflection on the actual facts reveals
the unacceptable character of the suggestion.

In the first place, if failure to produce the desired results by magic
awakens the power of reason, how is it that some societies remain zoistic?
We should have expected them to change their habits as soon as they fail
to fulfil their desires by zoistic methods.

Secondly, there is no reason to think that uncivilized men apply their
reason to their sexual regulations; rather do they incline to defend their
established customs. In this year of grace nineteen hundred and thirty-
two we are applying our reason to our sexual regulations ; but that is only
because our ideas have changed from deistic to rationalistic. We used to
accept our sexual regulations as part of the revealed will of a creative
deity; the members of the deistic stratum in our society still hold that
opinion ; but we who are now rationalists must not credit uncivilized men
with our method of thinking. The demand among uncivilized peoples for
an irregular or an occasional continence or for pre-nuptial chastity was
not made either on cultural or on rational grounds. Among many societies
there seems to have been a close relation between the bride-price and the
reservation to her betrothed of a girl's sexual qualities. The Awemba
(para. 91) and Wayao (para. 97) are cases in point.

Thirdly, we are too ready to believe that the methods of uncivilized
men end in failure. As a matter of fact the alleged failure exists only in
our minds. To the native there is no failure; a perfectly rational and satis-
factory explanation is forthcoming. The alleged failure, therefore, of a
zoistic native to account for his misfortunes cannot produce thought and
reflection for the simple reason that in his opinion the failure does not

302 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 153

exist. Thus the members of a zoistic society are convinced that a magician
can make rain; upon this assumption they base their behaviour. If the
magician fails, they conclude either that he is lazy or that another and more
powerful magician is making doses of sunshine. Granted the premise, the
conclusion follows. Granted the premise, the conclusion is also rational.
The magician's failure never causes the people to doubt the accuracy of
their premise. This is changed only when the power of reason has been
awakened or intensified. And the evidence is that this happens only when
the sexual opportunity of the society has been limited. Then the behaviour
of the society changes in accordance with the new ideas.

Similarly when manistic (tendance) societies are being afflicted by some
misfortunes not due to witchcraft, they conclude that some powerful dead
man is angry with them and that their sufferings have been inflicted by him.
So they try to conciliate him by making offerings to him. If their sufferings
are not relieved, they do not doubt the accuracy of their diagnosis; they
conclude either that the offering has been rejected or that they have con-
ciliated the wrong man. In neither case are thought and reflection induced
by the failure to achieve the desired end ; nor is the sleeping power of reason
awakened by the continuance of the sufferings after the offerings have been
made. Indeed the contrary is the case. The society retains a firm faith in
its old ideas and continues to base its behaviour upon them. The ideas are
changed only when the sexual opportunity of the society has been limited,
new ideas being adopted according to the intensity of the compulsory
continence which the new regulations impose.

If, therefore, there is any causal relationship between a reduction of
sexual opportunity and cultural condition, the continence must have
caused the thought which produced the change in ideas, and so the cultural
change. The contrary cannot have been the case.

We will ask the psychologists if in their opinion the limitation of sexual
opportunity can have acted in this manner.

B. SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS

153. Origin of Psycho- Analysis. Among the conclusions drawn from the
results of recent psychological research, two are important for our purpose :
the first is that a considerable part of any man's temperament and disposi-
tion is the product of his experiences during childhood and puberty ; the
second is that, if a man's sexual impulses cannot be satisfied in a direct
animal manner, they will inevitably be expressed in another form. These
are not mere philosophical speculations; they were formulated after due
consideration had been given to the results of original research into the
nature of neurosis. Some people will accept them at once; others may
desire a summary of competent opinion. So I will state as shortly and as
simply as I can the evidence on which the conclusions are based. I can
make, of course, no personal contribution on the subject; I can merely

§ is3 ORIGIN OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 303

repeat the pronouncements of those who are worthy to be heard. It will
be convenient if I make my quotations from simple text-books which are
readily accessible.

During the last twenty years of the nineteenth century great interest was
taken in the symptoms and treatment of hysteria. Some medical practi-
tioners, experimenting with treatment under hypnosis, found that a disease
like paralysis could be brought about arbitrarily during hypnotic sleep
merely by suggesting to the hypnotized patient that a limb was paralysed.
They discovered also that the symptoms of hysteria could be induced
in a similar manner. Naturally the obvious conclusion was drawn: if it
was possible to induce the symptoms during hypnotic sleep, it might be
equally possible to remove them under the same conditions. Experiments
showed that indeed this was the case. Thus it seemed probable that the
causes of many mental disturbances were not physiological, as had been
supposed, but psychological. As a consequence, a new theory was formu-
lated which has become generally accepted, viz. that the symptoms of
hysteria are not always evidence of degeneration or of physical derange-
ment but are sometimes the result of some suggestion or impression which
unwittingly the patient has received.

With these discoveries the names of J. Breuer and Sigmund Freud will
always be associated.

The manner in which the symptoms were removed is important. It was
discovered that under hypnosis patients were able to describe events which
normally they were unable to recall to conscious memory, and that they
were able to answer questions in regard to those events which normally
they were unable or unwilling to answer. For instance, a woman who
suffered from unaccountable fits of dread whenever she saw a fire was able,
in a hypnotic condition, to relate a terrifying incident which had occurred
during a conflagration in the time of her childhood. When she had described
the original incident, and expressed some of the emotions which had
accompanied it, the hysterical symptoms disappeared.

It was not only under hypnosis that such patients were cured of their
disturbances. If the forgotten incident could be brought back to conscious
memory under ordinary conditions, the effect was the same: the patient
was relieved of his symptoms by the promotion into consciousness of
emotions which up to then had been unconsciously retained. Thus Dr.
W. H. R. Rivers found that a complicated case of claustrophobia was cured
after the patient had succeeded in recalling and describing the incident
which had given rise to the claustrophobic reaction; in this case it was
the confinement of the patient, at the age of three or four, in a dark
passage with a strange, growling dog. The recovery by the conscious mind
of this forgotten incident had an immediate effect, and the old fear was
dispelled.638

Men discovered too that psychologically mental disturbances and morbid
symptoms could be caused in another way also. Instead of being the mani-

304 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 153

festation of the emotions connected with a terrifying event, they might be
produced by a repression of feeling. Thus a girl who had nursed her
father in a serious illness became afflicted after his death by a strange
disorder. She contracted paralysis of the right arm, and was unable to
speak her native language. Other morbid symptoms also were present in
her case, for she had been unable to give rein to her feelings in the presence
of her sick father and had been compelled to repress certain emotions that
arose in her heart. It was discovered that her symptoms were closely related
to the repressed emotions, for, as she related the unfortunate incidents
which had given rise to those emotions, her condition improved. When
she had expressed all the emotions which were associated with the memor-
ies, the symptoms disappeared.639

From such successes as these two conclusions were drawn : (1) that in the
minds of these patients there existed an unconscious element of which they
were unaware, (2) that the mental disturbances were the product of that
unconscious element. Thus in their treatment of hysteria the pioneer
doctors tried to delve deeply into the past experiences of their patients and
to persuade them to recall events and emotions which previously had been
banished, wittingly or unwittingly, into their unconscious minds; and it
was the promotion into consciousness of the forgotten incident which
dispelled the mental disturbances. Dr. Freud says: 'Always and every-
where the meaning of the symptoms is unknown to the sufferer; analysis
invariably shows that these symptoms are derived from unconscious mental
processes which under various favourable conditions can become conscious.
. . . Not merely is the meaning of the symptom invariably unconscious;
there exists also a connexion of a substitutive nature between the two ; the
existence of the symptom is only possible by reason of this unconscious
activity. Every time we meet with a symptom we may conclude that
definite unconscious activities which contain the meaning of the symptom
are present in the patient's mind. Conversely, this meaning must be un-
conscious before a symptom can arise from it. Symptoms are not produced
by conscious processes ; as soon as the unconscious processes involved are
made conscious, the symptom must vanish.'640

Now all the patients whom the doctors examined were members of the
white man's society, and in the last twenty years of the nineteenth century
every individual born into that society was compelled, and usually is still
compelled, to repress not only his emotional reaction to some particular
event or person but also some of his innate desires ; for the social system
was, and in most cases is still, such as to inflict certain limitations upon
them. Foremost among these innate desires are those connected with sex;
and, as the analysts penetrated more and more into the life-history of their
patients, they found that a large number of hysterical symptoms were due to
the repression of desires and emotions which belonged to that extensive
category. So great, indeed, was the proportion of such cases that Dr. Freud
was compelled to conclude that the repression of sexual impulses 'played a

§ 153 ORIGIN OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 305

particularly large part, never before sufficiently appreciated, in the causa-
tion of nervous and mental disturbances'.

Dr. Freud has been much criticized for the emphasis which he placed on
the effect of sexual repressions, but it is not surprising that a large number
of his patients had failed to adapt themselves to their cultural environment,
for, when his researches were being conducted, the white man's inherited
tradition contained (and still does contain) many factors which placed a
more effective check upon normal sexual intercourse than had been known
in any previous civilization. It is true that recently in many sections of the
white man's society there has been a considerable extension of both pre-
nuptial and post-nuptial sexual opportunity; but this is not the tradition in
which Dr. Freud's patients were reared. They had been subjected not only
to stern post-nuptial regulations but also to the operation of certain ideas
which were equally, if not more, effective in preventing normal intercourse,
especially at puberty. I refer to the teaching that pre-nuptial intercourse
is a sin and that post-nuptial intercourse is a concession to the flesh. If we
accept the usual interpretation of the appropriate passages in the New
Testament (Matt. v. 32, xix, 9; Mark x, 2-12; Luke xvi. 18), we must
conclude that the Founder of Christianity forbade divorce, at any rate
except for adultery. The white man's post-nuptial regulations used to be
based on that teaching, but it is doubtful if they affected pre-nuptial sexual
opportunity as much as the (at one time literal) interpretation of the
teaching of Paul of Tarsus : 'It is better to marry than to burn' (1 Cor. vii.
9). Among all nineteenth-century white men there was a sense of shame
and sin in regard to sexual intercourse which still exists among many
twentieth-century white men; and this sense of shame was, and is, respon-
sible for as many, if not more, sexual repressions than the social regulations
which merely punish sexual lapses. This, I think, accounts at least in part
for the preponderance of morbid symptoms which seemed to arise from
sexual repressions ; and it was unfortunate that the prominence given to the
discussion of sexual repressions should have caused so much misunder-
standing of, and hostility towards, Dr. Freud's suggestions. The peculiar
atmosphere which used to surround, and in some places still surrounds,
any discussion of sex, and which was produced by those ideas of shame and
sin to which I have referred, prevented an objective discussion of a purely
pathological subject. Consequently Dr. Freud's aims were distorted and
his theories misconstrued. Indeed such a storm of vituperation fell upon
him that there seemed to be a chance of his ideas being prematurely con-
signed to the limbo of unacceptable hypotheses. Moreover his popularity,
albeit unsought, with those who wished to abolish all sexual taboos did not
assist his cause. Eventually, however, like all valuable contributions to
knowledge, his basic hypotheses proved their worth, and after a time he
regained the ears of the elect. The evidence being overwhelming, his
suggestions were quietly adopted. Yet it is well to remember that, in
addressing a cultivated audience only a few years ago (1917), Dr. Rivers

x

3o6 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 153

felt constrained to ask if we are 'to reject with contumely a helping hand
because it sometimes leads us to discover unpleasant aspects of human
nature'.641

The sense of shame and sin which accompanied any sexual urge, and
even any discussion of sexual urges, was responsible also for another and
equally important phenomenon. We have seen that, when a mental distur-
bance has been caused by a repression of feeling, it can be dispelled only
by the promotion into consciousness of the repressed emotions. Now when
Dr. Freud tried to relieve the symptoms caused by a repression of sexual
impulses, he found that his patients put up a stout resistance to the progress
of the analytic treatment. He concluded, therefore, that powerful forces
were at work opposing the continuance of the confession, and suspected that
these were the forces which originally induced the mental derangement.
He says: 'It follows from the existence of a symptom that some mental
process has not been carried through to an end in a normal manner, so that
it could become conscious ; the symptom is a substitute for that which has
not come through. A vehement effort must have been exercised to prevent
the mental process from penetrating into consciousness and as a result it
has remained unconscious ; being unconscious it had the power to construct
a symptom. The same vehement effort is again at work during the analytic
treatment, opposing the attempt to bring the unconscious into conscious-
ness.'642

The powerful forces which caused this vehement effort in the case of
sexual impulses were, of course, none other than the ideas and regulations
which controlled the sexual opportunity of the individual. Each child born
into the white man's society had to be moulded to the social order. Conse-
quently he had to contain himself on those occasions on which either the
white man's law or his accepted conventions forbade direct sexual inter-
course.

The evidence is, then, that mental disturbances may be produced
either by an unusually terrifying incident in childhood or by the repression
of emotions. Wittingly or unwittingly the emotions are banished from
the conscious mind and form themselves into an unconscious element
which is manifest in the morbid symptoms, their connexion with those
symptoms being proved by the fact that as soon as the emotions are made
conscious the symptoms disappear. If the social system demands an in-
tense sexual continence, a large part of the unconscious mind will consist
of the emotions and conflicts caused by the compulsory repressions.

As I have said, these are no academic theories, farrowed in the cloister;
they were formulated as the result of long patient research into the funda-
mental character of neurosis.

Now if, in cases which we call abnormal, the experiences in childhood
and the repressions, if any, of innate desires form a dominating unconscious
element in the human mind, do they also exercise a predominating influence
in cases which we call normal ? Inevitably the psychologists have answered

§ 153 ORIGIN OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 307

this question in the affirmative. Each one of us possesses some curious
characteristics of which we are unaware; we react to particular incidents
quickly and without deliberation. Sometimes these dispositional traits are
of great, sometimes of little, importance, but they are always better known
to our intimates than to ourselves. Just as in hysterical people unconscious
feelings and thoughts are manifest in their mental disturbances, so also in
people whom we call normal 'expressions occur which have no apparent
relation to the conscious mind'. Van der Hoop says : 'Usually we learn more
about any one 's unconscious life by these small weaknesses than by his dreams
or conscious disturbances. His whole emotional life is revealed rather by
small occurrences and delicate shades of expression than by violent out-
bursts. Though sometimes it may be difficult to prove the existence of
such unconscious qualities of the mind, we shall find that quite ordinary
people usually know very well how to interpret these small weaknesses
which they observe in some one with whom they have daily intercourse.
The psycho-analytical method by which we search into the depths of
the unconscious is by no means the only way to attain self-knowledge.
Great men, through all the ages, have succeeded in gaining this self-know-
ledge, and developing themselves, by methods which every one is free to
use, and of which psycho-analysis is a somewhat more technical and syste-
matic expansion. We can bring our hidden unconscious processes to the
light of consciousness simply by observing our expressions and our relations
to other people, and by studying the way other people react to these expres-
sions. We shall then begin to understand how our character is gradually
modified by experience and circumstances, and we shall see the inter-
relation between our past and present emotions, which are the outcome
and expression of a similar impulse, however much they may have changed
in the course of time. The actions and relationships of normal people
depend upon the conditions and emotions of their childhood, and are
chiefly explained by them, just as the morbid symptoms of a patient are
caused by the emotions and circumstances of childhood which prepared
the way for the later neurotic reaction.'643

Dr. Rivers has published a similar opinion. Commenting on the case
of claustrophobia to which I have referred, he remarks: 'Psychological
literature contains many similar histories. I take this case of claustrophobia
as an example partly because, having come under my own notice, I am able
to estimate its worth. It was possible to obtain conclusive evidence that the
infantile experience had really occurred and was neither the fancy of the
patient nor the result of suggestion on the part of the physician. . . . This
patient not only affords conclusive evidence for the existence of experience
shut off from consciousness under ordinary conditions ; his case shows that
this experience, though inaccessible to consciousness directly, may yet be
capable of affecting it indirectly. His dread of confined spaces had so
definite a relation to the early experience that the two were undoubtedly
connected, while the complete disappearance of his claustrophobia, after

308 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 153

bringing the long dormant experience to the surface, affords further evi-
dence in the same direction.' Dr. Rivers then pursues his conclusions
further, taking it for granted that an unconscious element exists not only
in cases which we call abnormal but also in those which we call normal.
He admits that the average student of human affairs can rarely experience
an instance of such a 'dramatic and conclusive character' as this case of
claustrophobia, and that 'the records of others can never carry the convic-
tion which comes from one's own experience' ; so he suggests that 'one who
wishes to satisfy himself whether or no unconscious experience exists should
subject his own life-history to the severest scrutiny, either aided by another
in a course of psycho-analysis, or, though less satisfactory and less likely to
convince, by a process of self-analysis'.644

For my own part I cannot doubt that any one who adopts this suggestion
will be persuaded that the psycho-analysts were right when they asserted
the existence of an unconscious element in the mind of every human
organism. Dr. Freud endeavoured to demonstrate its existence by the
same methods as those by which he had proved the psychological origin
of many mental disturbances ; he studied the psychology of errors and the
nature of dreams, and suggested that the former were caused by the
operation of unconscious tendencies and that the latter were symbolic
representations of an unfulfilled desire. Doubtless in many cases both
these things are true, but in this matter it is better, I think, to rely upon the
unaided human reason than upon further experiment. As Dr. Rivers
implies, the existence of an Unconscious in every human being follows
from a correct understanding of the medical evidence. It is further attested
by the knowledge which is gained by every individual who has the capacity,
inclination, and courage to subject himself to a stern self- analysis. We may
state the matter in general terms by saying that a child's early environment
has a preponderating influence on the development of its emotional life
and that the disposition of an adult is the product of interplay between
past and present emotions. Just as the morbid symptoms of an abnormal
patient are produced by the emotional conflicts and the experiences of
childhood, so the actions and attitudes of those individuals whom we call
normal depend upon the conditions and emotions of their childhood.
Gradually their characters are modified by circumstances, being greatly
affected by an unconscious life which is closely related to infantile emotions.
It is impossible to gauge the effect which any particular infantile experience
will produce, but manifestly every experience leaves its mark. Every hasty
word and angry retort, every sympathetic smile and loving caress, every
joy, every disappointment, every detail of adult behaviour in the child's
presence and every incident of which the child is the witting or unwitting
spectator — all these things accumulate in the child's receptive mind. The
memory of them having passed away, they form themselves into an Uncon-
scious which has a dominating influence upon subsequent conduct and
behaviour. A child that is surrounded by an atmosphere of harmony and

§ 154 SOCIAL NATURE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS 309

peace will grow into a different man from that which he would have been
had he been subjected to the conflicting emotions produced by a rough and
hostile environment; the plastic mind of an infant that spends his early
years under the affectionate care of tender-minded adults will develop in a
different manner from his contemporary whose mind is subjected to the
experience of discordant wrangles and jangles. The various characteristics
of normal people are produced by former circumstances and conflicts, the
emotional experiences of childhood exercising a predominating influence
on adult disposition and development.

To some students this will seem trite and commonplace, whilst for others
it will be necessary to emphasize the fact. I submit the conclusion not as a
personal opinion but as a logical development from the indubitable results
of medical research. In this year of grace nineteen hundred and thirty- two,
there is a widespread opinion that each child born into the world is a fresh
individuation; our lyrical poets seek to free themselves from society in
order to be 'themselves' ; and upon an attempt to isolate an individual from
the society of which he is a member most modern educational philosophies
are founded. Yet the plain fact remains that as soon as we leave our mothers'
wombs we are subjected to a multitude of influences which willy-nilly
affect, and even create, our subsequent dispositions. It is impossible to
obtain any inductive evidence in regard to the inheritance of these disposi-
tional traits, for we cannot study the disposition of any human being before
he is born, and as soon as he is born he is subject to a cultural environment ;
but upon the evidence which the psychologists have accumulated we must
conclude that many of these traits are due to the early environment. Since
the emotions which are aroused by infantile experiences form themselves
into an unconscious element, and since in most cases that unconscious ele-
ment exercises a dominating influence over subsequent reactions, how is it
possible to regard a new generation as anything but a product of social
forces ? The whole trend of psychological research contradicts the opinion
to which I have referred, but lest the powerful egoism which prevails in
our present culture vitiate our understanding of the psychological evidence,
I will consider the matter at greater length. I wish to make another point
also. I not only submit that in the mind of nearly every human being there
is a dominating unconscious element which has been created by the experi-
ences and emotional conflicts of early childhood; I also suggest that this
dominating unconscious element is a social product. I will relate the
experiences and conclusions of an American practitioner, Dr. Trigant
Burrow.

154. Social Nature of the Unconscious. Dr. Burrow says: 'What we call
the individual is by no means the fresh and native expression of individu-
ality pure and simple that we are accustomed to assume; rather he is an
individuation resulting from the repressive forces acting upon him from
the environmental social aggregate in which he himself is but an intrinsic

3I0 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 154

and contributory element. Every individual arising amid the influences of
the social system is but a special application of the social system about him.
Whatever the code of the consensus, the individual is necessarily an off-
print of it.'

The incident which brought this truth home to Dr. Burrow's mind was
of a peculiar character. It shows how greatly every man is affected by his
unconscious mind. It shows also that scientifically it is impossible to speak
either of a normal or of an abnormal person.

Dr. Burrow was engaged in analysing one of his students when the
latter challenged his master's honesty. He insisted that Dr. Burrow was
being influenced by other motives than an objective analysis of his mind.
He would only be convinced of Dr. Burrow's sincerity, he said, if Dr.
Burrow submitted himself to be analysed by him. Dr. Burrow was pleased
to indulge what appeared to him as a wayward impulse of an inexperienced
young man, so they exchanged places, Dr. Burrow becoming the patient,
the pupil taking his master's chair. After a time this situation, accepted
with levity, became profoundly serious. At the outset Dr. Burrow's resis-
tances became noticeable, then insuperable ; and the longer the examination
proceeded, the tighter his resistances took hold of him. Deeply mortified,
Dr. Burrow faced the indubitable fact, and reflected upon the position.
At length it became clear that the student was preserving towards his
master a no less proprietary and personal attitude than his master had
preserved towards him, the adoption of that attitude having been the
cause of the original dispute. This was significant, and both men had to
admit that this attitude was what Dr. Burrow calls authoritarian, depending
upon the occupancy of the master's chair. When they exchanged places,
he who began as a patient had stepped into a position of authority; as soon
as he was protected by the appropriate background the authoritarian atti-
tude was expressed. Moreover, the use which was made of the authori-
tarian position was dictated by the unconscious mind of its holder, the
conclusion being that while conducting his analysis any practising psycho-
analyst is as much controlled by his unconscious mind as the patient whose
mind he is analysing.

Some time elapsed before Dr. Burrow was driven to this conclusion by
a calm examination of his own resistances, but finally he was convinced of
it. He states the matter thus : 'It has not yet been recognized that we who
are psycho-analysts are ourselves theorists, that we also are very largely
misled by an unconscious that is social, that we too are neurotic in so far as
every expression but that of life in its native simplicity is neurotic. Our
disharmony is a phase of that widely diffused neurosis that exists under the
prevailing social consensus represented in its normal adaptation. As with
others, who have been inured to the curriculum of daily adaptation from the
impressionable years of earliest childhood, so with ourselves ; it is well nigh
impossible to study the virgin soil of consciousness from our present adap-
tive premise without vitiating our conclusions with the bias of our own

§ i54 SOCIAL NATURE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS 311

adaptation.'645 In a word, every practising psycho-analyst is affected by
his unconscious mind, this in its turn being dependent upon the nature of
his social and cultural heritage.

I am not concerned with the application of these conclusions to the
practice of psycho-analysis. I have related Dr. Burrow's experiences in
order to show not only that a normal man is greatly affected by his uncon-
scious mind but also that the influence which the unconscious mind exerts
is itself unconscious. Moreover, the nature of that unconscious mind de-
pends on the cultural environment into which a man is born.

Dr. Burrow's contention that every man who calls himself 'normal'
suffers from a 'neurosis' which is the result of the 'prevailing social consen-
sus' raises another important issue. The interest lies in the tacit assumption
that a normal man exists, yet plainly this is an illusion, for the man whom
we call normal is merely a human being who has adapted himself success-
fully to the prevailing tradition, while the man whom we call abnormal is
either one who has failed to adapt himself or one who by rigid self-analysis
has attained to self-knowledge and so gained conscious control of himself.
Those in the former category become neurotic or perverted, whilst from
the scanty numbers of the latter prophets arise, concerning whom popular
writers express the psychological truth and say that such men are born out
of their time. In our unthinking moments some of us are apt to assume
that it is natural to be normal and unnatural to be abnormal. A little
reflection would enable us to perceive the foolish and irrational character
of the assumption. Natural man, or man in his native simplicity, is an
unverified and unverifiable hypothesis, for every human being of whom we
have any knowledge has been affected, during childhood, by some kind of
inherited tradition. From the day of his birth the mind of every human
being is subject to cultural influences of some kind or another, the nature of
those influences depending on the culture of the society into which he is
born. Thus there is no evidence by means of which we can separate what
is natural, or what is inherited, from what is imposed by experience. For
my own part I doubt if we can even speak of the existence of an individual
apart from that of the society, if by the word 'individual' we indicate the
details of a man's temperament and disposition. Still more do I doubt the
existence of that individual (or social product) for more than a short space
of time, for the process of adaptation is continuous. Scientifically, at any
rate, the individual cannot be considered apart from his society, for he is
controlled by a dominating unconscious which is social. The conclusions
of social science may apply to many individuals; the conduct of those
individuals may be prophesied from accepted premises ; but the interplay of
cultural influences, especially in a society which contains a number of cul-
tural strata, is so great and so uninterrupted that no general law can be for-
mulated in regard to the behaviour of every individual member. Moreover,
every individual seems to possess free will, even if that free will exist only
in the sense that he can control, if he wishes, and even banish, the influence

312 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 154

which his unconscious mind exerts over his consciousness. I am not fully
persuaded that this possession of free will is more than an illusion, for it
seems that the wish to control the unconscious may itself be determined ;
but even if one accepts (as I do) both its existence and its power, it must be
remembered that its possession does not set an individual free from the
operation of the forces which determine the behaviour of the society.
Ultimately his own behaviour also will be determined by them. Indeed,
the relation between an individual and a society may be likened to the
relation between a single electron and a mass of electrons. In regard to
the behaviour of a single electron there is said to be an Uncertainty
Principle which makes it impossible for a physicist to prophesy its next
movement, but the behaviour of a mass of electrons can be prophesied
with assurance. By some eager philosophers the Uncertainty Principle has
been interpreted as a sign that the behaviour of Nature cannot be formu-
lated in scientific laws ; in the same way it has been held that the possession
of free will places the human organism outside the realm of science; but,
as Professor Darwin has well said, the apparent caprice of the electron
provides no loop-hole by which the doctrine of indeterminism may enter,
and the same is true in regard to the behaviour of individual men. 'We
cannot say exactly what will happen to a single electron,' Professor Darwin
says, 'but we can confidently estimate the probabilities. If an experiment
is carried out with a thousand electrons, what was a probability for one
becomes nearly a certainty. Physical theory confidently predicts that the
million of millions of electrons . . . will behave even more regularly, and
that to find a case of noticeable departure from the average we should have
to wait for a time fantastically longer than the estimated age of the uni-
verse.'646 Similarly we cannot prophesy the behaviour of any individual
human organism, but we can estimate the probabilities. If we consider a
human society as a whole, we can predict with confidence its future behaviour
if we are provided with the necessary data. And since every individual is
the product of a society, it follows that ultimately his behaviour also is
determined, for he is controlled by an unconscious that is social.

To this general statement, however, one addition must be made. Dr.
Burrow speaks of the 'prevailing social consensus' as if it were uniform
throughout society. Except in a zoistic society this is seldom the case. As
I have said (paras. 39, 70, 143, 148), a developed society consists of a
number of cultural strata, the number of these strata depending on the
nature of its cultural history. Thus in a rationalistic society there may be
also a deistic stratum, and a zoistic stratum too. An individual, therefore,
who is born into that society may spend his early years in any one of these
cultural environments. Sometimes, especially when democratic principles
of government (or those loosely called democratic) are applied to every
detail of life and thought, we are apt to assume that the personal reaction
of every individual to any incident, idea, or method of training will be the
same; but since the psychological attitude of men is governed largely by

§ 155 EFFECT OF SEXUAL LIMITATIONS 313

their unconscious minds, and since those unconscious minds are moulded
in their early years, it follows that their dispositional traits will be dissimilar,
and that they will respond in a different manner to the same experiences
and events, their individual attitudes depending largely upon the cultural
stratum into which they were introduced as babes.

Now we will consider the opinions of competent psychologists in regard
to the effect produced when men are prevented by their inherited cultural
tradition from satisfying their innate desires in a direct manner.

155. Effect of Sexual Limitations. Dr. W. H. R. Rivers has defined an
instinct summarily as 'a set of dispositions to behaviour determined by
innate conditions'. 'It is now becoming widely recognized', he remarks,
'that nearly all, if not all, the behaviour of mankind is partly determined by
inborn factors, by tendencies which the individual brings into the world
with him when he is born. At the same time it is, I think, equally widely
accepted that it is only very rarely that human behaviour is purely instinc-
tive, that every instinct suffers modification through experience.' By
'experience' Dr. Rivers means what Dr. Burrow called 'adaptation'. This
is clear from his definition of the Unconscious: 'The Unconscious is a
storehouse of experience associated with instinctive reactions.'

In Dr. Rivers 's terminology, then, an innate desire or instinctive tendency
is modified by the experience gained as the human organism is moulded
into the cultural tradition of a society, this modification forming an uncon-
scious element in the man's mind. The sexual desire is one of the chief
instinctive tendencies. Thus if the sexual regulations forbid direct inter-
course, the sexual instinct is modified in some way or other. We have
already seen (para. 153) that in some cases the repression of sexual desires
has been responsible for the production of mental disturbances and morbid
symptoms. In his list of these disturbances Dr. Rivers includes phobia,
hypochrondriasis, alcoholism, paranoia, and dementia praecox. Any of
these things may result, he thinks, from a conflict between an instinctive
tendency and the forces by which it is controlled. Yet every member of
the white man's society is subjected to the same rigid compulsions as those
who suffer those symptoms. What happens in these 'normal' cases ? It is
possible that there may be a regression on the part of the individual to
infantile behaviour; but this seems to be rare. Usually the energy finds a
totally different form of expression. When a desire is compelled to remain
unsatisfied, strong mental tension occurs; the emotional energy is com-
pressed. According to Dr. Rivers, 'the energy arising out of the conflict is
diverted from some channel which leads in an asocial direction and turned
into one leading to an end connected with the higher ideals of society. . . .
Many lines of evidence are converging to show that all great accomplish-
ments in human endeavour depend on processes which go on outside those
regions of the mind of the activity of which we are clearly conscious.'
To this diversion Dr. Freud applied a word which has been translated

3H SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § i55

'sublimation'. It is not a satisfactory word ; indeed it has almost disappeared
from technical literature ; but I shall retain it, for it occurs in the simple
text-books from which I am quoting. Dr. Rivers defines it thus: 'By
sublimation is meant a process in which an instinctive tendency, more
or less fostered by experience, which would normally find expression in
some kind of undesirable conduct, has its energy diverted into a channel
in which it comes to have a positive social value.' Dr. Freud says: 'We
believe that civilization has been built up by sacrifices in gratification of
the primitive impulses, and that it is to a great extent for ever being
recreated as each individual repeats the sacrifice of his instinctive pleasures
for the common good. The sexual are amongst the most important of the
instinctive forces thus utilized: they are in this way sublimated, that is to
say, their energy is turned aside from its sexual goal and diverted towards
other ends, no longer sexual and socially more valuable.'647

It is difficult to understand why those who were reared in a nineteenth-
century tradition branded such a pronouncement as aesthetically offen-
sive, morally reprehensible, and inherently dangerous. Perhaps their
condemnation of it was due to some feeling akin to that which among
uncivilized peoples constitutes the reaction to anything unusual or beyond
comprehension.

The language in which both Dr. Rivers and Dr. Freud speak of the
relation between sexual repression and the product of the tense emotions
needs some amendment, for their phraseology lacks precise meaning. Dr.
Rivers speaks of 'undesirable conduct' and 'the higher ideals of society';
Dr. Freud employs the expression 'socially more valuable'. Their meaning
is clear, but there is no consensus of opinion among men in regard to what
constitutes 'undesirable conduct': some think one thing, some another;
and we shall never advance our knowledge of human affairs if we rely upon
expressions of mere opinion which, as we have seen, are affected by, if they
are not the product of, early training and experience. Nor can we speak
of the 'higher ideals of society', for there is a complete lack of agreement
as to what kind of conduct is 'higher'.

An example of this diversity is to be found in the opinions which are
extant to-day in regard to post-nuptial sexual regulations. Some assert
that divorce should be forbidden; others maintain that if a man and
woman cannot live together in complete harmony, their union should be
severed, each being free to form a new alliance. The members of each
party claim that their ideals are higher than those of their opponents ; all of
them stoutly defend their proposals on the ground that the contrary ideas
are immoral and base. The real difference between the parties lies in the
meaning which they attach to the words 'higher', 'ideal', and 'moral'.

I am aware that in this special case one party goes farther, and maintains
that the indissolubility of the marriage tie is not an opinion concerning
the 'best' method of regulating the relations between the sexes but a law of
a creative deity, the knowledge of which was revealed to men under special

§i55 EFFECT OF SEXUAL LIMITATIONS 315

and peculiar circumstances. Yet still it remains an opinion, for before a man
can admit the existence of the divine law he must be satisfied that the
alleged revelation took place. This, however, is not admitted by all men,
and, since it is a matter of opinion whether or not the revelation was made,
it follows that the laws based upon it are also opinions. Moreover, other
alleged revelations have taken place which conflict in important details.
Thus the followers of Mohammed assert that according to divine law a
man may have four wives, this being contrary to the usual interpretations
of the Christian revelation to which I have referred. There is one impor-
tant difference, however, between the opinions of men who believe in
divine revelation and the opinions of others. The former originate in an
outside source ; the latter are merely the product of an interplay between
past and present emotions. The former are outside time, the latter inside
it. This distinction, however, does not promote the former to the status of
a rational conclusion which may be reached by all men, irrespective of
racial and cultural differences, if they consent to rely upon their unaided
reason and to free themselves from the effect of their cultural environment.

Dr. Rivers speaks also of the 'great accomplishments in human endea-
vour'. Dr. Freud refers to the same phenomena when he submits that
'civilization' has been achieved by sacrifices in the gratification of innate
desires. These phrases also are not exact enough for our purpose. Moreover,
they refer only to the achievements of those societies which have manifested
great social energy. Just as the psychologists have conducted their re-
searches only among those men and women who have been reared in the
white man's tradition, so they have formulated their theoretical conclusions
in such a way that they apply more especially to extremely energetic
societies, of which the white man's society is one. Social energy, however,
is displayed, though in a humble manner, by other societies also ; and though
the accomplishments of these societies may not be great as compared with
the greatest, they are great as compared with those of less energetic societies.
Moreover, great social energy is of two kinds, which may be called expan-
sive and productive; these differ both in nature and intent. If we speak
merely of 'great accomplishments' or 'civilization', we shall confuse them.
It is necessary, therefore, to restate the psychological conclusion so as to
give it a more precise and comprehensive application.

Among the accomplishments of extremely energetic societies are terri-
torial expansion, conquest, colonization and the foundation of a widely
flung commerce. All these things, and their like, are manifestations of
what I call expansive social energy. A society which displays productive
social energy develops the resources of its habitat and by increasing its
knowledge of the material universe bends nature to its will. All such
accomplishments as these imply the previous exertion of thought and
reflection, these being necessary precursors to all human achievements.

This is the sense, then, in which I employ the term social energy. I do
not refer to that futile energy which in popular writings is alleged to be

1

316 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 155

exhibited in the contemporary lust for scurry and haste. I refer to the
manifestation by human societies of powers that are essentially and ex-
clusively human (para. 175).

When the Teutonic tribes overran the Western Roman Empire in the
fifth century, they manifested an expansive social energy. A similar energy
was exhibited by the Babylonians four thousand years ago, by the Romans
when they conquered Carthage, by the Arabs when they burst over Egypt
in the seventh century, and by the English when they colonized in all parts
of the world. Similarly the Hellenes displayed an expansive energy when
they colonized in Sicily. The Athenians, however, manifested a productive
energy when they decorated the Acropolis and developed their dramatic
art. Productive energy was displayed also by the Moors when they invented
algebra and the compass, and by the Western Europeans who discovered
the use first of steam, then of electricity, then of wireless communication.
Likewise the adaptation to their own use of these discoveries, the ability to
ride beneath the sea and above the clouds : all these and similar achieve-
ments are the result of productive social energy.

Now in human records there is no trace of any display of productive
energy which has not been preceded by a display of expansive energy. Al-
though the two kinds of energy must be carefully distinguished, in the past
they have been, as it were, united in the sense that one has developed out
of the other. As Sir James Frazer has said, 'Intellectual progress, which
reveals itself in the growth of art and science, cannot be dissociated from
industrial and economic progress, and that in its turn receives an immense
impetus from conquest and empire. It is no mere accident that the most
vehement outbursts of activity of the human mind have followed close
upon the heels of victory.'648 Conquests and empires are created by
expansive energy ; the vehement outbursts of mental activity which follow
close upon the heels of victory reveal the existence of productive energy
and of rationalistic culture. Certainly it is no mere accident that sometimes
the one has succeeded the other, but many victories have been won which
have not been followed by a burst of productive energy. The intellectual
progress which sometimes has taken place after a victory has been caused
by a depth of thought and reflection which has been lacking in those
societies whose energy has been displayed only expansively.

In this manner I bring the term social energy into line with the definitions
of the various cultural conditions in which human societies can be observed
(para. 7). A society which displays productive energy possesses a rational-
istic culture. Expansive energy is more typical of deistic societies, or of the
deistic stratum in rationalistic society; usually a war is waged, or a colony
founded, in the name of a god. I am far from identifying expansive energy
with deistic culture, however, for although the two are often coincident,
there have been many deistic societies whose energy was not great enough
to be exhibited in an expansive manner. It has received a more humble
manifestation. It was always greater, however, than that of manistic

§ i56 THE CAUSE OF SOCIAL ENERGY 317

societies, which in their turn always display a greater energy than zoistic
societies, though the products of that energy are not great. And just as it is
impossible for any society to display productive energy without a greater
amount of thought and reflection than that which is exerted by an expan-
sive society, so a period of thought and reflection must precede any other
exhibition of social energy, whatever its character. Every human society
possesses potential social energy (para. 70) ; the ability to apply thought and
reason to the details of the inherited tradition is inherent in the human
organism; but a display of that energy, the psychologists assert, depends
upon sacrifices in the gratification of innate desires, the energy arising from
the emotional conflict producing a depth of thought and enterprise which
is not manifest except under those conditions. In other words, psychologi-
cal researches reveal that the placing of a compulsory check upon the
sexual impulses, that is, a limitation of sexual opportunity, produces
thought, reflection, and energy.

Now the evidence is that a cultural advance has been caused by a factor
which produces thought, reflection, and social energy (paras. 149-51) and
that it occurs only when the sexual opportunity has been limited. I submit,
therefore, that the limitation of the sexual opportunity must be regarded as
the cause of the cultural advance.

We can state the matter in general terms by saying that after a considera-
tion of the appropriate psychological and pathological data psychologists
were compelled to regard social energy as a manifestation of sublimated
sexual impulses. As a child is moulded into a social tradition, his character
is modified by experience and circumstance. In some cases the social con-
ventions compel some repression of innate desires. If men and women are
sexually free, their sexual desires will receive direct satisfaction; but if the
sexual opportunity is limited, the impulses must be checked. Then the
repressed desires will be expressed in another form. In some cases, especi-
ally when the compulsory continence is intense, they may manifest them-
selves in morbid symptoms ; in other cases they may produce a condition
of regression ; but usually the tension produced by the emotional conflicts
is exhibited in some form of mental and social energy, the intensity of that
energy depending upon the intensity of the compulsory continence. When
the sexual opportunity of a society is reduced almost to a minimum, the
resulting social energy produces 'great accomplishments in human en-
deavour' and 'civilization'. When the compulsory continence is of a less
rigorous character, lesser energy is displayed, and manistic or deistic
behaviour produced.

Such is the general conclusion which must be drawn from the psycholo-
gical evidence. Now we will inquire more closely into the precise relation
between sexual energy and social energy, and define the word 'cause'.

156. The Cause of Social Energy. Both Dr. Rivers and Dr. Freud seem
to regard sexual energy as identical with social energy, for they speak of a

318 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 156

'diversion' of sexual energy into other channels; but it is not clear whether
it is the sexual energy or the energy arising out of the emotional conflict
which in their opinion is diverted. Dr. Rivers expresses himself thus : 'It is
an interesting question to ask whence comes the energy of which this work'
(i.e. art, literature, science) 'is the expression. There are two chief possibi-
lities ; one, that it is derived from the instinctive tendencies which, through
the action of controlling forces, fail to find their normal outlet; the other,
that the energy so arising is increased in amount through the conflict
between controlled and controlling forces.' Dr. Rivers himself inclines to
the second opinion. 'Many pathological facts', he says, 'and especially the
general diminution of bodily energy accompanying so many forms of
psycho-neurosis, point to the truth of the second alternative.'649 It will be
noticed, however, that these two possibilities are not mutually exclusive
but complementary. In each case the energy is derived from the instinctive
tendency, its intensity being increased by the emotional conflict.

It is tempting to accept this suggestion and to apply it to the cultural
data ; but it would be an act of rather outrageous eclecticism, for all psycholo-
gists would not agree with it. Indeed there is a school of thought, represen-
ted in psychology by Dr. C. G. Jung and in philosophy by Professor H.
Bergson, which insists that the desire as well as the ability to exhibit
social energy is inherent in the human soul, which they regard as a syn-
thesis of opposing forces. They consider, however, that social energy
cannot be displayed except under conditions of sexual continence. They
maintain that the exertion of social energy depends on the circumstances
of the cultural environment, but that the energy is not produced by the
emotional conflict. Rather is it the manifestation of a powerful vital im-
pulse, or elan vital, which is always seeking fresh opportunities of manifes-
tation and creation. 'In nature', Dr. Jung says, 'we see only a will to live
which will attain the creation of the whole species through the preservation
of the individual.' This compelling force, he considers, is manifested also
in the products of human social energy. It follows its own principle of
development and makes use of circumstances only in so far as they can be
made to agree with that principle. In human society it works best when
sexuality becomes deflected from its original destination, and is diverted
'from sexual territory into associated functions'. 'When this operation
succeeds without injury to the adaptation of the individual,' he says, 'it is
called sublimation.'650

Plainly the production of social energy is regarded by these vitalists in
a different light from that in which it appears to the followers of Dr. Freud
and Dr. Rivers, but we must remember that in making these suggestions
the psychologists were applying their psychological conclusions to cultural
data. They produced no cultural facts to support them, and from our
point of view this omission is valuable, for it shows that on the psychologi-
cal evidence alone they considered that there was a connexion between the
reduction of sexual opportunity and a display of social energy. When

§ 156 THE CAUSE OF SOCIAL ENERGY 319

scientific discoveries are being used, however, as a foundation for a general
theory, there comes a point when the student must step outside his own
province, and as soon as he does so he evinces the influence of his tempera-
ment. So long as his reason is harnessed to facts of which he has an inti-
mate knowledge, the temperament is subdued; but it manifests itself as
soon as it is free from the burden of objective evidence. A creating urge,
a life-force, may exist in the living organism, but no one can point to any
indisputable evidence of its existence. Its existence is purely subjective,
due to the temperament of the thinker. It is a philosophical, not a scientific,
assumption. As William James once said, 'The history of philosophy is to a
great extent that of a certain clash of temperaments. The temperament of
the professional philosopher really gives him a stronger bias than any of his
more strictly objective premises. It loads the evidence for him one way or
the other. He trusts his temperament. Wanting a universe to suit it, he
believes in any representation of the universe which does suit it. He feels
men of an opposite temper to be out of key with the world's character and
in his heart considers them incompetent. Yet in the forum he can make
no claim on the ground of his temperament to superior discernment or
authority.'651

We have arrived, therefore, at a point when the psychologists can help
us no longer. They tell us that according to psychological evidence there
is a causal relation between a limitation of sexual opportunity and an out-
burst of social energy, but it is from the cultural facts that we must decide
trie precise nature of that relation.

Whenever we use the word 'cause' we must distinguish carefully between
immediate, final, and ultimate cause. If, in our interpretation of the available
evidence, we may lay it down that a limitation of sexual opportunity, when-
ever and wherever it occurs, will produce an outburst of social energy, we
may fairly regard the limitation as the immediate cause of the outburst. It
is not the final cause; that depends on the volition of the society which
consents to suffer the limitations and to make the necessary sacrifices of
its instinctive desires. Nor is it the ultimate cause; that depends on the
inherent nature of the human organism, which is such that under certain
circumstances social energy can be displayed. If, however, our induction
(para. 24) be accepted literally, the actual limitation must be regarded as
the immediate cause of the observed result.

For my own part I am ready to suggest that this is the meaning of the
evidence;652 but at the same time I am ready to admit the comparative
paucity of the records. It may need a considerable mental effort to obtain
an intimate knowledge of eighty uncivilized societies, and to remember the
appropriate facts in regard to a number of civilized societies whose historical
careers are spread over five thousand years of history ; but the extent of
this knowledge is not great compared with the number of societies which
exist and have existed in the world. Moreover, I have based my suggestions
on the assumption (para. 70) that every human society is biologically fit to

320 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 156

manifest social energy. The evidence in favour of this assumption seems
to be overwhelming, but it would be rash to assume that no human society
has existed, or could exist, which would be incapable of displaying that
energy. In spite of the fact, therefore, that among extremely energetic
societies are included such varied types as the Egyptian, Moor, Roman,
Mongolian, Hindu, Hittite, Sumerian, and Western European, I am in-
clined to think that we should be stretching the evidence unduly if we were
to conclude that any collection of human organisms would manifest social
energy if they were to limit their sexual opportunity. It is possible that
some variety of the species homo sapiens does not possess the inherent
power which was possessed by the civilized societies I have mentioned and
by the eighty uncivilized societies we have discussed. Although, therefore,
I tend to regard a limitation of sexual opportunity as the immediate cause
of social energy, I am content to conclude that it is the cause of social energy
only in the sense of being an indispensable contributory factor ; that is to
say, even if other factors also are indispensable and operating, no social
energy can be displayed unless the sexual opportunity is limited. Other
things being equal, however, social energy will be exhibited by any society
which places a compulsory limitation upon the sexual opportunity of its
members. Conversely, in all cases any extension of sexual opportunity must
result in a reduction of social energy.653

Such is the evidence from psychological research.

First, the mind of any individual human organism, especially in a society
which places severe limitations upon the direct satisfaction of innate desires,
is controlled by a dominating unconscious element which is of a social
character. This Unconscious is formed by the modifications imposed by
the circumstances of the cultural environment and by the experiences
involved in the adaptation to the social tradition. Thus it is determined by
the forces which control the tradition. From the control of this dominating
Unconscious only a few individuals shake themselves free, their freedom
being secured by a rigorous self-analysis, by the conscious expression of
the emotions which originally created it, and by the resolute extinguish-
ment of those dispositional traits which are its conscious manifestation.
The vast majority of human beings are children of their age ; they spend
their lives in the perpetual grip of the unconscious element in their minds
which is created by their early experiences and training.

Secondly, if the social conventions forbid direct sexual intercourse before
marriage and limit the sexual opportunity after marriage, the tension which
arises from the emotional conflicts may produce morbid symptoms or a
state of regression, but usually the energy arising out of the conflicts is
transformed into mental and social energy. If sexual freedom is the rule,
there can be no such energy; but, others things being equal, if some
limitations are imposed, an amount of social energy will be produced,
the intensity of which will correspond to the severity of the compulsory
limitations.

/X\,

§ i57 APPLIED TO THE CULTURAL DATA 321

1 57. Application of these conclusions to the Cultural Data. When we apply
these principles to the cultural data, two conclusions follow at once. The
first is that the full effect of an extension or limitation of sexual opportunity,
whether in the whole society or in one of the social strata of a society, is
not revealed for at least three generations (roughly a century) after its
adoption. The second is that in the production of social energy the sexual
opportunity of the females is a more important factor than that of the males.

The best manner in which I can make the first point is to tell the story
of a certain Lotingiro, a member of the Didinga tribe which occupied an
area in southern Sudan and northern Uganda.

Lotingiro was a popular young man who from his earliest youth ques-
tioned the accepted beliefs of his fellow citizens, and openly expressed his
doubts concerning the validity of Didinga institutions. His elders disap-
proved of his ideas, but did not interfere with him. When he was nineteen,
Lotingiro offended against the tribal law. On this occasion only a lenient
punishment was inflicted, for he was popular and his offence was judged
to have been involuntary. When, however, he proceeded to offend again,
and of deliberate purpose, he was executed.654

I do not know if Lotingiro's scepticism was the result of white influence ;
I am ready to believe that it was the product of his own unaided reason.
The point I wish to make is that if the Didinga elders had applied the power
of their reason to their existing institutions they would not have executed
Lotingiro ; they would have hailed him as a prophet. They acted as they
did because like all human beings they regarded their own peculiar beliefs
as right, proper, and true, and they feared that, if their institutions were
abolished, they would no longer be in a right relation with the power or
powers in the universe. Now let us suppose that all the members of the
Didinga tribe had been subjected to a limitation of sexual opportunity.
Other things being equal, this, as we have seen, would have stimulated
or intensified the power of their thought. We may suppose, then, that
Lotingiro's opinions would have been accorded a different reception. The
tribal elders might have consented to hear them discussed ; but they would
scarcely have adopted them, for their minds would be dominated by uncon-
scious elements which had been formed during the days of their childhood.
The younger generations, however, would not have been subjected to
precisely the same influence; so in all probability they would have been
prepared to adopt some of the young rebel's suggestions. At the same time
their acceptance would not have been complete, for they would have been
unable to free themselves from the influence of their childish experiences,
the nature of which had been determined by the culture of the preceding
generation. It would not have been until their grandchildren had been
born that the influence of the pre-Lotingiro tradition would have been
dispelled.

I have already suggested (para. 150) that a cultural change can never
occur unless a number of citizens have given to the innovation the same

Y

1

322 SUBMISSIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS § 157

thought and consideration as produced it; now we can see the psycho-
logical reason. The attitude of society in general or of an individual
in particular is governed by the nature of the inherited tradition, that is
to say, by the nature of the influences which surround a child from the
day of its birth. The emotional experiences of childhood leave an unavoid-
able mark on subsequent disposition, and the reception which a society or
an individual accords to any action or idea is affected by them. But the
nature of the inherited tradition depends upon that of the previous genera-
tion, which in its turn is influenced by that of the previous generation,
and so on. On the strength of the psychological evidence we must
assert the indubitable power of this inherited tradition ; thus logical reason-
ing compels us to conclude that in the chance conditions of the past it has
taken at least three generations (roughly a century) before a complete
change could be effected. Needless to say, in the course of these hundred
years much seed falls by the wayside; not all but only a few citizens
accept and pass on the new tradition. Thus when a cultural change occurs
haphazardly, either upward or downward, there remain some representa-
tives of the higher or lower culture, these increasing or decreasing in
number according to the behaviour of subsequent generations. The
factors responsible for the present condition of any society or of any group
within the society came into operation a hundred years ago. Conversely,
any limitation or extension of sexual opportunity will not produce its full
effect until a hundred years have passed.

I do not understand how the human reason can escape these conclusions.
I am aware that just as there exists a fond hope that an individual may
be a fresh edition of the creative forces competent to develop on his
own lines, freed from the influence of the tradition in which he spent
his earliest childhood, so there is a temperamental rebellion against the
idea that the sins of parents are visited on their children. I will even
confess that in the riotous optimism of extreme youth I shared these con-
victions. Now, however, I am persuaded that no rebellion could be more
foolish or irrational. It is a cold fact that the mind of any adult human
being is the product of many mysterious forces, not the least powerful
of these forces being the behaviour of his parents in the days of his child-
hood.

Since this is so, it follows that generally speaking the character of
the female has a greater influence than that of the male, for normally
an infant spends his earliest and most impressionable years in the company
and under the influence of his women-folk.655 In the preceding chapters
we have seen that the coincident cultural facts support this conclusion.

Both these facts must be carefully borne in mind when the conclusions
of this treatise are applied to any civilized society. In the records of
history the full effect of any extension or limitation of sexual opportunity
is visible in the succeeding century, while the varying sexual opportunity
of the women explains the variety which has existed in the intensity of

§ i58 DIGEST OF THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS 323

the social energy displayed by different civilized societies. Only after
the sexual opportunity of the women, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial, has
been reduced to a minimum does the sexual opportunity of the men affect
the amount of that energy.

158. Digest of the Foregoing Chapters. By this consideration of psycho-
logical speculations and conclusions the scope of our inquiry has been
widened. Instead of confining our attention to uncivilized peoples we
have been compelled to make certain suggestions which apply to all
human societies, or at any rate to those human societies which have the
power to display social energy. Thus there is a risk that instead of pro-
ceeding to our proper destination we shall be side-tracked. The best manner
in which I can restore a sense of direction is to summarize, at the risk
of overstatement, the evidence which has been submitted.

When we began (para. 1) I suggested that the first task was the col-
lection, classification, and presentation of the facts. I divided human
societies (para. 12) into civilized and uncivilized. According to the quality
and quantity of the evidence which was available in regard to their culture
(para. 24), I selected eighty uncivilized societies as the subject of an induc-
tive inquiry (para. 11), classifying them according to the manner in which
they maintained a right relation with the power or powers manifest in the
universe. Each of these societies was fitted to the same frame of reference,
the appropriate facts being presented symbolically in a Chart of Evidence
(Appendix I), which afterwards (para. 141) was analysed and appraised.
From a study of the entries we decided (para. 24) that in all probability
there was some relation among uncivilized peoples between sexual oppor-
tunity and cultural condition, for

(a) pre-nuptial sexual freedom was accompanied by the zoistic cultural
condition; conversely, all the zoistic societies permitted pre-nuptial
sexual freedom;

(b) a compulsory irregular or occasional continence was accompanied by
the manistic cultural condition ; conversely, all the manistic societies
insisted on an irregular or occasional continence ;

(c) pre-nuptial chastity was accompanied by the deistic cultural con-
dition; conversely, all the deistic societies insisted on pre-nuptial
chastity.

The technical terms on which the classifications were based, zoistic,
manistic, and deistic (para. 7), sexual freedom (para. 18), irregular or
occasional continence (para. 19), and pre-nuptial chastity (para. 18), were
defined in the rigid manner which the inquiry demanded.

In the second and third chapters I stated verbally, with references to and
comments on the appropriate literature, the facts which were represented
symbolically in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I). At the same time
I endeavoured to correct some of the misconceptions which had arisen
from (a) the classification of societies according to their beliefs, (b) the

324 DIGEST OF THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS § 158

translation of native words into civilized languages. I also tried to show
how some theories, evolutionary and otherwise, were unacceptable, being
founded on misconceptions arising out of (a) and (b).

The second task, it was agreed (para. 1), was to sift the evidence as finely
as possible in order that some intelligible suggestion might be made con-
cerning the manner in which the coincident phenomena were connected.
Thus in the first section of the fourth chapter I concentrated my attention
on the cultural data. From an analysis and appraisement of these data, the
following facts emerged :

(a) The culture of our eighty societies (forty-seven zoistic, twenty-one
manistic, ten deistic, two uncertain) was founded on a common basis, the
conception of the strange quality or power manifest in anything unusual or
beyond comprehension.

In a zoistic society this quality was the power in the universe. An un-
usual or highly gifted man was credited with its possession. The place in
which the people made their offerings was the place in which the quality
was manifest, such a place being considered 'unusual' either (1) because it
possessed some outstanding characteristic, or (2) because something un-
usual had happened there, or (3) because a magician was buried there. By
many societies the word which denoted the power in the universe was also
applied either to corpses or to the ghosts of distinguished dead men.

I described such a society as being at a dead level of conception.

(b) Among the manistic societies there was some variety, this being
revealed in the identity of the recipients of the offerings, in the purpose of
the offerings, and in the elaboration of the places in which the offerings
were made. The power in the universe was still the strange power manifest
in anything unusual or beyond comprehension ; the source of magic power
was still the possession of unusual qualities ; but the offerings which had
been made to an outstanding citizen when he was alive, whether as a reward
for help or as a means of avoiding danger, were continued after his death.
The making of this offering seemed to involve an extension of memory,
and an exertion of thought and reflection. The elaboration of the sacred
places suggested the display of an energy lacking in zoistic societies.

Thus the change from the zoistic to the manistic condition seemed to
be due to the operation of a factor which produced or intensified thought,
reflection, and energy, this factor being present in manistic societies and
absent in zoistic societies. The evidence was that the pre-nuptial sexual
opportunity of the manistic societies was less than that of the zoistic
societies.

In two cases, those of the Shilluk and SE. Solomon Islanders, the
illustrious dead were remembered for a longer period than they were
by any other manistic society ; the post-funeral rites of these two societies
partook also of the nature of cult as well as of tendance ; they introduced
more extensive elaborations into the places where offerings were made.
Thus it seemed that in these two societies the factor responsible for the

§ 158 DIGEST OF THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS 325

cultural change was operative to a greater degree than in the other manistic
societies. The evidence was that their compulsory pre-nuptial continence
was of a greater intensity than that of their manistic neighbours.

(c) By the ten deistic societies the illustrious dead were remembered
and conciliated for an even longer period than among the two manistic
(cult) societies. The place in which a right relation was maintained with
them was elaborated still more extensively, the temples of these deistic
peoples being elaborations of the grave-houses or relic-houses erected by
the manistic societies.

Thus the change from the manistic to the deistic condition seemed
to be of the same character as the change from the zoistic to the manis-
tic pattern, the conclusion being that the factor producing thought,
reflection, and energy was present among them to a greater degree than
among any of the manistic societies. The evidence was that among all
the deistic societies the women were compelled to be pre-nuptially chaste,
that is, the pre-nuptial sexual opportunity of a deistic society was less than
that of any manistic society.

Undoubtedly the culture of these ten deistic societies was a develop-
ment from the manistic condition ; but such a course of development, we
perceived, was not inevitable. It is possible for a zoistic society to become
deistic without being manistic provided that the factor which produces
the deistic condition is in operation. Furthermore, it is just as possible for
a deistic society to become zoistic as it is for a zoistic society to become
deistic, the descent from the deistic condition being caused by the absence
of the factor which previously had produced it. The cultural process is
not a one-way street. The evidence in regard to degeneracy among our
eighty uncivilized societies, however, remains to be considered.

Having completed the analysis and appraisement of the cultural evidence,
we proceeded to our third task. We consulted the appropriate psycho-
logical authorities in order to discover if according to the results of their
researches there was any relation between a reduction of sexual opportunity
and the production or intensification of thought, reflection, and social
energy. This was necessary because we were unable to conduct experi-
ments in order to test the validity of the induction made from the entries
in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I). We found that there was explicit,
reliable evidence to this effect. Thus I suggested that the reduction of
sexual opportunity was the cause of a cultural change.

In that context the word 'cause' must be interpreted as immediate
cause. An assumption is involved, however, which, although supported
by evidence, may not be readily granted, viz. that every human society is
capable of displaying social energy. It is possible, though improbable, that
some human varieties of the species homo sapiens, do not possess, or have
not possessed, this inherent power. If that view be adopted, compulsory
continence cannot be regarded even as the immediate cause of a cultural
change ; it would be merely an indispensable contributory factor. At the

326 DIGEST OF THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS § 158

same time, if these conclusions be applied to any particular society which,
according to other evidence, is undoubtedly capable of displaying social
energy, compulsory continence must be regarded as the immediate cause
of a cultural advance. Any extension of sexual opportunity must always be
the immediate cause of a cultural decline.

In no sense can the compulsory continence be regarded either as the
final or as the ultimate cause of either advance or decline.

From a study of competent psychological authorities we discovered
also that in a developed society the conscious mind of any individual is
dominated by an unconscious element, the latter being formed in early
childhood. This led to three conclusions:

(a) that under the chance circumstances which hitherto have prevailed
in human affairs a cultural change cannot have been completed in less
than a century, or, to put the matter in another way, the extension or
limitation of sexual opportunity, either in society as a whole or in
a class within the society, cannot have its full cultural effect for a
hundred years ;

(b) that culturally the sexual opportunity of the females is a more impor-
tant factor than that of the males ;

(c) that scientifically an individual cannot be considered apart from the
society of which he is a member, the dominating Unconscious being
of a social character.

Further we perceived that the possession by an individual of free will,
whether it be an illusion or not, does not vitiate a deterministic conclusion
in regard to the cultural process.

Now we can state the matter in general terms and in such a way that
the conclusions can be applied to any human society at any time. It
is at this point that I bring the sixteen civilized societies (para. 12) within
the scope of my suggestions. In discussing them I shall extend the meaning
of the term 'cultural condition' so as to include their methods of political
organization. It will be remembered (para. 3) that this was my original
intention, and that the definition had to be narrowed on account of the
unsatisfactory nature of the evidence in regard to the political institutions
of uncivilized societies.

CHAPTER V
NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS

159. The Relativity of Human Affairs. At the outset I distinguish with
great rigour between the biological and cultural processes. They are not
only distinct; they are also dissimilar. The biological process is that in
which the human organism received its physical attributes and its inherent
nature ; in the cultural process can be seen the results of an uneven develop-
ment of that inherent nature.

In the past there has been some confusion between these processes, for
the same word, evolution, has been applied to both of them. This con-
fusion has been responsible for several preconceptions in regard to the
cultural process.

We are careless in the use of the word 'evolution'. Literally it means an
unfolding, or an appearance in due succession ; but after it had been applied
to the successive appearance on the earth's surface of different organic
species, it acquired a technical meaning which previously it did not possess.
In its literal meaning it is still applied to any series of successive appearances,
such as the cultural process; but we have become so accustomed to its
technical meaning that by a queer mental twist we ascribe those successive
appearances to the operation of the same forces as those which we hypo-
thesize as responsible for the successive appearance of different organic
species. In this manner the development by the human organism of its
inherent nature has been ascribed to the same forces as produced its
physical attributes. Yet plainly the idea has been read into the facts and
not out of them. If we had not applied the same word, evolution, to both
processes, they could never have been confused.

Actually when we confuse them we try to apply to the cultural process
a scientific method which is not applicable to it. It may be said that there
are two kinds of science, historical and inductive. A historical scientist
is one who studies the past history of a phenomenon and formulates a
working hypothesis by means of which he tries to connect, even to explain,
his data. Thus a geologist is acting as a historical scientist when he attempts
to estimate the age of the earth and the method of its formation; an
astronomer is a historical scientist when he submits a hypothesis in regard
to the birth of the solar system ; and to this class of science the study of the
biological process has often been considered to belong. There are signs
(para. 175) that biological methods may be changing and that soon biology
may become a strictly inductive science ; but in the past biologists have
concentrated most of their attention on the submission of likely conjectures
in regard to the arrival of different organic species on the earth's surface.
Now in any historical science the sequence of the related facts is interrupted.

3^8 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §159

There are many gaps in the record ; these must be filled in by the hypothesis ;
and inevitably they are filled according to the temperament of the student.
In this manner historical science tends to become philosophical, even
teleological ; and the biological process, considered historically, has been
variously regarded as selective, creative, or emergent, according to the
point of view from which the available evidence has been approached or
selected. Then, by the mental twist to which I have referred, the cultural
process (being regarded as identical with, or as an extension of, the bio-
logical process) has been included within the scope of the teleological
speculations which accompany the historical hypothesis. In this manner
it has become the custom to regard the cultural problem as a philosophical,
even as a biological, one; but the truth is that it is of an entirely different
character, and must be studied not by historical but by inductive methods.

The use of the word evolution in reference to the cultural process is also
responsible for another devastating preconception. The human species is
the most developed form of life which has yet appeared on the earth's
surface; and, so far as we can tell, the human organism made a later
appearance than other mammals. Thus the biological process has been
regarded as a progressive development in the course of which higher and
higher forms of life are successively produced. It is true that this opinion
is vitiated by the short space of time during which we have studied the
biological process. It seems possible that other species of a lower order are
being continually produced and that, when biologists have recorded the
working of nature for a longer period of time, they may be able to point to
such an event, which hitherto has not been noted because it is still in the
process of 'becoming'. As things are, however, there is some evidence
which inclines some students to regard the biological process as a continual
development towards 'higher' things. The result is that the cultural process
has been regarded in the same way; but, if we base our conclusions on the
cultural evidence alone, we see that in the past the cultural process has
consisted of a long series of alternations, uprisings, and declines. By no
means can it be represented as an ascending straight line. There has been
no long, slow, gradual process towards higher things. All that has hap-
pened is that at different times different human societies have occupied
different positions in the cultural scale.

The notion of an ever-increasing cultural process has been encouraged
by our own attitude to our own peculiar culture. There is reason to believe
that in some ways our own culture is incomparably richer than that of
any previous known culture. This well-recognized but usually exaggerated
fact, combined with a pardonable egocentricity, has produced an irrational
attitude towards the changes in our own cultural condition. As rationalists
we are conscious of changes in the cultural condition of our own society
and in that of the various cultural strata into which our society is divided.
Then, convinced that the cultural process is a progressive development and
that our own culture is the most developed of all cultures, we assume that

§159 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 329

every change in our cultural condition is evidence of higher cultural develop-
ment. Anything which is subsequent in time is regarded as more enlightened
and more developed. Culturally, twentieth-century white man is assumed
to be more 'evolved' than nineteenth-century white man; twenty-first-
century white man will be more evolved than twentieth- century white
man; and so on.

It is a quaint and comfortable doctrine ; yet until it is dispelled we shall
understand neither our own culture nor that of any other society. It
vitiates many of our historical judgements and plays havoc with our efforts
to understand the culture of societies which have passed away. If, in the
study of a society which no longer inhabits any part of the earth as an
organized unit, we discover an institution which we ourselves have adopted,
we call it a civilized society. If the society allowed the institution to fall
into desuetude, we say that then its members were degenerate. Sometimes
we applaud as more enlightened the introduction into our own society of
a custom which in the culture of another society we have condemned as
decadent; but this does not embarrass us; we simply rewrite the history
of that society. Sometimes we find that an ancient society introduced a
reform which recently we ourselves have adopted. We call attention to this
strange phenomenon, and condescendingly observe how civilized those
ancient men were. We forget that there is another point of view; a more
disinterested spectator might remark that only recently have we become as
civilized as they were. Admittedly the vague use of the word 'civilized' is
responsible for some of this woolly thought ; the word is essentially mean-
ingless, yet masquerades as a technical term; but this is not a sufficient
explanation for our culpable inexactitude. Always we assess the develop-
ment of another society by comparing it with our own ; always we assume
that each successive change in our own culture is an improvement on that
which preceded it. A similar egocentric outlook used to vitiate our under-
standing of the physical universe. Now it has been abandoned. We must
abandon the egocentric outlook also in the study of human affairs. Perhaps
this will be the more easily performed if we consider briefly one of the
causes of the recent change in the outlook of the physicists.

With the earth as our vehicle, we are told, we are travelling at twenty
miles a second round the sun ; the sun carries us at twelve miles a second
through the galactic system; the galactic system bears us at two hundred
and fifty miles a second amid the spiral nebulae. From this gyrating plat-
form we observe the universe around us. We see another star which, we
calculate, hurries through space at a thousand miles a second. How odd,
we think, to travel so fast. Yet from the point of view of any conscious
organism on that star it is we, not they, who scurry along at that tremendous
speed ; for, if they appear to travel at a thousand miles a second in relation
to us, we must appear to them to travel at the same relative velocity. The
apparent oddity in their behaviour is due solely to our position on the slow-
moving earth.

330 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §159

It is the same in human affairs. We are members of the society in which
we happened to be born ; we have become accustomed to certain ideas and
institutions. Like the members of all other societies we regard these ideas
and institutions as normal and natural ; and we consider it odd that human
beings should think and behave in a different manner. Yet the oddity in
their behaviour exists only in our minds; we are allowing our thought
to be dominated by the accident of our inherited tradition. To them we
appear as odd as they appear to us.

In the nineteenth century the calculated velocity of another star was
regarded as absolute ; now physicists have perceived that all such estimates
are relative to the speed of our own planet. Moreover they have discovered
that the standards by which they calculate the distance and mass of any
object in space are relative to the motion of the earth. The length of our
inches and the contents of our pints depend on the speed at which the earth
travels. An observer on another star would look out upon the same universe
and make his calculations according to his standards, these depending on
the velocity of his habitation. Thus an object which appears rectangular
to us might seem square to him, and there is no method by means of which
the two judgements can be compared. Relatively both are equally valid;
absolutely neither possesses any value at all ; for the frame of space to which
each observer has fitted the point-events depends on the velocity of the
star on which he happens to be situated. As Professor Sir Arthur Eddington
has said : 'Owing to the accident of having been born on a particular planet,
our observer had hitherto unthinkingly adopted one of the frames, but he
realizes that this is no ground for obstinately asserting that it must be the
right frame.'656

It is the same in human affairs. Owing to the accident of having been
born into a particular society, we have adopted one method of assessing
human culture, but there is no reason to think that this is the right method.
Just as the length of our inches and the contents of our pints depend upon
our habitation of the earth, so the standards of our cultural judgements,
and especially the standards of our moral judgements, depend on our
membership of a particular society. Moreover they depend also on the
cultural age in which we as individuals happened to be born. A member
of another society, or a member of our own society at a different period
of our history, would apply the terms civilized and enlightened to ideas
and institutions which now we despise ; they would condemn as degenerate
those innovations which to us represent the apogee of human achievement ;
and future generations, if they adopt our present method, will call us
decadent or enlightened according to the nature of their own ideas.

If we are to arrive at an intelligent understanding of the cultural process,
we must adopt a frame upon which the culture of any society at any time
can be fitted, and we must place our own culture upon it by the side of
other cultures, recording the observed changes in our cultural condition
according to the definitions we adopt. For this reason I entitled my first

§159 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 331

chapter 'The Frame of Reference'. In that chapter I defined the standards
by which I should assess the culture of the societies which I proposed
to discuss. Admittedly the frame I adopted is inadequate in so far as the
culture of all societies at all times cannot be fitted upon it, but its limitations
do not invalidate the argument, for it was designed only for uncivilized
peoples. In this chapter I propose to make certain suggestions based on
the preceding evidence and considerations. It is vital that I gauge our
cultural development by the same standards as I apply to any other earthly
culture. Thus henceforward I shall speak not of 'us' but of 'them'. I shall
refer to the changes in our cultural condition as the cultural history of the
English. By this means I hope to avoid the subjective intrusion which is
apt to occur when we speak in the first person. Furthermore, in order to
dispel completely the influence which our training and environment exert
upon our judgement, I propose to discuss the cultural process from the
point of view of an observer outside the galactic system. Sir Arthur Edding-
ton has remarked that recently the physicist has found it necessary to adopt
impressionist methods, for he desires to convey significances which cannot
be told in microscopic detail. We also shall profit by taking an impressionist
view of the cultural process, filling in the details on another occasion.

From our detached position outside the galactic system, unaffected by
the dominating unconscious mind which controls the operation of earth-
bound brains, we can watch the earth pursuing its cosmic journey round
the sun. It seems small, and does not take long to complete its orbit. Thus
we can watch for what to a man on earth would seem an extended period
of time, say five thousand orbits, or, as he would say, five thousand years.
We perceive that as it revolves the earth carries on its surface a multitude
of human societies. We cannot help being struck by the differences between
them. The members of one society appear to be lethargic : they smile when
they are well-fed, snarl when they are hungry, and satisfy their animal
desires as they feel inclined. It is different in the case of the people inhabit-
ing the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris. They are engaged in sundry
activities, such as erecting temples, organizing armies, building ships and
cities, creating engines for their own convenience, writing books and letters,
and searching the whole area for some new field of enterprise. Plainly this
second society is displaying an energy which in the other case is absent.
There is some activity too in the valley of the Nile, a few faint stirrings
in Crete, and a glimpse of something happening in China, but most of
the other human societies, in whatever part of the earth they happen
to be, are as sluggish and as indifferent as the first society at which we
glanced.

As the earth turns round and round, these conditions alter. Generally
speaking the otiose groups live their languid lives unmolested, but some-
times a hitherto insignificant group bursts its boundaries and occupies new
lands. Moreover, many sluggish societies are conquered by their more
energetic neighbours. The societies which at one time were so busy seem

332 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 159

to suffer from a failure of nerve. In some cases they relax, their energy
vanishing as mysteriously as it began. In other cases the energy of their
neighbours increases; these men rise up, and overrun the country of those
whose activities we have been admiring. Then in quick succession, first in
south-eastern Europe, then in Asia Minor, then in southern Europe and
the lands that abut on the Mediterranean Sea, then in north Africa, south-
western Europe, and then throughout western Europe, human societies
awake from lethargy and engage in the same kinds of activities as those we
have already noted. They erect temples, then pull them down and build
bigger and more complicated ones; they organize armies and navies, build
cities, organize means of rapid communication, cast their eyes up to the sky
in ah endeavour to understand the phenomena of the universe around them,
and search for every possible outlet for their abundant energy. Then one
by one each of these vigorous societies experiences the same failure of
nerve as its predecessors. They relax; their energy fades away. The pro-
ducts of that energy crumble to pieces; a mound of dust remains.

Though from a general point of view the activities of these vigorous
societies always conform to certain definite patterns, there is considerable
variety within these patterns. Maybe the temples are built of different
materials; on the other hand they may differ merely in shape. Letters are
written in one place on clay tablets, in another place on sheepskins, in a
third on paper. Some men wear hats, others do not. Those who wear them
differ in their opinions concerning the occasions on which hats should be
doffed or donned. In some areas the houses are completely roofed; in
others they are open to the sky ; and so on. Yet always the pattern is the
same throughout the whole earth; the various societies manifest their
energies in a similar manner. In one detail, however, there is a great
difference among them. Without exception, in the days of its early stirrings,
each society is under the leadership of one man. In some cases the society
as a whole has spent its energy before any change takes place in the political
organization, but in other cases a small group of energetic men deprives the
one man of his privileges and subjects the remainder of the society to its
rule. And it is noticeable that the difference between this energetic group
and the men whom it dominates is precisely the same as the difference
between a vigorous and a sluggish society. Simply, the more energetic
group rules the less energetic one. This, however, is not always the end
of the story. Sometimes other changes occur, the changes being of a dif-
ferent character according to the relative energy of the internal groups. In
some cases the small group hesitates, then relaxes; those who previously
have been dominated assume control of affairs. Moreover, they appear to
display an energy which hitherto we have not associated with them. In
other cases the small group does not immediately lose its energy ; the lower
orders begin to manifest an equal energy, the whole society becoming
homogeneous and extremely energetic. And in all cases, if the society
preserves its independence, any other change in its political organization

§i59 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 333

reflects the differences in the relative energy of the various social groups
of which it is composed.

According to the amount of their energy, too, these vigorous societies
change their opinions on every conceivable subject. At one time they have
faith in one opinion, at another time in another; at one time they adopt
one method of behaviour, at another time they adopt another. The new
opinion is always hailed as the most enlightened; the people are always
convinced that their new way is better than their old way ; but actually they
have merely exchanged one convention for another convention, the nature
of the new convention depending upon the amount of their mental and
social energy. Indeed sometimes we can watch the changes in their opinion
and behaviour, and observe the manner in which first they have faith in
one method, then in another, and then again in the one which they had
discarded as superficial and uncultivated.

Thus, when first they attract our attention by the abundance of their
energy, the Hellenes are of the opinion that diseases are due to the action
of certain malignant powers which can be coerced by incantations or swayed
by prayers. Only certain men, the priests of Asclepius, know the proper
words, so they must be consulted. After the earth has completed a few
more revolutions, the Hellenes defeat the Persians at Marathon. After a
few more revolutions each city appoints a state-physician, who is paid out
of public funds; private practitioners also set up; surgery becomes a
favourite method of treatment. Men begin to specialize in diseases of the
eyes, ears, or teeth. Moreover, one of the leading physicians, Hippocrates,
has nothing but contempt for charms and incantations. In his opinion they
are both vulgar and superstitious ; he lays stress on a quiet reserved manner
at the bedside. The earth continues to revolve, then we notice that once
more the Hellenes are changing their opinions. Clinical histories are
replaced by cures which can be classed only as magical ; amulets return to
favour. Physicians no longer regard incantations and purifications as vul-
gar ; they even adopt them in the course of their own treatment. In a word
Hellenic therapeutics return to what they had been a few orbits ago.657

We find the same changes of opinion among the men of western Europe
as soon as the earth has travelled round the sun a few hundred times.
Before they begin to display great social energy, they use charms, amulets,
and incantations; they also consult the priests attached to their temples.
Then like the Hellenes they start to rely on surgery and physic. The last
glimpse we have of them reveals a growing distrust of these methods, some
members of society choosing to wear charms and to utter prayers rather
than to go into hospital.

This would be the impression we should gain if we were to watch some
particular part of the earth; we should be able to compare the condition
of a particular society with its condition in a previous or a subsequent
epoch. If we were to include the whole earth in one comprehensive glance,
we should receive a different impression ; in this case we should compare

334 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §159

the behaviour of one society with that of another society in the same epoch.
We should notice, for instance, that the earth carries not only a few
extremely vigorous societies but also a multitude of less energetic ones.
The members of these societies seem content to preserve the tradition
which they inherited from their fathers. Indeed they seem nervous of any
change, and they, in their turn, train their children to think and to behave
as they themselves have thought and behaved. At the same time their
behaviour differs, for both the nature of their inherited tradition and
the amount of their energy vary. In some of these societies men erect
temples. These temples differ, some being sturdy stone structures, others
like ordinary houses. In most cases the temples are clean and well kept;
but in a few cases they are neglected, being put in order only when the
people are in trouble. There is no relation between the geographical
situation of a society and the erection of temples ; those which are building
temples are scattered all over the earth. The existence of the temples seems
to be due to the display of an energy akin to that displayed in a greater
degree by the extremely vigorous societies.

Most of the less energetic societies, however, do not exhibit enough
energy to build even a temple. Some of them merely erect small huts either
over certain graves or under certain trees. Others select certain areas in
which they place a small platform or a framework of sticks; and this is
as far as their energy extends. A large number have not enough energy
to do even this. Only one thing is common to all of them: when they
encounter or experience anything unusual or beyond their comprehension,
they suffer from an intense anxiety, their behaviour under these conditions
varying according to the amount of their energy. Some go to a temple,
seeking either to allay the anger of the power which is manifest therein or
to secure its help. Others present an offering on a raised platform. Still
others place food and drink inside a small hut erected over a grave or under
a tree. Those which erect neither temples, platforms, nor huts visit, or are
visited by, certain seemingly abnormal men who sing songs, perform antics,
or murmur over a curiously shaped stone or bundle.

The behaviour of these less energetic societies varies also in times of
drought. When rain is late, and even when it comes too much, some
approach a temple; others place an offering on a platform or in a hut;
still others consult the men who possess the special stones or bundles. And,
whatever a society does, it imagines that it is doing the thing which is right,
proper, and appropriate to the occasion.

The explanation of these diverse phenomena is, I think, as follows. The
inherent nature of the human organism is such that when collected into
groups it possesses the power to manifest mental and social energy. This
energy, however, can be manifested only under certain conditions. If these
conditions are satisfied, energy will be displayed. If on the other hand they
are not satisfied, necessarily no energy can be exhibited. As the earth
pursues its cosmic journey round the sun, human societies arise in different

§160 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 335

places, manifest their inherent power, then fall into decline. During the
period of their great activity, they happen to have satisfied the conditions
under which alone their energy can be displayed. Before their decline they
have chanced to depart from their old habits ; their subsequent decrepitude
is the inevitable result. Within each of these vigorous societies, as it dis-
plays its energy, various groups are more energetic than other groups. The
more energetic men dominate the less energetic men, according to their
relative energy, the methods of government which the historian calls
monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy being adopted as circumstances
dictate. Moreover, according to their mental energy these vigorous societies
change their cultural habits, their ideas concerning such things as the
treatment of sickness and the method of obtaining rain depending upon
the amount of mental energy they have devoted to these problems.

It is the same with the less energetic societies. The amount of energy
which they could display is the same as that of any other society; the
amount of energy which they do display depends upon the degree in which
they have satisfied the necessary conditions. In every case the amount
of energy seems to be determined. Moreover, the opinions of the members
of any society on any subject seem to be determined in a like manner, for
their nature depends upon the amount of energy displayed by the society.
These opinions have a relative, not an absolute, value. They cannot be
used as a basis of judgement, nor can they afford the solution of any human
problem. The man who relies upon them, indeed, is like one that expects
a vehicle in which he is seated to save him from a fall over a cliff : the vehicle
itself is controlled by the same forces as those which act upon its occupant.

160. The Science of Human Affairs. There is no pessimism in this out-
look. The contrary is the case. In human affairs the doctrine of deter-
minism is sometimes derided, being alleged to conflict with the noblest
aspirations of the human mind ; but I do not comprehend why this should
be so. Indeed, if we examine the misgivings with which the doctrine is
sometimes received, I think we must conclude that it is merely the name
which arouses mistrust and despondency, for, if the doctrine itself be con-
sidered dispassionately, it assumes a different nature from that which is
commonly attached to the name.

We must distinguish, of course, between what has happened in the past
and what can happen in the future. In the past human energy has been
displayed only fortuitously, for it is only by chance that the necessary
conditions have been satisfied; but, like all natural forces, those which
control the manifestations of human energy can be controlled by men.
Thus in the future high culture, or any other form of culture, can be
consciously created. Just as when petrol is compressed in a cylinder, and
then fired, its potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy, so the
potential power of a human society can be made to manifest itself, either in
large or in small quantities, either for a short or for a long time, or even for

336 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §160

ever. Thus the cultural development of any society can be controlled ; the
human organism can take charge of its own cultural destiny.

So long as we regard our destiny as outside our control, we must sit
quietly while more powerful forces operate. Under such circumstances
hope is regarded as the greatest of virtues; human beings are mere tools
of a power or powers which may be well or ill disposed towards them. If,
however, we adopt the deterministic attitude which the facts demand, a
human society can assume the mastery of its own development ; its future
is in its own hands. In that case hope descends to a low place in the scale
of virtues, for it implies inaction. A humble acceptance of inherent nature
(and therefore humility before the power responsible for it), combined with
a firm creative resolution, takes its place. Such an attitude seems optimistic,
not pessimistic.

The truth is, I think, that this optimistic creative outlook on human
affairs has never been adopted because we have failed to apply inductive
methods to our study; in the past human affairs have been studied only
historically. As soon as we adopt inductive methods, the alleged pessimism
disappears. Alone of all sciences inductive science is creative; it is only
by the use of inductive science that man controls his environment. His-
torical science, on the other hand, is purely academic; it merely satisfies
our curiosity and enables us to understand, or to think we understand,
how things came to be in the condition in which they are observed at
any time. Inductive scientists are not interested in the past history of
phenomena; they concentrate their attention on the natural behaviour of
things, and endeavour to formulate that behaviour into scientific laws,
which are statements in general terms of the necessity (ananke) which con-
trols the behaviour, the behaviour itself depending on the inherent nature
(physis) of the material. It is as the result of these researches that men can
assume the mastery of the universe around them. When we create a self-
propelling vehicle, build a ship which rides beneath the waves, erect a
microphone which carries our voices without the aid of wires to the utter-
most ends of the earth, and make any other machine which yields comfort
and convenience, we are simply placing parts of the material universe in
such a relation to one another that their behaviour affords the results which
we desire. That behaviour is dictated to them by their inherent nature; it
is necessary. This necessity has been translated into scientific laws; the
machine has been built in accordance with the laws. Until men had studied
the behaviour and reduced the necessity to laws, however, the machine
could not be created.

This may be commonplace ; but there are two reasons why it is vital to
restate it. In the first place there has recently been a tendency to confuse
the inherent nature of a phenomenon and the behaviour which is dependent
upon that nature, this confusion being apparent in the most exact of
all inductive sciences, physics. When they act exclusively as inductive
scientists , physicists confine their attention to the study of natural behaviour ;

§160 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 337

but, after they had pierced the atom, some of them began to trespass in
other gardens and to speculate on matters which strictly speaking were
outside their scientific province. Thus there arose the idea that scientists,
when working as scientists, were concerned as much with the inherent
nature of things as with their behaviour. Emphatically this is not the case.
Secondly, we have become so accustomed to the scientific conception of
things that sometimes the precise meaning of the terms we employ is
obscured by their familiarity. Thus we are apt to say that the law of
gravitation makes bodies attract one another and make's the apple fall to the
ground. The abstract name by which we denote the necessary behaviour
is conceived as an operative force. A law of gravitation, however, is merely
a human conception; by its means we formulate in words the influence
which owing to their inherent nature bodies exert on one another. The
apple falls to the ground not because the law of gravitation demands such
behaviour but because such behaviour is a constituent part of nature.
Physicists have studied the behaviour, observing it to be inevitable ; the law
is a verbal statement of this inevitability or necessity. And that, so far as
inductive science is concerned, is the end of the matter.

Professor Lloyd Morgan has made this point. 4 We have such a way', he
says, 'of making our general and abstract terms pose as so-called forces.
Thus by many people gravitation is supposed to make bodies attract one
another, and crystallization to make sugar run into crystalline form. I am
one of those who regard gravitation as a concept under which attractions
of a certain order are formulated, crystallization as that which denotes
certain modes of crystalline synthesis. ... If we are asked why crystalliza-
tion occurs under such and such conditions, all that we can reply is that
the constitution of nature is such that under these conditions it does
occur. . . . Crystallization does not make the facts to be what they are;
the related facts being what they are makes our concept of crystallization
what it is.'658

In inductive science, then, there are three separate items: first, the
inherent nature of things; secondly, the behaviour dependent on that
inherent nature ; thirdly, the law which formulates the necessity. The first
must be accepted with humility; the second is the material on which the
scientist works ; the third is a human method of translating and formulating
the force which controls the behaviour of the material, enabling us at the
same time to prophesy its future conduct. When, therefore, we apply
inductive methods to the study of human affairs, we must accept the
inherent nature of the human organism as it is revealed in the cultural data ;
then we must examine the manner in which the behaviour of a human
society changes under changing conditions ; finally we must formulate the
law or laws which express in general terms the controlling necessity. In
this manner we shall not only explain the events of the past but also lay
the foundations for the control of the future.

In what follows I am concerned solely with the past.

z

338 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §160

To every human society known to us a certain power (or powers)
has manifested itself (or themselves) in the universe; the people have
endeavoured to maintain a right relation with it (or them). Since there is
no known exception to this rule, we must conclude in all humility that
such behaviour is part of the inherent nature of the human organism. For
the same reason it appears to be also part of its inherent nature both to
react strongly to anything unusual or beyond its comprehension and to see
in any unusual natural feature, animal or man, a dangerous but powerful,
and therefore desirable, quality. Before such natural features, animals or
men, a human being, manifesting his inherent nature, places offerings in
an attempt either to avoid the danger immanent in any place where the
quality is manifest or to secure the quality for himself.

The reaction to anything unusual is not peculiar to the human organism ;
the peculiarity lies in the nature of the reaction. On coming into contact
with something outside its previous experience, a kitten will retreat, a bird
will fly away. The reaction of the kitten or of the bird, however, is modified
by direct experience in the sense that after a while both these animals may
take for granted the existence of the uncomprehended phenomenon which
previously had caused their immediate retreat. The human organism also
stands in awe before anything unusual ; sometimes it also tends to retreat ;
but its subsequent behaviour differs from that of the kitten or of the bird
in at least two ways: first, it forms a mental conception of the strange
quality which is manifest in the unusual phenomenon; secondly, it makes
an offering. Like the reaction of the kitten, that of the human organism
is modified by experience, but both the modification and the experience
are of a different nature. The human organism continues to make offerings
in the same place, before the same power, and for the same purpose until
its conception of the nature of the power changes. Then it proceeds to
make its offerings to the newly-conceived power, its purpose varying
according to the nature of the new conception. In rationalistic cultures
further modification occurs.

Although this aspiration to secure the help of the power in the universe,
variously conceived, is inherent in the human organism, and although the
aspiration is manifested in the offerings placed before the power, we must
beware of concluding that the desire to make offerings is peculiar to human
beings. Neither can we say that offerings are made by human beings for
no other purpose than the two which I have mentioned. When Herr
Wolfgang Kohler was conducting his researches into the mentality and
behaviour of chimpanzees, he found that in the desire for reunion with its
group an isolated chimpanzee would throw towards the other members any
article which was near to it, even those which it valued for its own warmth
and comfort. Such an action as this corresponds almost exactly to some
human offerings, a discussion of which is not included in my present
submissions.

Now the changes which occur in the conception of the power in the

§ 160 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 339

universe, and in the methods of maintaining a right relation with it, seem
to depend upon the amount of mental energy which a society displays. Its
social energy is the outward manifestation, and sole objective evidence, of
this mental energy. The power of thought is inherent ; similarly the power
to display social energy is inherent; but neither mental nor social energy
can be manifested except under certain conditions. Both the power of
reason and potential energy are separate items of the natural constitution
of the organism, yet they are indissoluble in operation. Before any social
energy can be expended, thought must be brought to bear upon the avenue
of expenditure ; before any thought can bear fruit, energy must be expended
on the selected object ; and the change in the outward appearance of that
object is the sole objective evidence of the existence of the thought. Both
the thought and the social energy are stimulated and intensified by the
operation of a single factor, the cultural condition (in my sense of the word
'culture') of any society at any time depending on the amount of social
energy which it displays. This factor is compulsory continence, or the
reduction of sexual opportunity. The inherent power of thought and
the potential energy of the human organism can be exhibited only when the
sexual impulses are controlled by the operation of social ordinances ; and
the amount of energy and the profundity of the thought depend upon the
extent of the limitation which these ordinances impose. If the compulsory
continence be great, the society will display great energy; if it be small,
there will be a little energy. If there be no compulsory continence, there
can be no energy; it remains potential.

This, however, does not state enough of the truth, for it omits a vital
consideration. As the inherent tendencies of the organism are modified by
experience, there arises within it a dominating Unconscious (paras. 153,
154). Speaking generally, three factors contribute to its formation: first,
the experiences of early childhood, and the emotions arising therefrom;
secondly, the inhibition of psychological reactions to any event or person ;
thirdly, the repression of an innate desire. In human societies the second
and third factors operate in varying degrees, for it is not always necessary,
in every human society, for a psychological reaction to be inhibited, and
different societies demand different degrees of sexual continence. Thus the
content of the unconscious element varies. In the societies in which the
first factor alone operates to an effective degree, the people will be uniform
both in appearance and in behaviour.659 If, on the other hand, sexual
opportunity is reduced to a minimum, and the society is hedged around
by a multitude of conventions which compel the inhibition of psychological
reactions, the men and women will be diverse, the diversity arising from
the varied character of the Unconscious which dominates each individual.

(This, I think, explains, at least in part, why in undeveloped societies
uniformity is the rule, while diversity is characteristic of highly developed
societies, for the development of any society depends on the amount of its
energy, this in its turn being produced by rigid sexual regulations.)

340 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §160

Since the Unconscious is the product of early training and experience,
and since it exercises a dominating influence upon conscious behaviour,
the cultural condition of any society at any time depends to some extent
upon the tradition in which its members are reared, that depending upon
the tradition in which the previous generation was reared, and so on back
to the earliest origins of the societies. The nature of the inherited tradition,
in its turn, depends upon the amount of energy which the previous genera-
tion displayed, that generation inheriting a tradition dependent on the
amount of energy the preceding generation displayed, and so on. Now in
each case the amount of this energy depended on the intensity of the com-
pulsory continence which the sexual regulations imposed. Thus the cul-
tural condition of any society in any geographical environment is conditioned
by its past and present methods of regulating the relations between the sexes.

This is the first primary law which operates in all human societies.

Two comments are appropriate.

In the first place, the law applies only to those human societies which are
capable of displaying energy. I have spoken of this energy as being potential
in the inherent character of the human organism. The evidence in favour
of this assumption (paras. 70, 156) seems to be overwhelming, yet it may
be true that some varieties of the human species may not have been so
equipped. All the societies of which we have any reliable knowledge, how-
ever, possessed the potential energy.

Secondly, I have spoken of energy being produced by compulsory con-
tinence. It is possible (para. 156) that there is a relation of a substitutive
nature between sexual energy (or the conflict arising from any interference
with its direct expression) and mental and social energy, but that is a matter
on which we can come to no definite conclusion. If the mental and social
energy is regarded as the product of the conflicting emotions, the limitation
of sexual opportunity is its immediate cause ; but, if the energies are not
identified, we can regard the limitation of sexual opportunity only as an
indispensable contributory factor in its production, the energy itself being
due to the presence of another inherent factor which operates only under
conditions of sexual continence. For this reason, in my statement of the
law, I have used the words 'conditioned by', not the word 'caused'. In the
remainder of this chapter, however, I shall assume biological fitness and
identify the energies, for all the evidence seems to be in favour of these
points of view. The remainder of this chapter must be read in the light
of this assumption.

We will apply this law to certain selected societies, the sexual regulations
and cultural details of which are well known to us. We will classify them
according to their sexual regulations, then prophesy the pattern of their
culture. We shall see that the results agree with the recorded facts. In this
manner the working of the law will be illustrated, and we shall explain
the coincidences which appear in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I).
I shall not discuss all the eighty societies ; that is quite unnecessary. I shall

§^1 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 341

confine myself to the consideration of certain selected societies, especially
those mentioned in the preliminary assessment of the evidence (para. 90).
Then I shall discuss the question of degeneracy among uncivilized peoples ,
and apply the law summarily to the historical careers of some of the
civilized societies (para. 12), namely, Sumerians, Babylonians, Athenians,
Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and English.

161. Seven Classes of Sexual Regulations. According to the continence
they compelled, the sexual regulations adopted by human societies in the
past may be divided into seven classes. Three refer to pre-nuptial, four to
post-nuptial, conduct. We are already familiar with the former (paras. 18,
19); I merely repeat them so that the whole problem may be seen in its
proper perspective. Pre-nuptially (1) men and women may be sexually
free, (2) they may be subject to regulations which compel only an irregular
or occasional continence, (3) under pain of punishment and even death
the women may have to remain virgins until they are married.

When I speak of pre-nuptial sexual freedom, I refer to complete freedom
outside the exogamic regulations and prohibited degrees (para. 17). In
every human society known to us there were always some men with whom
a woman might not have sexual intercourse, and some women who were
forbidden to a man. In some cases intercourse was permitted with any
man or woman outside the social group, whether the members of the group
were related by blood or not ; in other cases intercourse was forbidden only
with a number of individuals related by blood or by affinity, the identity of
these individuals varying from society to society. Sometimes there was a
combination of exogamic regulations and prohibited degrees. In all cases
intercourse within the forbidden group was regarded with peculiar horror,
being incestuous.

There is no reason to think that this horror is inherent in the organism.
If it were, there would have been no need either for the adoption of the
rigid regulations or for the drastic punishment which usually, but not
always, was meted out to those who infringed them. Moreover, under a
system of pure exogamy many unions were forbidden which under a system
of prohibited degrees were permitted, and vice versa. If the horror of incest
were inherent, some societies would not have abhorred unions which other
societies regarded as normal. Admittedly, since every human society of
which we have any knowledge has seen fit to place some such restrictions
on the sexual opportunity of its members, it seems to follow that the senti-
ments represented by the various regulations are inherent either in the male
or in the female organism ; but that is another point. Since the horror is not
inherent, we cannot say that it is part of the inherent nature of the human
being to avoid certain sexual unions.

Students who make a habit of confusing the biological and cultural pro-
cesses might regard this reduction of sexual opportunity as the first step
from savagery to civilization, using these words in the inexact manner

342 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §161

common to evolutionary thinkers. They might suggest that homo sapiens
placed certain limitations upon the direct expression of sexual energy and
that the resulting conflict of emotions produced a small spark of energy
which was manifest in the first cultural advance. All such theories are
dangerous, because the reasoning is unreliable. In the first place, there is
the risk of identifying the biological and cultural processes. Secondly, the
source of the evidence in regard to the social regulations of primeval man
is unknown; most decidedly we cannot employ the social regulations of
uncivilized societies as comparative data. Thirdly, I see no reason to believe
that the sentiments represented in human society by the exogamic regula-
tions are peculiar to the human organism; other organisms, in addition to
man, may prevent intercourse within the group, and expel those who
infringe the rule. The only safe method, therefore, is to assume the
presence of exogamic regulations and/or prohibited degrees and to classify
human sexual regulations in accordance with the remaining data. It is
worth while, however, to point out that just as no case of complete sexual
freedom is known to us, so no human society is known to us which is
entirely without energy. Other organisms may punish ^by expulsion a
member of the group that indulges in intercourse within the group,
thereby reducing its sexual opportunity; but since its inherent nature is
different from that of the human organism, such action does not have the
same psychological result.660

In reference to the four types of post-nuptial regulations I employ the
terms modified monogamy, modified polygamy, absolute monogamy, abso-
lute polygamy, which I define as follows:

Modified monogamy— the practice or circumstance of having one spouse
at one time, the association being terminable by either party in
accordance with the prevailing law or custom ;
Modified polygamy— the practice or circumstance of having more than
one wife at one time, the wives being free to leave their husbands on
terms laid down by law and custom ;
Absolute monogamy— the practice or circumstance of having one spouse
at one time, but presupposing conditions whereby legally the wife is
under the dominion of her husband and must confine her sexual
qualities to him, under pain of punishment, for the whole of his or
her life ;

Absolute polygamy— the practice or circumstance of having more than
one wife at one time, these wives being compelled to confine their
sexual qualities to their husband for the whole of their lives.
I must beg that the significance of these terms be remembered. The
post-nuptial regulations adopted in the past by any human society,
civilized or uncivilized, fall into one of these categories.

We have already seen (para. 157) the reasons why, so far as the produc-
tion of social energy is concerned, the sexual opportunity of the female is
a more important factor than that of the male. Thus an absolute monogamy

§l6l NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 343

or an absolute polygamy produces greater energy than either a modified
monogamy or a modified polygamy, for in each case a woman knows no
man but her husband. Since in an absolutely monogamous society a man's
post-nuptial opportunity is less than that of an absolutely polygamous man,
absolute monogamy produces greater energy than absolute polygamy. Thus
on a scale of post-nuptial sexual opportunity the regulations arrange them-
selves in this order, those affording the most extended opportunity being

placed first: .

1 . Modified monogamy or polygamy— neither party is compelled to
confine his or her sexual qualities to the other for his or her whole life ;

2. Absolute polygamy— the female knows only her husband, but the
male is free to have other sexual partners ;

3. Absolute monogamy— the female knows no man but her husband,
' the male is confined to one woman for so long as she obeys the social

ordinances.

The evidence is that post-nuptial regulations are not a productive factor
unless the society insists on pre-nuptial chastity. Thus in the past the
compulsory continence suffered by human societies has been of six different
intensities, according as they

1 . permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom (outside the exogamic regula-
tions and prohibited degrees),

2. insisted on an irregular or occasional pre-nuptial continence,

3. compelled a woman to be virgo intacta when she joined her husband,

4. permitted a modified monogamy or polygamy,

5. insisted on absolute polygamy,

6. instituted an absolute monogamy.

The sexual regulations of the eighty uncivilized societies fall into one ot
the first three classes. Those of the ten societies which insisted on pre-
nuptial chastity also fall into (4). None of them insisted on absolute poly-
gamy or on absolute monogamy, but there is some evidence that m the
past some of them may have adopted the former. I shall refer to this matter
when I discuss the question of degeneracy (para. 166). The extension of
post-nuptial opportunity which is afforded by such customs as those of e g.
the Bakitara (para. 36) is included under (4), the regulations under this
heading affording a varying post-nuptial opportunity.

Generally speaking, in the past when they began to display great energy
(as opposed to the lesser energy of uncivilized peoples), human societies
were absolutely monogamous. There is only one example of a polygamous
society displaying productive social energy, that of the Moors; but m their
case the women whom the men took to wife had been reared in an absolutely
monogamous tradition. The energy of the Moors faded away when the
mothers spent their early childhood in a less rigorous tradition. With this
exception, the energy of the most developed civilized societies, or that
of any group within them, was exhibited for so long as they preserved
their austere regulations. Their energy faded away as soon as a modified

344 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 161

monogamy became part of the inherited tradition of the whole society. No
group of human beings, however, has ever been able, or at any rate has ever
consented, to tolerate a state of absolute monogamy for very long. This is
not surprising, for it is an unequal bargain for the women ; and in the end
they have always been freed from their legal disadvantages. To express
the matter in popular language, they have been 'emancipated'. This has
happened regularly and unfailingly in every recorded example of absolute
monogamy, except one; in that case special circumstances prevailed. The
Sumerians, Babylonians, Athenians, Romans, and Teutons began their
historical careers in a condition of absolute monogamy; in each case the
women were legal nonentities. After a time the laws were altered ; a woman
became a legal entity, the equal of a man. This happened among the
Sumerians before they were dominated by the absolutely monogamous
Babylonians ; then among the latter just before Babylonia fell under the
sway of the uncultivated Kassites. Under the ius gentium the Roman
matrons were freed from most of the disadvantages from which they
suffered under the old ius civile. Among the Anglo-Saxons the same changes
were taking place when after the reign of Cnut the ecclesiastical authorities
succeeded in obtaining control of sexual regulations. After the introduc-
tion of a pseudo-indissoluble monogamy (which, so far as the position of
women and sexual opportunity were concerned, was the same as absolute
monogamy) the English instituted the same reforms, which were still
incomplete in the twentieth century. Only among the Athenians was the
emancipation of native-born women never completed. Yet there seems to
have been an emancipating movement in Athens too, but apparently the
Periclean decree of 451 B.C. and the laws in regard to the epicleros, never
repealed, prevented the native-born women from being freed from their
legal disadvantages. In Athenian society the part which was played in
later Sumerian, Babylonian, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and English society by
emancipated women was played by the Outlander women (as Professor
Zimmern has called them). Thus the impulses which helped to inaugurate
the changes were operative, and to some extent satisfied, in this case also.

I mention the matter now because, owing to the egocentricity in our
historical outlook, to which I have already referred (para. 159), it is often
supposed that female emancipation is an invention of the modern white
man. Sometimes we imagine that we have arrived at a conception of the
status of women in society which is far superior to that of any other age ; we
feel an inordinate pride because we regard ourselves as the only civilized
society which has understood that the sexes must have social, legal, and
political equality. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A female
emancipating movement is a cultural phenomenon of unfailing regularity ;
it appears to be the necessary outcome of absolute monogamy. The
subsequent loss of social energy after the emancipation of women, which
is sometimes emphasized, has been due not to the emancipation but to
the extension of sexual opportunity which has always accompanied it. In

§i62 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 345

human records there is no instance of female emancipation which has not
been accompanied by an extension of sexual opportunity.

So much for the various types of sexual regulations and for the intensity
of the compulsory continence which is inflicted by them. Now we will
apply the first primary law to the selected societies, remembering that it is
part of the inherent nature of the human organism (1) to react strongly to
anything unusual or beyond comprehension, (2) to imagine that an unusual
or uncomprehended phenomenon contains a peculiar quality or power,
(3) to attempt both to secure this power for itself and to ward off the danger
manifest therein.

162. Cultural Effect of Pre-nuptial Sexual Freedom. If the social regula-
tions compel no sexual continence (outside the exogamic regulations and
prohibited degrees), this inherent nature expresses itself without modifica-
tion; a zoistic (dead level of conception) culture is the result. The people
possess the power of reason, but they do not apply it to the world of their
experience. Thus they do not inquire into the causes of things ; they accept
without question (para. 146) that assembly of activities which we call
Nature. On all matters of human interest their opinions are uniform; the
society contains no cultural strata. In any unusual or uncomprehended
event or phenomenon the people see a strange quality or power which they
regard as both dangerous and desirable. This quality or power is called by
the same name wherever and whenever it is manifest. It is exhibited by
any stone, tree, or animal of uncommon type or unusual appearance, and
by any article the nature of which is not understood; any man whose
manner of birth or life is in any way extraordinary is credited with its
possession; it is manifest also in his corpse, and in the corpse of any man
whose manner of death is abnormal. Strangers are not thought of as men,
but as beings who possess the power manifest in all strange, uncompre-
hended things. A sickness which comes within the normal experience of
the people is treated in what the people consider a normal manner, but an
unaccountable sickness (para. 148) is ascribed either to the power respon-
sible for all unaccountable things or to a man who, possessing that power,
has employed it for his own purposes. We call him a magician. If rain
is late or comes too much, a magician is asked to create the needed shower
or to make the sun shine. He is paid for his services. If a magician is not
consulted, a similar payment is placed at the foot of an unusual tree, before
an unusually shaped stone, or in any other place where the power is thought
to be manifest. Similar payments are made to avoid either the evil effect
of a magician's curse or the danger immanent in every place where the
power is manifest, that is, any place possessing some unusual characteristic,
where something unusual has occurred, or where a dead magician has been
buried. When they pass such places, the people make an offering. With
these exceptions, so long as things go smoothly, they eat, drink, dance,
copulate, and sleep, working only that their bellies may be filled and that

346 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §162

their organic desires may be satisfied. They suffer from ordinary human
failings, and regard themselves as the most important men on the earth;
they take it for granted that the world (as they know it) was especially made
for them. And they are not puzzled by what we call their failure to control
their environment, for in their view there is no failure. If a magician fail
to create sunshine or to heal a sick man, they conclude either that he is lazy
or that a more powerful magician is working against him. It never occurs
to them to doubt either the efficacy of his methods or the accuracy of the
premises on which their own behaviour is based. If things go awry, either
they place an offering in some sacred place or they seek out the anti-social
wizard who is thought to be responsible. In the latter case, they either
persuade him to withdraw his powerful charms or request another magician
to counteract the effect of those charms by the utterance of counter-spells.
Generation after generation the same tradition is handed on ; the same ideas
prevail. Time does not alter them. In such a society human beings are
born; they satisfy their desires; they die. And, when their corpses have
been disposed of, they are forgotten.

The social vision of such a human society is not very different from that
' of any other group of gregarious mammals, and may be represented by a
plane. A fish which struggles up-stream in order to deposit its spawn is
aware only of itself; its sexual complement and its offspring are never
known to it. Its social vision may be represented by a dot. Similarly that
of a non-gregarious mammal may be represented by a line, for it is aware
both of its mate and of its offspring, but it is unaware of any dependence
upon, or link with, its fellows. In a group of gregarious mammals, however,
there is a sense of group-relationship ; every single organism experiences
both interdependence and mutual help. Apparently this relationship to its
fellows is important to its feeling of security, for, if it becomes detached
from the group, it is miserable and will risk everything, even life itself,
in order to regain the main body. Thus its social vision may be represented
by a series of united straight lines, that is, a plane. The different social
visions of these various forms of life are the result of diverse behaviour,
the behaviour in its turn depending on the inherent nature of the organism.
Some human societies have a social vision which has another dimension,
and which may be represented by a solid. A sense of the past arises, and,
in developed societies, a responsibility for the future; thus the social vision
may be represented as a series of planes, one upon the other, in uninter-
rupted sequence. The introduction of this third dimension is due not to
the inherent nature of the human organism but to the modification of that
inherent nature by a display of mental energy. In the social vision of zoistic
societies the third dimension does not exist ; it emerges only as the society
rises in the cultural scale. Fully developed it is found only among rational-
istic societies, but in its initial stages it can be seen in manistic societies.661
Of the selected societies the opinions I have just described were held
by the Loyalty Islanders (para. 30), Tannese (para. 31), Masai (para. 88),

§i62 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 347

Tlingit (para. 103), Haida (para. 104), Lillooet (para. 107), and Andaman
Islanders (para. 138). None of these societies placed any restrictions upon
any sexual play or upon the early satisfaction of the sexual impulses. With-
out exception they were in the zoistic cultural condition and at a dead level
of conception. The word which they used to denote (1) the power in the
universe, (2) the source of magic power, (3) 'the dead', was haze, uhngen,
ngaiy yek, sgana, snam, and lau, respectively. The Loyalty Islanders and
Tannese are said to have placed their faith more especially in magic stones,
that is, in stones which possessed a haze- or uhngen- quality. They credited
their magicians with the power to control nature. When the Masai saw
anything abnormal, they said, Ngai. On passing the grave of a magician
a Tlingit Indian threw aside a morsel of food, the Haida and Lillooet using
sgana and snam respectively in those contexts in which the Tlingit used yek
(or its compound). The other twenty-four American Indian tribes also
were zoistic, but the evidence is not sufficiently exact to warrant a decision
in regard to their word for 'the dead'. I shall refer to them again when
I discuss the question of degeneracy among uncivilized peoples (para. 166).
I mention them at this point in order to elucidate the rider which I attach
to the first secondary law.

A secondary law is a particular formulation of a primary law which is
couched in general terms only. The first secondary law is this :

Any society in which complete pre-nuptial sexual freedom (outside the
exogamic regulations and prohibited degrees) has been permitted for at least
three generations will be in the zoistic cultural condition. It will also be at
a dead level of conception if previously it has not been in a higher cultural
condition.

The words 'has been permitted for at least three generations' are
important. If pre-nuptial freedom has been permitted only for one genera-
tion, some members of the society may have inherited a different tradition.
We have seen (para. 157) the reason why a cultural change cannot be com-
plete in less than three generations.

Now we will consider the cultural pattern which is produced by the
second type of sexual regulations, that is, by the infliction of an irregular
or an occasional continence before marriage. Before doing so, however,
I must refer again to a subject I have already discussed (paras. 66, 149).

Some confusion has been introduced into the study of uncivilized culture
by the inferential, and therefore unsatisfactory, character of the evidence
in reference to the native word which we translate 'the dead'. It may have
been applied only to corpses ; in that case we do not know whether it was
applied to all corpses or only to some corpses. I have conjectured (para.
149) that, since it denoted the strange quality exhibited by unusual things,
it was used only in reference to the corpses of those men whose manner of
birth, life, or death had been abnormal. Sometimes we are told that the
word was applied to ghosts, but again we do not know whether to all ghosts
or only to some ghosts. I have suggested (para. 149) that the latter was the

348 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §163

case, the ghosts of powerful men being those to which the natives referred.
This suggestion is supported by collateral evidence.

I refer, of course, only to those societies which were at a dead level of
conception. If a society used a different word for the dead from that which
they applied to the power in the universe, no problem arises. At a dead
level of conception a zoistic society applies the same word to (1) the power
in the universe, (2) the source of magic power, (3) the powerful dead or
the corpses of men whose manner of birth, life, or death is abnormal. We
have seen (paras. 146, 147, 149) that the use of the same word in these three
contexts is both comprehensible and rational.

163. Cultural Effect of a Compulsory Irregular or Occasional Continence .
If the social regulations compel an irregular or occasional continence, a
small amount of mental and social energy is produced by the emotional
conflict (para. 155), and there is a slight modification of these zoistic ideas.
The society becomes manistic.

We have already seen (paras. 146, 162) that, so long as things run
smoothly, zoistic people do not spend any time in an unprofitable explora-
tion of the mysteries surrounding them; they are concerned only when
something unusual occurs or when they are afflicted by unaccountable
misfortunes. Thus the first display of mental energy is directed towards
a consideration of the causes of affliction. The new culture possesses many
features in common with the old culture, and is founded upon the same
basis, that is, upon the conception of the strange quality or power in any-
thing unusual or beyond comprehension; but the application of thought
and reflection to the cause of affliction changes the old ideas concerning
them. Then the behaviour of the society is altered in such a way as to give
expression to the new opinions.

One of the social regulations which in the past has induced an irregular
or occasional continence (para. 19) is the reservation of a girl's sexual
qualities to her betrothed. Let us try to imagine what happens when first
this custom is introduced into a sexually free society.

In a society which has permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom for at least
three generations, any young female can indulge in any sexual play of any
kind whatever; she can also have intercourse with any young male. Mutual
consent is the sole consideration. Both the female and the male are free
from any restraint ; they are not troubled by any of those strong emotions
which arise in the hearts of those whose adolescent impulses have been
checked. From earliest childhood they indulge in any sexual play that
attracts them ; they notice the contempt which their elders express for the
boy or girl who fails to attract the opposite sex ; they hear the joking remarks
which are passed by adult members of the community when a young female
feels and obeys an urge towards any young male or has any sexual play with
him. They live in an atmosphere of care-free indulgence; and if they feel
a desire they satisfy it at once.

§^3 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 349

Into such a society, we must imagine, a new arrangement is introduced
whereby the sexual qualities of a young female are reserved exclusively to
a young male, who in all probability has transferred some property to her
parents. The result is that all the other males, old and young, have to
repress a desire to possess or inspect her ; she in her turn is compelled to
check any impulse towards them. So far as we can judge, the human
organism does not tend to be promiscuous ; usually a pair continue to con-
sort for so long as they are attracted to one another. Except in such rare
cases as the organized fornication of the Masai (para. 88), lovers are taken
one at a time; a girl who changes her lover too often is condemned by
public opinion. Thus it seems unlikely that in the society of which we are
speaking a young betrothed male will have any other mistresses; plainly,
at any rate, he cannot interfere with any of the betrothed girls; thus his
occasional continence is probably greater than that of an unbetrothed male,
for, whereas he is bound to one mistress by social regulations, the unbe-
trothed are bound to theirs only by mutual consent. Whereas in all pro-
bability he confines himself to one girl, they are free to have intercourse,
if they wish, with any girl who is not betrothed. What is merely probable
in the case of the male, however, is certain in the case of the female. The
sexual opportunity of the betrothed girl is definitely less than that of the
unbetrothed girls, for, whereas they are free to change their lovers as they
please, she is compelled to confine herself always to the same lover,
whether she wishes to do so or not.

As I have said, we must suppose that the mental and social energy
induced by the emotional conflicts arising out of the compulsory continence
will be directed towards the one great problem of zoistic life, the cause of
affliction. We must imagine, therefore, the case of a young man, suffering
from misfortune, whose mental power has been stimulated in a manner
hitherto unknown, that he has consulted the magicians without success,
and that his offerings at the sacred place or before a sacred stone have not
produced any cessation of his ill luck. My suggestion is that, as he broods
over his problems, he will reconsider the question of the cause of misfor-
tune. I do not think that he will question the accuracy of the premises on
which the behaviour of his society is based; he will merely try to seek for
a hitherto unrecognized cause ; thus his mind turns from the living to the
powerful dead. Since no living magician has caused the trouble, can it be
that the responsibility lay with one who was newly dead? Perhaps he
remembers that recently one of his enemies has died, or that his differences
with some powerful man had not been composed before the latter's death.
Again, he may remember an occasion on which he has been guilty of some
breach of established convention which would have angered his recently
deceased father. Can it be that his sufferings have been caused by these
dead, or by any one of them? Would it not be worth while making an
attempt to placate them? This is the manner, I submit, in which a newly
awakened mind would work on the premises which formed the basis of the

350 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §163

inherited tradition. Thus the result of an irregular or occasional continence
is the presentation to a powerful dead man of such an offering as would
have been made to him had he been alive. (Compare para. 1 50.)

After the reservation of a girl's sexual qualities to her betrothed has
become part of the tradition which a new generation inherited, the old
idea of complete sexual freedom passes away; and uprising generations
regard the new regulations as the normal method of regulating the relations
between the sexes ; but since every girl is not betrothed, and since the sexual
opportunity of betrothed couples is less than that of unbetrothed couples,
the society is divided into two strata, the members of one stratum being
brought up in an atmosphere of occasional continence, those of the other
stratum experiencing no sexual repressions. Those who betroth their girls
look down upon those who permit them to run wild; the betrothed girls
affect a contempt for their sisters who are not subject to the irksome
restrictions imposed by betrothal.

In a similar manner there are two cultural strata. When misfortune
befalls them, some members of the society carry out their zoistic rites;
others tend the powerful dead, regarding some form of tendance as the
normal and proper manner of expiating neglect or of removing the cause
of ill luck.

I do not suggest, of course, that there is a clear line of demarcation
between these strata. I am" putting the matter in this way in order that the
full effect of an irregular or occasional continence may be made clear.

Thenceforward one section of the people remembers some of its powerful
dead, ascribing its misfortunes to the anti-social machinations of those who
were recently in the flesh and who, when they were alive, possessed the
power to inflict illness by witchcraft and to wreak magical vengeance on
their enemies. A tittle of compulsory continence, however, produces only
a jot of mental energy. The people still fear the strange quality in anything
unusual ; they still desire to possess it for themselves ; they still credit any
outstanding man with its possession. It is still their opinion that these
magicians are able to control the weather and to counteract the effects of
witchcraft. The powerful dead are placated only when an unaccountable
misfortune befalls. Moreover, there is some confusion in the manner in
which the dead are remembered. Just as zoistic (dead level of conception)
societies apply the same word to the power in the universe and to the power-
ful dead, so some of the societies confuse the ghost of an individual dead
man with the powerful dead in general. The distinction between them
emerges only after a further period of reflection and thought. Gradually,
however, this new idea of an individual ghost becomes part of the inherited
tradition, and is expressed by a new word. Thus instead of one word for
the powerful dead, there are two words, one denoting the individual, the
other being applied to the powerful dead in general.662 And according to
the mental energy of the people the individual ghost is remembered for
a long or for a short time.

§163 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 351

Parenthetically, I draw attention to the evidence that (1) by manistic
societies the powerful dead only were placated, other dead men being
neglected (para. 149) ; (2) the ghostly theory of causation was adopted only
after other methods of treatment had failed (para. 149); (3) post-funeral
offerings were regarded as the equivalent of payments to living magicians
(para. 150) ; (4) originally all cultural revolutions appear to have been intro-
duced by individual men (n. 632).

The emotional conflicts also produce a small amount of social energy,
and this energy is displayed in the methods by which the new ideas are
carried out. The offerings made by zoistic societies consist of those things
which appeal to some human desire ; thus in other ways also the ghost is
treated in the same way as a living man likes to be treated. Men live in
huts; thus a small hut is erected over the dead man's grave so that his
ghost may be properly housed. Alternatively a similar hut is built in any
other 'unusual' place, for zoistic people consider that the power in the
universe must be placated in the same way as a living man. Other elabora-
tions also are introduced as befit the occasion or appeal to human delight.
And so long as there is a small amount of compulsory continence the
resulting energy is expended in this manner.

Thus the introduction of a small amount of compulsory continence into
a sexually free society produces

1. the remembrance of powerful ghosts in general, and of individual
ghosts in particular;

2. the tendance of these ghosts;

3. the decoration and elaboration of sacred places by such additions as
would please a living man.

Let us look at the evidence provided by the selected societies (paras. 90,
161). Three of them, New Britons, Maori, and Wayao, insisted that
betrothed girls should confine their sexual qualities to their betrothed. The
New Britons (paras. 27, 32) conducted an irregular tendance of the dead,
their offerings being called wairok tebaran, 'to cause the ghost to go or
leap away'. In other details this society was zoistic, relying on its magicians
to control the weather and employing the same word, tebaran, in reference
to those natural phenomena which impressed it.

Among the Maori (paras. 45, 49) a betrothed girl was taumou, this word
corresponding to the New Briton webat. The old Maori saying was, 'Those
on whom a taumou has been placed, do not interfere with them'. The cul-
ture of the Maori was based on their conception of atua, the quality in
anything unusual or beyond their comprehension. They marked a sacred
place, tuahu, with stones (n. 184), and erected a platform, tiepa, on which
offerings were placed (n. 185). They also tended their powerful dead.
Unfortunately the placatory rites have not been described.

Among the Wayao (paras. 97, 98) mulungu was applied to anything
unusual, to the powerful dead, and to an individual ghost. In reference to
an individual ghost they used also the word lisoka. Over the graves of their

352 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §163

'chiefs' they erected small huts inside which offerings were placed. There
was the greatest confusion in the Yao mind between mulunguy the power
in the universe, mulungu, a 'village of departed spirits', and mulungu, an
individual ghost. An individual ghost was not remembered for long; the
offerings to a dead 'chief were only made during the lifetime of his suc-
cessor. Upon the latter's death he became the recipient of the offerings.

In the past an irregular or occasional continence has been induced also
by the infliction of a fine on the father of a pre-nuptial child (para. 19).
Many patrilineal zoistic societies objected to the birth of pre-nuptial chil-
dren; usually unmarried pregnant girls procured an abortion; but some
of these societies did not punish the father of a bastard. If such a custom
is introduced, a similar irregular continence is induced as that which
results from the reservation to her betrothed of a girl's sexual qualities.
Thus the outcome of this regulation is a similar cultural change.

Of our selected societies the Akamba, Lango, and Dinka had adopted it;
the fine which they inflicted was of a varying intensity. The Akamba
(para. 86) confused ngai-mulungu, the power in the universe, and aimii,
'the dead'. Offerings were made at ithembo, sacred places, a small hut
being erected under a ngai-mulungu tree at the bidding of a 'prophetess'.
Aimu were placated, but were not remembered for long. After a time
ghosts disappeared, being replaced by new ones which vanished in their
turn.

Among the Lango (para. 84) an ot jok, 'house of jok\ was erected in
honour of jok, the power in the universe, a similar abila being erected to
a tipo, an individual ghost. A tipo was tended during the lifetime of the
man who built the little/ hut, and then forgotten.

The Dinka (para. 83) remembered some of their powerful dead for a
longer time than the Lango. They erected huts to them, but confused them
with/o/j, the power in the universe. They placated an atiep, or individual
ghost, and they erected paraphernalia on which offerings were placed.

For the cultural details of these manistic (tendance) societies I refer to
the appropriate paragraphs in the foregoing chapters. I offer this sketch
of some of their customs in order to show that the salient points of their
culture can be prophesied by the application of the first primary law
(para. 160). The regulations which are included as Irregular or Occasional
Continence, however, induced a varying degree of pre-nuptial sexual
repression, and therefore a varying degree of mental energy. Except in
rare cases it is impossible to assess the comparative amount of compulsory
continence, but the variety which existed will explain why some societies
remembered and tended an individual ghost while others conceived of the
powerful dead as a village of departed spirits, and why some societies
remembered a powerful ghost for a longer time than other societies did.
Basing my conclusions on evidence which is by no means indisputable,
I have placed (para. 89) some of these societies on a scale both according to
the manner in which they remembered an individual ghost and according

§163 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 353

to the degree of their occasional continence. The societies occupy the same
relative positions in each case.

It seems, however, that in some societies, after it had become the fashion
to reserve a girl's sexual qualities for a man who had transferred some
property to her parents, the parents began to arrange marriages between
couples who had never met. Under these conditions the girl had to remain
chaste, while the boy, probably living at a distance, had no chance of
having intercourse with her. The SE. Solomon Islanders (para. 28) are
a case in point.

We will consider the effect of these further limitations.
We have seen (para. 150) that an offering might be made not only to
avoid misfortune but also to secure help. The jot of mental energy which
produces a manistic (tendance) culture is directed only towards the former
problem, complete faith being maintained in the power of the magicians to
perform their miracles by their own unaided power. Now we must suppose
that a further regulation is introduced whereby a betrothed girl is forbidden
access even to her betrothed. We must assume that a manistic (tendance)
culture has been inherited, and that the greater rigidity of the new regula-
tions produces a greater mental and social energy than that displayed by
those societies which permit direct intercourse between betrothed couples.
To what problem will the mental energy be directed ? Surely towards the
question of securing help. My suggestion is that under these conditions
the youths become dissatisfied with the explanations which the magicians
give of their inability to produce the desired results (para. 150). The acts
of post-funeral conciliation have preserved the memory of the great dead,
and the sceptical youths, I submit, begin to compare the failures of the
living with the great exploits of the dead (for usually the deeds of a man are
magnified by time). Thus I conceive that after a period of thought and
reflection due to greater enforced continence a man will turn to a powerful
dead man for help on those occasions on which previously he has consulted
the living.

There is no need to enlarge upon the subject, which I have already dis-
cussed (para. 150). There are a multitude of circumstances under which
a thoughtful revolutionary might have inaugurated a cult of the great dead ;
all of them are conjectural. Granted the necessary mental energy a change
from unassisted magic to a cult of the dead is inevitable. Contemporary
with the change from tendance to cult there is an increase in (a) the length
of time during which a powerful ghost is remembered and conciliated,
(b) the energy responsible for the elaboration and decoration of the sacred
places.

Of the Melanesian societies which did not insist on pre-nuptial chastity,
the SE. Solomon Islanders (paras. 28, 33) afforded the most limited pre-
nuptial sexual opportunity. A lad did not meet his betrothed before all the
betrothal arrangements had been made. His parents decided whether the
girl was satisfactory or not. Before the actual marriage she was compelled

a a

354 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §163

to be chaste; he had no chance of sexual intercourse with her. The SE.
Solomon Islanders conducted a cult as well as a tendance of the great dead.
By the erection of special altars, enclosed within walls and encircled by
trees, and by the erection of special relic-houses, they elaborated their
sacred places to a greater extent than any other manistic Melanesian society.
They remembered and conciliated their powerful dead for more than one
generation, the cult of a lioa being handed on from father to son. More-
over, it was among them, and only among them, that, as Dr. Codrington
says (para. 33), a sense of the past was found.

In north-east Africa the Shilluk (para. 82) placed upon sexual intercourse
between betrothed couples some restrictions which did not exist among
their neighbours ; there is definite evidence that the Shilluk insisted on a
greater degree of pre-nuptial continence. They conducted a cult of their
great dead, a dead ret ('king') being remembered and conciliated for many
generations. They erected cenotaphic grave-huts in other places than that
in which the ret had been buried. Such kengo were elaborated and decorated
in a manner which was quite foreign to the practices of the other manistic
tribes which lived in the same geographical area and which enjoyed a
greater pre-nuptial sexual opportunity.

Once again I submit these slight indications in order to show that in
human records a greater degree of compulsory continence has definitely
produced the greater mental and social energy that we should expect. For
the cultural details of the Shilluk and SE. Solomon Islanders I refer to the
appropriate paragraphs in the foregoing chapters.
The second secondary law is this:

If in any human society such regulations are adopted as compel an
irregular or occasional continence, the cultural condition of that society
will become manistic. If the compulsory continence be slight, the post-
funeral rites will partake of the nature of tendance. If it be great, they will
partake also of the nature of cult.

The reader will have noticed that under the influence of mental energy
the third dimension is being introduced into the social vision of these
societies ; a sense of the past is transforming the plane into a solid. A three-
dimensional philosophy, indeed, including a regard for the past and a care
for the future, is characteristic of developed virile minds; a two-dimen-
sional outlook, implying an exclusive regard for the present, suggests either
a lack of development or a state of degeneracy.

The introduction of an irregular continence into a society accustomed to
sexual freedom is the most important and the most painful of all social
revolutions. We are so inured to our own social system, and so trained to
place a check upon our sexual impulses, that we can scarcely imagine the
significance of the event. Compared with an increase in its intensity, the
first insistence on compulsory continence is as wine to water. Under the
influence of that continence two great revolutions occur, the elaboration
and decoration of the sacred place and the loss of faith in unassisted magic.

§164 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 355

It is well, then, to be quite clear in our minds concerning the relation
between the energies, mental and social, which are produced for the first
time in the history of the society.

Two considerations are of primary importance.

In the first place, the existence of mental energy is only a deduction from
the observed results of the social energy. We only know that a manistic
society ascribed its unaccountable misfortunes to the anger of powerful
ghosts because those ghosts were the recipients of post-funeral offerings,
the words in which the natives described these offerings revealing the
nature of their intentions. Before the members of any society build huts
over the graves of notable men, and before they place offerings of food and
drink inside those huts, they must have applied the power of their thought
to the problem of evil. Moreover, their solution of that problem, inadequate
to us, is perfectly satisfactory to them, for, if the presentation of the offering
does not produce a cessation of their misfortunes, they will say either that
they have placated the wrong man or that the offering has been rejected.

Secondly, when the new regulations have become part of the inherited
tradition of an uprising generation, the people will become accustomed to
the idea of occasional continence from their earliest childhood. Their
emotional conflicts will not be the same as those which their fathers had
suffered. Such energy as they exhibit will be expended merely in the
elaboration and decoration of the sacred places. Before another change in
accepted premises (or 'beliefs') can occur, a further limitation of the pre-
nuptial sexual opportunity must take place. This is the reason why in a
society which insists only on an irregular or occasional continence there is
no increase, generation after generation, of the inherited tradition; the
mental energy responsible for the change in ideas is produced only when
first the sexual limitations are imposed. When the new notions have been
inherited, the society settles down to a period of comparative quietude,
expressing its repressed emotions by a display of social energy, the products
of which are the sole objective evidence that the mental revolution ever
took place.

164. Cultural Effect of Compulsory Pre-nuptial Chastity. If the sexual
regulations are of the third type (para. 161), the pattern of the culture
changes again, and becomes deistic, whether previously the society has been
zoistic or manistic. First I will discuss the cultural effects of the introduction
of a demand for the tokens of virginity into a society which previously has
experienced only an irregular or occasional continence, that is to say, which
is in the manistic cultural condition.

Since the demand for pre-nuptial chastity does not produce a much
greater continence than the customs, say, of the SE. Solomon Islanders,
the emergent culture does not differ greatly from that of a manistic (cult)
society. The difference is one not of kind but of degree. The change from
the zoistic to the manistic (tendance) condition consisted in the remembrance

356 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §164

and placation of the individual man and in the elaboration and decoration
of the sacred place. That from the manistic (tendance) to the manistic
(cult) condition involved not only an extension of memory and further
elaboration of the sacred place but also a change of attitude towards the
dead. Instead of being placated in order that they might be persuaded to
cease their ravages, powerful ghosts were approached with a request for
help in mortal undertakings. In a society like that of the SE. Solomon
Islanders (para. 33) the efficacy of an incantation, same, did not depend on
the power of the man who uttered it, as was the case in zoistic and manistic
(tendance) societies, but in the name of the ghost by which it concluded.
Faith in unassisted magic was lost; in times of difficulty and distress the
help of higher powers was solicited. These changes were due to a display
of mental energy arising out of the emotional conflicts due to compulsory
continence. If, then, the intensity of that continence is increased, there is
a further extension of memory, a greater elaboration of the sacred places,
and a complete loss of faith in unassisted magic.

Of our selected societies the Fijians (para. 29), Baganda (para. 36),
Yoruba (para. 41), Dahomans (para. 99), Ashanti (para. 100), Samoans
(para. 46), and Tongans (para. 47) compelled some of their girls to be pre-
nuptially chaste. When one of these girls joined her husband, she was
expected to be a virgin. If the signs of her virginity were not visible on the
nuptial mat, there was a great outcry. Each of these societies erected special
buildings, other than grave-houses, in which the powers in the universe
manifested themselves and which were erected and maintained in order
that a right relation might be preserved with those powers. These temples
were more elaborate than the simple grave-huts of manistic peoples, and the
explanation of the coincidence of pre-nuptial chastity and the erection of
temples lies in the fact that societies which are pre-nuptially chaste display
greater social energy than those of which the sexual regulations compel
a lesser continence. In the native terminology, and to the natives them-
selves, the powers manifest in the temples were dead men (para. 150). We
may call them 'gods', but, if we do so, we must remember that we are merely
applying to the native conceptions a technical term (albeit undefined) by
which they may conveniently be described. In the SE. Solomon Islands
the cult of a powerful ghost, Woa> was handed over from father to son, but
eventually the ghost gave way before the rising importance of one newly
dead. Powerful ghosts were often canonized among deistic societies too,
the Tongans affording a good example of this (n. 208); but among them
the cult of the dead man was handed on from generation to generation, and
in this fact lies the evidence that they remembered their great dead for
a longer time than manistic (cult) societies. When deistic people were
afflicted by misfortune, they approached a temple, either asking the 'god'
for help or making an offering in expiation of their offences, the nature of
which was revealed to them by the magician (i.e. priest, para. 65) attached
to the service of the temple. In a few cases, e.g. that of the Fijians, the

§164 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 357

people went to the same temple whatever the nature of their request, but
usually they approached one temple when they needed rain, another temple
when they were sick, another when they went to war, and so on. The
Baganda are a case in point. And just as the efficacy of the SE. Solomon
Islands incantation, same, depended not on the magic power of the man
who uttered it but on that of the ghost in whose name it was uttered, so the
charms of e.g. the Fijians (para. 34), Tongans (n. 212), and Dahomans
(para. 99) were ineffective unless they had been placed in a temple or
blessed by a priest. The culture of these deistic societies was founded on
the same basis as a zoistic culture, for in every case in which the meaning
of the native words is explained the word translated 'god' was applied
only to certain ghosts and to abnormal events or persons. Plainly too their
culture developed from a manistic culture, for, in the first place, the
temples were either elaborated relic-houses or, more usually, elaborated
grave-huts (para. 151); and, secondly, the conciliated powers were dead
men.

Since pre-nuptial chastity seems to have been demanded only of be-
trothed girls, and since every girl was not betrothed, the societies probably
contained at least two cultural strata. Maybe there was a zoistic stratum
too. Unfortunately our study of uncivilized peoples has not yet reached
such a standard of accuracy as would enable our authorities to make this
important distinction. Indeed they appear to have assumed, without
inquiry, that all the members of every 'primitive' society thought and
behaved in exactly the same way.

It is possible for a demand for pre-nuptial chastity to be introduced into
a society which hitherto has been sexually free. No case of this change
came within our survey; but it is not unknown in human records (para.
145), so it is well to consider its effects.

Since the compulsory continence is of the same intensity whatever the
previous customs may have been, the same amount of mental and social
energy is produced. The difference is that a different cultural tradition is
inherited. Thus the emergent culture, while conforming to the same pat-
tern, differs in some respects from the other.

In order to make my submissions clear, I will denote the power in the
universe by the Nilotic word jok.

In a zoistic society only two causes of an unaccountable affliction are
recognized, namely, the power in the universe, jok, and magicians, jok-
men. We have seen that one of the effects of an intense irregular or
occasional continence is to make men lose faith in unassisted magic. Thus
when pre-nuptial chastity is introduced into a sexually free (or zoistic)
society, compelling an even greater continence, some members of the
society begin to understand that of their own volition jok-men cannot
inflict illness upon their fellow citizens. Jok, therefore, becomes the only
hypothesized cause of an unaccountable misfortune. Likewise, when they
need help, the people do not consult jok-men ; they ask jok for assistance.

358 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §164

Moreover, they arrive at a new conception of jok, promoting it from a
quality to an entity. Furthermore, they build a house for him, an ot jok,
house of Jok. This house is not a diminutive hut such as is built by a society
which suffers only an irregular or occasional continence, but an imposing
structure, in the erection of which no pains are spared. In this temple the
superman Jok is thought to be manifest ; to him all unaccountable incom-
prehensible things are ascribed. Offerings are made to him in order to
expiate a fault or to secure a favour; prayers are said to him in times of
difficulty and distress. His will is revealed by jok-men, who under the
influence of mental and social energy form themselves into powerful and
exclusive sects. Their power is said to come from Jok; without his help
they are unable to do anything. Finally the great dead, or the ghosts of
jok-men, who by a zoistic society are known as jok, are regarded as being
Jok or with Jok.

I must leave it to the reader to decide whether or not such a result is
a probable one. Perhaps my suggestion will be understood even more
clearly if for the Nilotic word jok we substitute the Teutonic word god.
Both these words seem to have possessed the same fundamental import
(para. 148).

It does not matter, therefore, whether the society into which pre-nuptial
chastity is introduced enjoys sexual freedom or suffers an irregular or
occasional continence; the emergent culture is of the same pattern. The
deistic cultural condition, indeed, subdivides, the presence of any society
in either subdivision depending upon the nature of its inherited tradition.
If the tradition be zoistic, the same power is manifest in all temples; this
power is held responsible for all incalculable misfortunes ; it is the recipient
of all offerings, whether they are made to avoid punishment or to secure
blessings ; it is regarded as the cause of all incomprehensible things. If the
tradition be manistic, different powers are manifest in different temples,
and offerings are made to a number of different powers either to avoid the
particular misfortunes which in the opinion of the society each power is
able to inflict or to secure the particular blessing which each power is able
to grant.

Hitherto in the study of human affairs these two subdivisions have been
regarded as different patterns, the former being called monotheism, the
latter polytheism; and many crimes against scholarship have been com-
mitted in order to show the development of one from the other. The error
has lain in the assumption that human societies can be scientifically classi-
fied according to their 'beliefs'. It has been encouraged by our desire to
prove that the beliefs of white men are more 'evolved' than those of any
other society.

The third secondary law is this :

If in any human society the girls of an uprising generation are compelled
to be pre-nuptially chaste, that society will be in the deistic cultural condi-
tion. If a zoistic culture be inherited, the same power will be manifest in all

§165 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 359

temples. If a manistic culture be inherited, different powers will be manifest
in different temples.

This concludes our discussion of the cultural effects which are produced
by the third type of sexual regulations. When we turn to the consideration
of the remaining types, we shall have to discuss not pre-nuptial but post-
nuptial regulations. Then the civilized societies will come into the picture.
Before considering them I wish, first, to suggest a line of reasoning and
research by means of which the truth of these suggestions may be corro-
borated, and, secondly, to discuss the question of degeneracy among
uncivilized peoples.

165. A Method of Confirming these Suggestions. I have represented a
cultural development as due to mental and social energy, the products of
the latter being the sole objective evidence of the existence of the former.
I have suggested that the cultural condition of any society depends upon
the amount of energy which it displays, the amount of that energy being
dependent on the intensity of the continence imposed by the sexual regula-
tions. The cultural evidence which I have employed as the foundation of
these conclusions may be as considerable as one man's mind can retain
conveniently or communicate readily, but compared with the multitudinous
items to which human beings apply their mental energy, should they dis-
play it, it is insignificant. If, therefore, the suggestions I have made are
correct, it should be possible to check the entries on my cultural scale by
arranging the same societies on another scale according to other criteria.

I will give an example of what I mean.

One of the most essential details of human life is the possession of a
numeric system or a method of counting. It is plain that a society which
possesses and employs a complicated system displays greater mental energy
than one which is satisfied with a simple one. Now every one knows that
some uncivilized societies have no numeral beyond two ; others can count
up to four; others still can conceive of sixty, using this to indicate any large
number. If, then, I am correct in representing the difference between a
zoistic and a deistic society as due to mental energy, we ought to find that
deistic societies conceived of numbers beyond the mental range of zoistic
societies, and that manistic societies occupied a mid- way position between
the two.

The evidence fulfils these expectations. Among the manistic Lango,
Mr. Driberg tells us, the highest numeral was fifty, this being used to
designate any large number. The numerical terminology of the deistic
Dahomans began at one and ended at tens of thousands ; that of the deistic
Baganda ran into a million.663

I hope that some inquiring student will check the entries in my cultural
scale either in this or in some other way. He will have the satisfaction of
knowing that I have not prejudged the result, for I merely came across the
above-mentioned facts in the course of my reading, and have made no

360 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §166

detailed research into the numeric systems of uncivilized peoples. Should
he adopt, however, any other criterion of judgement than that of numeric
systems, his conclusions must be subject to the qualifications implied in
the next paragraph.

166. Degeneracy among Uncivilized Peoples . Indications are not lacking
that, when first the white man came into contact with them, some of our
ten deistic societies were relaxing, and that some had relaxed, the severity
of their sexual regulations. The best manner in which we can appraise the
evidence is to consider it in the light of contemporary events.

Recently in most sections of the white man's society there has been an
extension both of pre-nuptial and of post-nuptial sexual opportunity.
Formerly absolute monogamy was the rule, and when first this absolute
monogamy was being modified there was a private departure from ancient
practices which publicly were still preserved. Thus at one time if a woman
lapsed before marriage a stern father turned her out of his house. Later,
excuses were made for her in private, her lapse being publicly denied.
Later still, even if her behaviour was publicly acknowledged, it did not
cause much adverse comment.

The same phenomenon can be observed among some uncivilized peoples.
In Samoa (para. 46) the virginity of a bride used to be tested either publicly
or privately. If at a public test the girl failed to satisfy the conditions her
father and her brothers rushed upon her, and even killed her: 'Every
memorial of her life was destroyed and abhorred, her very name forgotten.'
At the end of the eighteenth century, however, the cultivation of chastity
was becoming more of a name than a reality, and I have no doubt that
sometimes the virginity test was a farce. A similar situation seems to have
existed among the Tongans also (para. 47). At one time virginity was of
paramount importance, but later if it was known that the girl would fail
to pass the test, a friend would preserve her reputation 'by a little pious
fraud'.

These are examples of deistic societies in which the regulations were
being relaxed. In two other cases from the same geographical area, those
of the Maori and the Tahitians, there is reason to believe that the regula-
tions had already been relaxed before the white man arrived, and that a less
rigorous tradition had been inherited by new generations. At the time to
which our information refers, the Maori permitted pre-nuptial freedom to
all girls except those who had been betrothed (taumou); but one of their
customs suggests that at one time pre-nuptial chastity may have been the
rule. Among the Samoans (n. 163) a high-born girl was selected as taupou.
A taupou seems to have been mistress of some village ceremonies ; but our
information concerning her duties is vague and unsatisfactory. One thing
is certain: she was required to abstain from sexual intercourse. If she was
frail, she was severely punished, and probably killed. Other girls also were
supposed to be pre-nuptially chaste, but for some reason which we do not

»

§166 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 361

understand the virginity of the taupou was regarded as a social factor of
vital importance. A similar custom existed among the Maori (n. 162). A
high-born girl (puhi) was selected to fulfil an important social function ; she
was forbidden to do certain menial work and was supposed to be sexually
continent ; but, whereas the Samoan taupou was severely punished if she
lost her virginity, a Maori puhi was merely degraded. Nothing else seems
to have happened to her. Moreover, it was not uncommon for a puhi
to be detected in sexual activity. Thus the Maori puhi seems to be the
equivalent of the Samoan taupou, but in the former case the institution
existed in a decadent form. It seems possible that in olden days virginity
had been prized by the Maori and that in course of time the old customs
fell into desuetude, leaving a suggestion of their former existence in the
empty shell of a lifeless and archaic institution.

The character of the Tahitian sexual regulations (para. 133) has been
obscured by the great interest which historians and travellers have dis-
played not only in the relations between the white sailors and the native
women but also in the activities of the Arreoi Society, as described by a
Nonconformist missionary. From a superficial study of these two items
the impression has been created that the Tahitian regulations were extremely
loose. A careful perusal of all the evidence, however, reveals the fact that
when first the white man met them the Tahitians compelled an irregular
or occasional continence and that in former times they may have been even
more strict. Moreover, the founders of the Arreoi Society seem to have
been slandered. Originally the members of this Society were supposed to
be celibate, but after a time this rule became repugnant to them, so in later
days sexual experiences were allowed on the condition that no member of
the Society bore a child. This Society seems to have been a band of strolling
players who gave histrionic performances not unlike a modern masque.
At the end of the eighteenth century its members mated as they liked, but
evidently between some couples there was a strong feeling of mutual attach-
ment, for we are told that if one member conducted himself improperly
towards a fellow member's mate there was considerable trouble. The
prohibition of children seems to have caused a certain amount of
infanticide, and William Ellis, the missionary, lays great emphasis upon it;
but, since we are told that the murderers of any infant, if caught, were liable
to be killed, it seems possible that Ellis has exaggerated the real facts, or,
rather, that he was so repelled by the custom that he failed to make
exhaustive inquiries. We are also told that any female member of the
Society was allowed to rear her child, provided that she could persuade
a male member to 'patronize' it (n. 574). In that case the mother was called
whannownozVy 'bearer of children'. This was a term of reproach.

As for the sexual conduct of Tahitian society in general, the evidence is
that the high-born women resisted the advances of the white men and that
the women in whom the white sailors delighted were those of the lower
orders. Furthermore, a betrothed girl, vahinepahio, was carefully watched,

362 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §166

her virginity being preserved by keeping her apart from the rest of the
household and by forbidding her to consort with strangers. The word
pahio seems to have been the equivalent of the Maori puhi, and the nature of
the reports suggests that in former times the meaning of the word was inter-
preted literally, a betrothed girl being compelled to be pre-nuptially chaste.

In a similar manner, there is reason to believe that the sexual regulations
of some African societies were relaxed in the years which immediately
preceded the arrival of the white man. Among the pastoral clans of the
Bakitara a man used to take a second wife only when he found that his
first wife was sterile. Later wealthy citizens followed 'the example of the
king', and increased the number of their wives until they possessed a
veritable seraglio.665

Concerning the Baganda there is still more detailed evidence. The
Baganda were so squeamish about sexual matters that 'they preferred to
substitute for any plain noun dealing with sex or sexual intercourse the
politest and vaguest of paraphrases'.666 Their prudishness was due not to
their contact with Christian white men but. to the stern nature of their
erstwhile social ordinances. It is also revealed in the manner of their dress.
Unlike that of sexually free societies, the dress of the Baganda fully
enveloped their bodies. Wives, who had been married as virgins, were
confined to their apartments, which were guarded by trusty servants. Even
a suspicion of lax behaviour was punished by death ; a wife was tortured
by her husband if he merely suspected her of frailty.667 No one seems to
have possessed more than one or two wives ; even the Kabaka ('king') only
possessed three, two of them being charged with the performance of certain
ritualistic ceremonies.668 Now after the reign of Mutesa, who flourished
about 1850, these regulations appear to have been relaxed. Mutesa himself
is said to have had seven thousand wives (probably this merely designates
vaguely a large number), and, as among the Bakitara, wealthy men followed
the king's example. When the households grew larger, the closely guarded
wives rebelled against the irksome restrictions imposed upon them. Unable
to gratify their desires, they resorted both to obscene practices and to
stealth; and eventually they became very poor breeders. In spite of the
horrible punishments which were meted out to delinquents, adultery
became common, the women adopting various devices in order to admit
their lovers into their houses.669

There are other indications also that at one time the Baganda were more
strict than they were when first we met them. When a demand for the
tokens of virginity is introduced into a society, the bridegroom's people
are apt to be both literal in their interpretation of the custom and angered
if positive proof is not forthcoming. These opinions are retained so long
as the society lays the same emphasis on the importance of pre-nuptial
chastity. If, however, these ideas are modified by time, it seems reasonable
to suppose that the same ceremony will be conducted as before, but the
punishment for indulgence will be lessened or cancelled.

§166 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 363

Among the Yoruba (para. 41) a girl who failed to pass the test was tied
up, beaten, and forced to name her lover, he being liable to the parents for
the loss of property which they had sustained. The bridegroom was at
liberty to repudiate the girl and to demand the return of the property
which he had transferred to her parents. These customs were still extant
when first we met the Yoruba, who are described as the most developed
of all the West African nations. 'Without saying that the Yoruba are more
intelligent,' Sir A. B. Ellis remarks (para. 42), 'we can safely say that their
intellect is more cultivated.' Now the Baganda (para. 36) demanded vir-
ginity of their brides ; but if the primitiae were not forthcoming no punish-
ment was inflicted ; the girl and her guardians were merely shamed. Indeed,
a girl who became pregnant before marriage was hardly condemned ; she
was merely sent to the house of her lover's father, a fine equal to the bride-
price being inflicted on her lover. Thus it seems that if the white man had
not succeeded to the domination of Uganda society the Baganda sexual
regulations would have been gradually relaxed, and that in a few years,
say a generation, they would have suffered only an irregular or occasional
continence.

Now if I am right in my interpretation of the whole evidence, I should
expect these societies to have fallen or to be falling in the cultural scale.
By the application of the secondary laws to the available data I should
predict that the Maori, who at one time may have demanded pre-nuptial
chastity, were once deistic, and that the Baganda, who, instead of demand-
ing pre-nuptial chastity were tending to substitute an irregular or occasional
continence, would be falling from the deistic to the manistic condition.
The evidence fulfils these expectations.

According to what appears to be a trustworthy report (n. 174) the first
Maori immigrants into New Zealand erected a temple at Taporapora, im
which they placed the sacred paraphernalia they had brought with them.
Apparently they regarded the erection of this temple as a matter of prime
importance, for they did not wait until they had penetrated into the country ;
they erected it as soon as they had landed. Indeed they appear to have been
in such a hurry to build it that they put it up too close to the beach ; soon
the waves came and washed it away. No more temples seem to have been
erected ; Maori energy relaxed ; and when first the white man met them
the people merely placed a few stones around their sacred places. So little
energy did they display that some students have described them as 'object-
ing' to any further elaborations (n. 184).

I am inclined to think that the Tahitians also (n. 582) may have erected
temples (in my sense of the word) to their atua ; but the evidence is con-
fusing. By the one word 'temple' William Ellis has translated many dif-
ferent Tahitian words, and it is impossible to tell which word the Tahitians
used in any context.

The evidence concerning the culture of the Baganda is noteworthy
(para. 39; n. 135). Let us formulate our prediction precisely. First we are

364 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 166

told that before the reign of Mutesa the Baganda were absolutely poly-
gamous, that is to say, a wife knew no man but her husband ; even the king
possessed only three wives. Moreover, two of these women were cultural
necessities rather than sexual partners. Secondly, there are signs that after
Mutesa's death virginity was not prized as highly as in former times, the
people tending to substitute such regulations as imposed only an irregular
or occasional continence. Under the influence of their former absolute
and limited polygamy we should expect the ideas of the deistic stratum to
be more and more intelligently formulated ; the decrease in the intensity
of the pre-nuptial continence among the common people would cause a
descent to manistic practices. Now the evidence is that at the court of the
king great mental energy was displayed. Mutesa extended a hearty wel-
come to his first white visitors because they would join him in those theo-
logical and philosophical discussions in which he delighted. Apparently he
had lost his faith both in the Uganda theogony and in the pretensions of
the native priests, so he 'changed the status of the gods and reduced the
power of the priests from its unique position'. Doubtless he imagined that
in this manner he was liberating his people from the shackles of an imper-
fect creed, and that in the future his nation would be troubled no longer
by the superstitious claims of a dominating priesthood ; but the actual out-
come was very different from what Mutesa supposed it would be. When
Canon Roscoe was in the country, the priests were comparatively powerless,
but this was not because Mutesa had disbelieved in them. The medicine-
men, basawo, had usurped the priestly functions, and, though the deistic
stratum still erected temples, the ghosts, mizimu, were more venerated
than the gods, balubare, the people conducting those rites which would
qualify them for inclusion as manistic only. Yet, if any particularly frightful
event occurred, they remembered their ancient faith. In times of plague
and unaccountable distress, they approached a temple.

We find the same phenomenon in the reports on the Fijians. Compared
with the medicine-men the Fijian priests possessed little power (n. 99).
The temples were neglected, being garnished only when the people wished
to make some particular request of the 'god', kalou-vu. It might be thought
that the greater influence of the medicine-men and the neglect of the
temples were signs of manistic culture and that the Fijians were beginning
to be deistic when first we met them; but neglect of a temple is a sign of
degeneracy. When a society becomes deistic it is careful to treat the powers
in the universe with respect. When it is rising in the cultural scale, the
faith of the people in those powers is too implicit to permit any carelessness
in the behaviour towards them. Thus the lack of interest which the Fijians
displayed in caring for their temples indicates that they were losing their
energy; the relative importance of the Fijian medicine-men, as compared
with that of the priests, was due to a coming descent from the deistic to
the manistic condition. We do not possess any reliable detailed informa-
tion in regard to Fijian sexual regulations, but in all the literature on the

§166 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 365

Fijians we are told that the relations between the sexes were more loose
than they had been in a previous epoch. Some of the later laxity, however,
appears to have been due to Christian influences (for the Christians merely
forbade what the natives had prevented) ; so the available evidence is not
valuable.

Thus it seems to be true that, just as a decrease of sexual opportunity
produces a cultural advance, so an increase results in a cultural decline.
And, basing my conclusions on the same kind of evidence, I consider that
the finest period of Mayan history was already past when the white man
arrived in Central America, for it seems that among the Mayans also the
demand for pre-nuptial chastity had been relaxed (n. 156).

So far I have discussed only a descent from the deistic to the manistic
condition. There are some indications that at one time some zoistic
societies had been manistic.

Let us suppose that the hypothesis is true. In what cultural details
would degeneracy be apparent? If a society no longer insisted that a
betrothed girl should confine herself to her betrothed, in what manner
would the fact of its former insistence be revealed ? My suggestion is that
the insistence would remain as an opinion that such continence was right
and proper. The compulsion to refrain from intercourse with other men
would have been cancelled ; a mere injunction to that effect would remain ;
but no punishment would be meted out to a delinquent. Again, if a society
ceased to pay post-funeral attention to its great dead, how can we tell
whether or not it did so in the past ? We have seen that one of the results
of manistic culture is the adoption of a separate word in reference to the
dead ; I submit, therefore, that if a manistic society descended to the zoistic
condition we should find not only a pious opinion that betrothed couples
should not seek elsewhere for sexual satisfaction, but also a different word
for 'ghost' from that which was applied to the power in the universe.

Of our forty-seven societies, seven, it appears, were at a dead level of
conception (para. 149). Of the remaining forty, twenty-five were American
Indian; for the moment we will leave them on one side. Our information
is inadequate concerning twelve of the remaining fifteen ; in each case the
native terms have been merely translated, and not elucidated. They are
Ao, Angami, and Lhota Nagas; Mikirs, Garos; Chukchee, Koryak,
Yukaghir; Trobriand Islanders, Mafulu, Koita, and Mailu. Only three
remain, Banks Islanders, Kiwai Papuans, and Purari. These societies
applied a different word to the dead from that by which they denoted the
power in the universe (Appendix IV). Concerning their sexual regulations
the evidence is uneven. In the case of the Banks Islanders (para. 72) we
are merely told that considerable laxity existed and that there was no com-
pulsory continence. Among the Kiwai Papuans (para. 74) it was considered
desirable that a betrothed girl should confine herself to her betrothed. The
Purari (para. 76) are said to have 'severely deprecated' loose conduct, but
such a report is valueless, for it is possible that the native assumed the

366 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §166

opinion in order to please his white questioner. The sense of some pas-
sages in Mr. Williams's book, however, implies that usually betrothed girls
refrained from intercourse with other men than their betrothed.

The evidence is slight; again its inadequacy is due to the fact that the
native words have not been elucidated ; but I do not understand how the
idea of a girl confining herself to her betrothed could have prevailed unless
at one time she had been compelled to behave in that manner. In zoistic
(dead level of conception) societies lovers mate as they please; mutual
consent is the sole criterion; there is a complete absence of any general
opinion about 'right and proper' conduct for betrothed couples. Among
the three above-mentioned societies, I submit, the compulsion once placed
on betrothed couples had been relaxed; the idea of what was 'right and
proper' had remained. Is this not a common feature in human life ? When
a dogma is abolished, is not the standard of conduct which the dogma had
imposed retained as the model to which men should mould their conduct
if they can ? May not the ceremony with the skulls which Kairi instituted
among the Purari represent post-funeral rites in degeneracy? A society
which is losing its energy is apt to adopt the easy course in everything;
may not the attraction of the Kairi ceremony have lain in the fact that it
was easier to conciliate all the dead at one time than to placate each ghost
at the grave-side ? It seems strange for the Kiwai Papuans to erect a small
hut for a sibara-adiri, and not for any one else ; is it not possible that they
regarded a man killed by a crocodile as exceptionally fearsome and that in
this single instance they thought it well to be on the safe side by reverting
to their ancient practices?

There are other cultural details also which can be explained, it seems,
only by the supposition that the people were degenerate. After the Kairi
ceremony the Purari exclaimed: 'Depart now for good and all; never
return.' It would be impossible, I think, for a zoistic (dead level of con-
ception) society to address ghosts in this manner, for they did not conceive
of ghosts being able to return and to cause trouble ; but if we assume that
at one time the Purari had been manistic the words are comprehensible.
Similarly the Kiwai Papuans said: 'You go back; you no come; you belong
dead.' Again the expression could not have been used by a zoistic (dead
level of conception) society, for at a dead level of conception the people
use the same word for the dead as they apply to the power in the universe ;
the separate existence of the dead is unconceived by them. If, however,
the Kiwai Papuans had been manistic in a previous epoch, the words
would be singularly appropriate.

Now if a society were degenerate I should expect it to preserve some
items of inherited culture which would not have been present if it had
never displayed a greater social energy. Especially, I think, would some
details of domestic culture, such as clothes and methods of house-building,
be retained. This brings me back to the American Indians. Our knowledge
of their languages is exceedingly imperfect; only in three cases, those of the

§ 166 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 367

Tlingit, Haida, and Lillooet, have I been able to find the word which was
applied to the new identity assumed by a man after death. Even in these
three cases I doubt if I have been successful in removing the last vestige
of the animistic cloak which has been thrown over the native culture.
I am far from satisfied with some of the evidence concerning the meaning
of the words they used. Sometimes, however, when we do not know the
native words, we learn that an American Indian society possessed some
items of domestic culture which appear to indicate that its forefathers had
been members of a more energetic society. The Navaho method of weaving,
the Chilcat blanket, and the general decoration of the native clothing, are
examples of what I mean. Much research would be necessary before a
definite opinion could be expressed, but on the whole I tend to regard the
American Indians as the descendants of more cultured men and women.

The suggestions I am making in regard to degeneracy seem to explain
the character of Maori domestic culture. I have already described the
manner in which the Maori seem to have fallen from the deistic to the
manistic condition ; thus I should expect some sign of their former energy
to be revealed in their clothing, domestic architecture, and cognate cultural
items. Their development in these directions is too well known to be
repeated. Some students, indeed, basing their suggestions on material cul-
ture alone, have given the Maori credit for an extremely high 'culture'; and
it may be that these scholars are surprised at the humble position which
the Maori occupy in my cultural scale. According to the definitions I
adopt, however, the Maori have been correctly placed. I do not know the
single precise meaning which is attached to the word 'culture' by those
who assert the high character of Maori 'culture'. Certainly, until the word
is defined, the expression 'high culture' is meaningless. Sometimes the
alleged development of Maori art has arrested attention; but 'art' is a dif-
ficult word to define, and I doubt if the word 'developed' can be applied
to it in any exact sense. Usually it is a matter of opinion, not of fact,
whether an art be developed or not. At other times there has been a
tendency to form a high opinion of Maori culture because various members
of the society have risen to comparatively prominent positions in modern
life ; but members of the other uncivilized societies have been equally suc-
cessful in adjusting themselves to the new conditions created by the advent
of the white man, and all of them are capable of doing so. Whether, in the
event of the white man's departure from New Zealand and the subsequent
exclusive habitation of that country by the Maori, the latter would preserve,
after, say, two generations, the veneer of white culture which they have
assumed is a different question.

My suggestion is, then, that if a zoistic society applies a different word
to the dead from that by which it denotes the power in the universe that
society is degenerate. Probably at one time it was manistic. The suggestion
is based on data which are easily discoverable; it can be checked by
a reference to the domestic culture of the society. If the society were

368 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 167

degenerate, either from the manistic or from the deistic condition, I should
expect it to retain some items of domestic culture which it had inherited
from the days of its greater energy.

Now we will consider the cultural effects of the remaining types of sexual
regulations (para. 161). They concern post-nuptial sexual opportunity,
pre-nuptial chastity being assumed. If a society permit pre-nuptial free-
dom, or insist only on an irregular or occasional continence, the nature of
its post-nuptial regulations does not affect its culture ; its ideas have already
been shaped into a zoistic or a manistic mould.670

At this point I extend my definition of cultural condition so as to include
political institutions. I have stated (paras. 3, 158) the reasons both for its
present extension and for its previous limitation.

167. Cultural Effect of different Post-nuptial Regulations; Christian
Marriage. If pre-nuptial chastity be the rule, the amount of social energy
displayed by any society depends on the rigour of its post-nuptial regula-
tions. We have seen (para. 161) that of the four types of post-nuptial
regulations which have been adopted in the past, a modified monogamy
and a modified polygamy compelled the least post-nuptial continence.
Thus the energy of the ancient societies which adopted them was less than
that of absolutely polygamous or absolutely monogamous societies. Indeed
it is rare that a society remained deistic after modifying its monogamy, for
usually it ceased to demand pre-nuptial chastity.

An absolutely polygamous society preserves but does not increase its
tradition. It does not possess the energy to adopt new ideas; it remains
content with its old institutions. Yet in such a case there may be com-
plications. So far as the production of social energy is concerned, the
sexual opportunity of the female is of more importance than that of the
male. Thus, if the male members of an absolutely polygamous society
mate with the females of an absolutely monogamous society, the new
generation display a greater energy than that displayed by the sons of
women born into a polygamous tradition. That is why, I submit, the
Moors in Spain achieved such a high culture. Their fathers were born
into a polygamous tradition; but their mothers were the daughters of
Christians and Jews, and had spent their early years in an absolutely mono-
gamous environment. The sons of these women laid the foundations of
rationalistic culture ; but soon the supply of Christian and Jewish women
was insufficient, so the incipient rationalism failed to mature greatly. The
Moors in Spain, however, could never have advanced up the cultural scale
if they had not mated with women who had been reared in a more rigorous
tradition than their own. They would simply have remained deistic, as
other Mohammedans have done. As it was, the quality of their wives was
such that a rationalistic culture was almost created. This tradition, how-
ever, was not preserved after all the mothers of a new generation had spent
their early years in an absolutely polygamous environment.

§167 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 369

In an absolutely polygamous society the sexual opportunity of the female
is at a minimum; she is married as a virgin and must confine her sexual
qualities to her husband. The sexual opportunity of the male, on the other
hand, although restricted, is not at a minimum, for he need not confine
himself to one woman. In the past a male has suffered this limitation only
when a form of absolute monogamy has been adopted. In the records of
history, indeed, there is no example of a society displaying great energy for
any appreciable period unless it has been absolutely monogamous. More-
over, I do not know of a case in which an absolutely monogamous society
has failed to display great energy. In the past different societies have risen
up in different parts of the earth, flourished greatly, and then declined. In
every case the society started its historical career in a state of absolute
monogamy, manifested great energy while it preserved its austere regula-
tions, and relaxed after a less rigorous tradition had been inherited by a
complete new generation. Moreover, the political organization which it
adopted from time to time reflected the relative energy displayed by the
various social strata of which it was composed. Each society began as a
monarchy ; and any subsequent change in the identity of those which pos-
sessed the sovereign power was due to the changes in the sexual opportunity
of the ruling clan or of its subjects.

The existence of a monarchy depends upon two factors : first, the energy
of the ruling clan; secondly, the lethargy of the subjects. If the ruling clan
loses its energy, or if the energy of its subjects increases, the sovereign
power is transferred to those who hitherto have tolerated its rule. In the
former case the monarchy disappears ; in the latter case it may be preserved
in name; but in no case does it enjoy its ancient privileges and power.
When the sovereign power is transferred, it may fall into the hands of a
small group; alternatively it may be possessed by the whole people. It
depends on the relative energy of the new dominants. If a small group
displays a greater energy than the remainder, the political organization is
aristocratic ; and the aristocrats retain both their power and their privileges
so long as their energy is greater than that of their subjects. If they relax
their sexual regulations, their energy decreases; those who hitherto have
been dominated succeed to the domination. This is what happened among
the Athenians and English. If, on the other hand, the small group does
not relax, and if its subjects, by adopting stricter sexual regulations,
increase their energy, the society becomes homogeneous and extremely
energetic. This is what happened among the Romans in the time of the
Republic.

As I have said (para. 3), there is no reliable evidence in regard to the
political institutions of uncivilized men, for the word 'chief has been used
in an extremely loose manner. Only concerning the ten deistic societies
have we any reliable information. Even in these cases the word 'king' has
been used in a vague manner, and is often employed in those contexts in
which another writer would say 'Paramount Chief. Yet the available data

Bb

370 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §167

are noteworthy. The Aztecs, Ashanti, Dahomans, Yoruba, Baganda, and
Bakitara were organized as monarchies. The four Oceanic deistic societies,
Samoans, Tongans, Gilbert Islanders, and Fijians, are said to have been
aristocratic ; yet each noble family seems to have been supreme in its own
area. Among them there was no such division of authority as existed, for
instance, among the Roman patricians after the abolition of the regal office.
Much depends on the meaning attached to the word 'king'; but if it be
applied to the member of the ruling clan who exercised the supreme
political power, the Polynesian Islands seem to have been governed by
petty 'kings'. In this sense of the word the coincidence between 'kingship'
and the deistic cultural condition holds good for every part of the world.

It must be noted, however, that in this sense 'kingship' has been
coincident also with other cultural conditions (for instance, among the man-
istic Banyankole); and although I doubt the complete reliability of the
reports, the evidence, such as it is, must be accepted as it stands. At the
same time it is at least possible, I think, that in these cases the facts have
not been studied exhaustively, and that if our information were complete
we should find certain differences between the culture and behaviour of
the ruling clan and that of its subjects. Hitherto we have been accustomed
to assume that in every uncivilized society opinions are uniform throughout
the society, but except in the case of a zoistic one this is never the case ;
and the assumption has vitiated the reports of many observers and prevented
them from pursuing their inquiries into the habits and behaviour of each
cultural stratum.

The only inference which we can safely draw from the evidence in regard
to the political organization of uncivilized men (and it is not a very valuable
one) is that invariably deistic societies have been organized as monarchies.
It is this coincidence which we find also in history. Every energetic society
has begun its historical career in the deistic condition and as a monarchy.
Sometimes, as in Babylon, the kingship was retained; at other times it was
abolished, either in fact or in name. When it was abolished, the society
became aristocratic or democratic according to the relative energy of the
various social strata into which it was divided.

The only type of post-nuptial ordinance which I shall discuss in detail
is that of absolute monogamy. It is not only the most interesting but also
the most important. Before considering it, however, I will complete my
discussion of the ten uncivilized deistic societies. I must also pass some
remarks in reference to the sexual regulations of the Christians. These,
however, will be of a very general character, indicative rather than definitive.

At the time to which our information refers the ten deistic uncivilized
societies had adopted a modified polygamy. Their regulations afforded a
varying post-nuptial sexual opportunity; but except in one case, that of the
Bakitara, the evidence is not sufficiently exact to enable us to assess the
extent of this opportunity.

We must always remember that the social energy which is displayed at

*

§167 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 371

any time by any society depends not only upon the sexual opportunity it
enjoys but also upon that enjoyed by the two preceding generations. It
takes at least three generations for an extension or a limitation of sexual
opportunity to have its full cultural effect ; and if we happen to observe
a society which is beginning, or has just begun, to extend its sexual oppor-
tunity, the full effects of the change have not yet been felt. The society still
displays an energy which corresponds in some part to its old regulations.
This seems to have been the state of affairs in Samoa and Tonga at the time
to which our information refers (para. 166); and by deduction I conclude
that the inequality of the energy displayed by the ten deistic societies was
due to differences in the sexual opportunity enjoyed by previous genera-
tions. There is a complete lack of evidence, however, from which the
conclusion might be induced. If we may judge from their architectural
achievements, the Aztecs displayed a greater energy than any of the
uncivilized deistic societies ; but we have no knowledge of the customs
which prevailed among them before we first met them. All we know is that
they demanded pre-nuptial chastity and that they were deistic. Similarly
there is a lack of relevant data in regard to the Gilbert Islanders. Again,
all we can say is that their ruling caste demanded virginity of their brides
and that they were deistic.

We have seen (para. 166) that the regulations of the Baganda, and
probably those of the Fijians also, were being relaxed at the time of the
white man's arrival. In these cases less than a hundred years had elapsed
since the initiation of the reforms; thus the changes had not produced
their full effect. Both these societies seem to have been in a state of incipient
degeneracy; but the degeneracy, being incomplete, had not resulted in
a definite cultural decline.

In regard to the deistic Bakitara (para. 36), however, there is evidence
that their post-nuptial opportunity was greater than that of their deistic
neighbours, the Baganda. Among the Bakitara a wife's sexual qualities
were shared by her husband's clan-brothers; among the Baganda a wife
was compelled to confine herself to her husband. Consequently the Baki-
tara, though deistic, displayed less energy than the Baganda. Indeed they
were comparatively lethargic (para. 40). Their temples were less elaborate,
their ritual less developed. Some items of Kitara culture suggest that the
people were degenerating from the deistic condition ; but no definite con-
clusion can be drawn. All we can say is that at the end of the nineteenth
century both the Bakitara and the Baganda demanded pre-nuptial chastity ;
likewise both were deistic. The post-nuptial regulations of the Bakitara
afforded a greater sexual opportunity than those of the Baganda; in a
coincident manner the Bakitara were less energetic than the Baganda.

It is impossible to assess the post-nuptial opportunity of the remaining
deistic societies, Yoruba, Dahomans, and Ashanti. The evidence is neither
adequate nor reliable. Indeed, as I remarked at the outset (para. 20), the
whole of our information in regard to the post-nuptial regulations of

372 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 167

uncivilized peoples is unsatisfactory. Usually, it seems, the punishment for
adultery was in the hands of the husband, or at any rate those of his social
group ; and it is impossible to say that any particular regulations were in
force. Moreover, I doubt if in all cases we have persuaded the natives to
tell the whole truth. The white man is seldom slow to make a moral judge-
ment; and sensitive natives, feeling that they are treading on dangerous
ground, make tactful but not truthful replies to the insistent questionings
of their distinguished visitor (or overlord).

So much for the uncivilized deistic societies. Their post-nuptial regula-
tions were a form of modified polygamy, and afforded a varying post-
nuptial sexual opportunity; but except in the case of the Bakitara we
are unable to assess the extent of the variation. Likewise these societies
displayed an unequal amount of social energy; but there are no criteria
by which the products of that energy may be compared. It is possible,
however, to compare the energy of these ten societies with that displayed
by absolutely polygamous and absolutely monogamous societies; and as
soon as we do so we find that we have passed in our studies from uncivilized
to civilized life. The simplicity and ease of the passage reveals the artificial
nature of the barrier which is popularly supposed to exist between social
anthropology and social history (para. 2).

In historical records a polygamous society sometimes displays an amount
of energy which at first sight seems out of tune with its sexual regulations.
The explanation is that a greater post-nuptial continence was imposed on
the fathers and mothers of the two previous generations. Sometimes a
polygamous society springs suddenly into the pages of history (the Persians,
Macedonians, and Huns are examples), displaying great energy ; this energy
was created by the sexual regulations of a previous epoch. Usually we are
ignorant of the ancient customs of the society; but the effect of their
extended post-nuptial opportunity is apparent in the third generation after
polygamy is known to have been generally adopted. This later extension
of post-nuptial sexual opportunity is the explanation also of the fact that
the social energy of civilized polygamous societies has been unequal ; their
old sexual regulations imposed an unequal continence on the fathers and
grandfathers of the historical generation.

Unless its males marry females who have been reared in an absolutely
monogamous tradition, an absolutely polygamous society remains deistic.
It can never advance to the rationalistic condition. This advance takes
place only after sexual opportunity has been reduced to a minimum.

We must remember that a cultural change is hard to bear. When a
society advances in the cultural scale, many illusions are lost; old conven-
tions give way to new conventions ; and while the change is taking place
the society is divided against itself. Moreover, the creed of every deistic
society is founded on the fear of abnormal, unusual things; its members
are inherently conservative. They dislike the feeling of insecurity and
abnormality which precedes the formulation of the new principles by which

§167 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 373

their children resolve to direct their lives. So long as they can, therefore,
they cling to their archaic faith, rejecting it only when it becomes too
uncomfortable to be preserved. When the new principles have been
accepted by a new generation, a period of comparative quietude ensues,
and no society permits another upheaval unless it suffers a compelling urge.
This urge is supplied only by a further increase in the intensity of the
compulsory continence. Then the painful process is repeated. Once more
the mental sea is troubled ; once more it reassumes its calm serenity after
the cultural revolution has taken place. And so the cultural process con-
tinues, until sexual opportunity is reduced to a minimum. Then, but only
then, mental energy is displayed unceasingly.

This is the reason why, in all the cases we have discussed, there is no
increase in the inherited tradition as generation succeeds generation.
Unless there is a further limitation of sexual opportunity, and so a further
outburst of unwonted mental energy, no cultural change takes place. The
advance from the deistic to the rationalistic condition, however, does not
occur as soon as sexual opportunity has been reduced to a minimum. The
initial results of such enforced continence are of another character.

The first thing that happens is that the society becomes dissatisfied with
the limitations imposed by its geographical environment. The repressed
desires of its leading members are manifested in a lust for power ; ardent
men explore new countries which hitherto have remained unvisited because
the necessary urge was absent ; vigorous individuals dominate their fellow
citizens and lead them forward on a career of conquest and triumph ; the
eyes of thoughtful men are lifted beyond the horizon which their fathers
regarded as the limits of the earth. The energy of such a society is displayed
also in the production of material comforts; they demand tribute from
their conquered enemies, whom they despise as barbarians. Commerce is
developed; wealth increases. This is expansive social energy (para. 155).

If the sexual opportunity of the society is then extended, and a new
generation inherits a less rigorous tradition, the society will begin to display
less energy. It will enjoy the usufruct of its conquests for so long as it has
the energy to retain them ; but if it meets a more energetic society it will
be conquered in its turn. This is what seems to have happened among the
Babylonians ; and by deduction I conclude that it happened also among the
Persians, Macedonians, Huns, Mongols, and any other society which mani-
fested expansive energy and then collapsed. If, however, the sexual oppor-
tunity of new generations is maintained at a minimum, a further cultural
change occurs. The mental energy of the society is exerted on the age-old
problems which have always engaged human interest, the inherent nature
of the human organism always expressing itself. By applying their minds
to the phenomena by which they are surrounded and by directing their
attention to the causes of misfortune, the members of such a society begin
to inquire into and to perceive the immediate causes of those things which
hitherto have been unaccountable, and therefore ascribed to the power

374 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §167

(or powers) in the universe. Instead of accepting normal events as normal
and abnormal events as the work of the power (or powers) in the universe,
the people advance to the conception of the 'natural', the conception of
the power in the universe being adjusted to meet the new conditions. The
power is then identified with those phenomena which cannot yet be ex-
plained, the desire to maintain a right relation with it being expressed by
a further elaboration of temples and ritual. At the same time the reaction
to anything beyond comprehension still asserts itself so strongly that even
cultivated men, while accounting many things 'natural', will regard those
things which they do not yet understand as 'supernatural', referring thereby
to a contradiction or a transcendence of nature as they understand it. They
will overlook the patent fact that if 'nature' be accepted as a reasonable
conception nothing can transcend or contradict it, for, if that were true,
the conception of the 'natural' would be untenable.

Under the influence of further mental energy, many things, hitherto
unaccountable, and included within the realm of the power in the universe,
become explicable, and the area of the 'natural' continually expands, a
new conception of the power in the universe, based on the yet unknown,
being the inevitable result. And, when first the conception of the 'natural'
appears, the society is divided against itself; and it is divided against itself
once more whenever the area of the 'natural' expands. The new ideas
conflict with the old notions ; and those who would prefer to preserve their
archaic faith struggle against the iconoclasts who desire to destroy it. Such
a society is in the rationalistic condition. The advance to that condition
depends not only on the reduction of sexual opportunity but also upon
its preservation at a minimum. The great mental energy of such a society
is directed to every detail of its environment, to every item of human
activity, and to every problem of human life. It changes its ideas on every
conceivable subject, increases its mental range, and expands in all its
multifarious activities. Its method of treating sickness is altered in accor-
dance with its new knowledge ; by using the inherent power of reason it
formulates and applies its knowledge of the physical universe ; it produces
more than it consumes, thus creating capital; it unearths new sources of
wealth which less energetic societies neglect; it discovers new ways of
treating old materials, bends nature to its purpose, and assumes a mastery
of the earth. This is productive social energy (para. 155).

Now in the past, as I have said, sexual opportunity has been reduced
to a minimum only by the adoption of absolute monogamy; a complete
reduction of sexual opportunity has never taken place unless the females
have been subjected to the domination of their husbands. All our selected
societies, Sumerians, Babylonians, Athenians, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and
English, started their historical careers in a state of absolute monogamy, in
the deistic cultural condition, and as monarchies. The baal marriage of
the early Arabians conformed to the same pattern as the sexual regulations
of the selected societies. Certain forms of Christian marriage also have

§167 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 375

reduced sexual opportunity to a minimum. Other forms of Christian
marriage, however, afford a greater and a varying pre-nuptial sexual
opportunity, even compelling only an irregular or occasional continence.
Before I discuss absolute monogamy, therefore, I will pass some remarks
on the sexual regulations of the Christians.

The first thing to be noticed is that historically speaking there is no such
thing as Christian marriage. The term is a comprehensive one; within its
scope many different types of sexual regulations have been included.
Indeed if the ideas of Jerome, Archbishop Theodore, Howel the Good,
John Milton, and Pope Pius XI are to be regarded as equally Christian, all
we can say is that the epithet lacks any single precise meaning. No one
will dispute that in the Western Roman Empire the Christians raised the
institution of marriage to a dignity which it had not known since con-
farreatio disappeared ; but the precise regulations adopted by the converts
are not known to us. Moreover, when one by one the Teutonic nations
were converted to the new religion, the sexual regulations they adopted
were by no means identical. The Franks upheld the Catholic banner
while their Teutonic brethren preferred the Arian type of Christianity.
We know that many members of the Frankish ruling clan married more
than one wife at one time ; but we do not know the manner in which the
acceptance of Arian Christianity affected the sexual habits of such men as
the Visigoths, Vandals, and Lombards. In later days the teaching and
practice of the Catholics in the West do not appear to have been the same
as those of the Orthodox Christians in the East, who, indeed, have always
enjoyed a greater post-nuptial sexual opportunity than the Catholic
Christians.

Now in the past, as I, have said, sexual opportunity has never been
reduced to a minimum except by depriving the female of the species of
certain legal rights which she seems entitled to enjoy ; so when the matter
is being considered it is impossible to avoid some discussion of family
relationships in general, and particularly those between man and wife,
father and children. In every Christian society these relations have been
governed not so much by the teaching of the Galilean as by that of Paul
of Tarsus. Paul spent his early years in a Romano- Jewish environment;
the ideas he absorbed from contact with the dominating Roman element
in his native town were confirmed by what he learnt from Gamaliel. In
each case the ideas were those of absolute monogamy ; and in this manner
some implications of absolute monogamy have been petrified in a Christian
ideal. Admittedly by some Christian sects the Pauline recommendations,
although applauded in theory, have been disregarded in practice ; but by
other sects they have been firmly applied to every detail of family life.
The sexual regulations of the latter, therefore, differ in some respects from
those of other Christians, and are almost identical with those of their
pagan forefathers. Most Protestant and all Nonconformist Christians have
placed a literal interpretation on Paul's writings ; and the result has been

376 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 167

that their ideas in regard to the relations between husband and wife,
father and children, were those which the Sumerians, Babylonians,
Athenians, Romans, and Anglo-Saxons once possessed and later dis-
carded. As I have to discuss the sexual regulations of the English, the ideas
of Protestant and Nonconformist Christians are important; and, in order
to preserve their unique (as Christian) yet common character, I denote
their customs by the term Pauline absolute monogamy.

Like those of all societies which have adopted any form of absolute
monogamy, the ideas of Protestant and Nonconformist Christians have
changed with the passing of time ; but those of Catholic Christians (who
must not be confused with one of their chief divisions, the Roman Catholic
Christians) have been permanent. These permanent ideas having been
put into practice, a permanent and unchanging culture has been created,
deistic in character, with a manistic flavour. And the pattern of this culture
has been controlled by the attitude of Catholic Christians towards pre-
nuptial sexual intercourse.

Generally speaking Christians have invented no ritual ; they have taken
over pagan ceremonies and adapted them to a new purpose. When the
Catholic priests began to convert the pagan Teutons, their aim (as it still
is) was to increase the number of their flock, for it was only to the members
of the Catholic Church that they could extend the benefit of atonement and
the blessings of salvation. To this end they were ready to sympathize with
any ritualistic behaviour which did not conflict with their fundamental
doctrine, that of the Trinity, and with their fundamental rite, that of the
Eucharist. For the rest, new converts, and indeed all adherents to the new
faith, were permitted, and even encouraged, to worship their god in the
manner most suited to their particular mentality. And this is occurring
again in England during the present Catholic revival. In course of time,
therefore, certain elements were added to Catholic ritual which, so far as
we can tell, had not found a place there from the beginning. As early as
the fourth century it had become the custom for some Christians to conduct
post-funeral rites in honour of their great dead, these dead being invoked
to secure favours for the living; and the Fathers had been forced to make
public explanations of their conduct, and to defend their converts against
the charges made by enlightened pagans. The Emperor Julian seems to
have been particularly emphatic in his attacks on the worship of the dead ;
but doubtless then, as now, the Christian priests smiled tolerantly upon
their enthusiastic but uninstructed followers and allowed them to continue
to praise their god in the manner best suited to their mental condition.

In modern times a form of Catholic Christianity is being widely dis-
seminated throughout the uncivilized world; and, though Christians may
dislike it, the effect of their teaching upon uncivilized societies is not to
tighten but to loosen the sexual regulations. The reason is that the
Christians merely forgive and forbid those sexual lapses which under
native rule were effectually prevented. Mr. Gouldsbury and Mr. Sheane

§l67 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 377

(para. 91) have described the influence of Christian teaching on the
inhabitants of the Tanganyika plateau, and have emphasized the fact that
when the old penalties for sexual irregularities are no longer exacted the
natives soon take advantage of their extended opportunities. The same
report has been made by other observers; and the effect of Christian
teaching on Fijian society has been noted and described by Sir Basil
Thomson (para. 29). The same is true, I think, of the sexual conduct of
the Teutonic converts in England in the seventh century. At that time
(para. 172) it was still the custom to transfer a bride-price, weotuma, to
the parents of a bride, the girl's virginity being one of the considerations
for which the weotuma was offered and paid. If and when these men adopted
Catholic ideas, the effect upon them, I submit, was the same as the effect
on modern uncivilized converts. Mutual consent became a necessary con-
dition of a marriage ; an irregular or occasional continence was substituted
for pre-nuptial chastity; sexual lapses were no longer prevented but merely
forbidden and forgiven. Thus in accordance with the second secondary
law (para. 163) the worship of the great dead, and the reverence of the relics
of these dead men, soon formed part of the inherited tradition, remaining
so until the English adopted a kind of Pauline absolute monogamy when
pre-nuptial chastity was not only encouraged but also compelled. And my
suggestion is that in the so-called Middle Ages, among ordinary men and
women, who spent the whole of their lives without travelling more than
a few miles from their native village, pre-nuptial intercourse (especially
between betrothed couples) and not pre-nuptial chastity was the rule.
The latter was confined to the ruling classes, who alone were genuinely
deistic.

The second point to be noticed in reference to the ideas of Catholic
Christians is that in the course of its long career the Catholic Church has
laid emphasis first on one aspect of sexual life, then on another. This
changing emphasis has resulted in a changing attitude towards marriage
itself; and the result in England has been that the energy of the inhabitants
has sometimes been reduced by two factors which were cancelled in the
sixteenth century.

In the fourth century the Christian Fathers began to compel the accep-
tance of the doctrine that marriage was a compromise with sin and that
those who married fell from an immaculate ideal. As Jerome put it,
'Nuptiae terram replent, virginitas Paradisum.' It then became the fashion
for new converts to found religious houses which were quickly filled by
male and female votaries of celibacy. By their voluntary acceptance of
compulsory continence the women who first entered these houses prove
themselves to have been the very ones who, being fruitful, would have bred
a generation of energetic sons ; and if we examine the records of the events
which took place in western Europe between the seventh and thirteenth
centuries we find that after accepting and practising this type of Chris-
tianity a society soon ceased to manifest the same energy as before. It

378 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §167

does not matter whether the people were Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Normans,
Franks, or Venetians ; their social energy varied according as they permitted
or did not permit the custom of voluntary sterility.

A developed society may be likened to a cone, which at its base is broad
and which at its top narrows to a point. As a society proceeds up the
cultural scale the highest cultural strata bear a smaller and a smaller pro-
portion to the rest of the society. If natural development is prevented, the
society becomes like a cone from which the top has been removed; the
most developed stratum is prevented from reaching its due point. Such
was the condition of Christian society in England before the sixteenth
century.

We do not know the numbers of women who at any time devoted them-
selves to a life of perpetual virginity. Even if we did the information
would be valueless, for we should not know what proportion of the female
population they represented. All we know is that among the Anglo-
Saxons in the seventh and tenth centuries, and among the Normans in the
twelfth century, every effort was made to encourage the finest women to be
barren. In each case the result can be seen three generations later, when
the society, or the particular social stratum, failed to produce the leaders
and thinkers who normally would have arisen from the ranks of the
dominant classes. By the Normans the despised English were excluded
from these religious houses. In the thirteenth century the quality of the
Norman stock began to decline, that of the English to improve.

The social energy of the Normans was affected also by another factor ;
this was one which extended their sexual opportunity. I quote from a
fourteenth-century document: 'In those days arose a great clamour among
the people, that whenever there was a tournament there came a great con-
course of ladies of the most costly and of the most beautiful but not of the
best in the kingdom, sometimes forty or fifty in number, as if they were
a part of the tournament, in diverse and wonderful male apparel, in parti-
coloured tunics, . . . and then they proceeded on chosen coursers to the
place of tourney, and so expended and wasted their goods and vexed their
bodies with scurrilous wantonness that the rumour of the people sounded
everywhere; and thus they neither feared God nor blushed at the chaste
voice of the people.' This passage is quoted by Green, who adds pertinently
that the ladies were not called upon to blush at the chaste voice of the Church.

There are two other complications in the study of the social customs of
the so-called Middle Ages.

In the first place, it was always uncertain, at any rate in England,
whether mutual consent or the sexual act (or both) was the essence of the
marriage contract. Under these circumstances doubt could be cast upon the
efficacy of the rite which sanctified a union. Moreover, it might be argued
that by an open expression of consent a man who had consummated his
marriage with one woman had already bound himself in marriage to
another; thus his contract was invalid because a pre-contract existed.

§168 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 379

Secondly, in the history of the Catholic Church, there has been some
change of opinion in regard to the degrees of relationship which must be
avoided in a valid marriage. Sometimes there has been a tendency to
regard relatives by affinity in the same way as relatives by blood. Thus it
has been possible to declare a marriage null and void because either the
wife or the husband was a relative of the husband or wife of another
member of his or her family, or because a pre-contract may have existed
between a relative of one partner to a valid marriage and a relative by
marriage of the other partner.671

In consideration of these difficulties a full discussion of the sexual
regulations of Catholic Christians, even if it were desirable, would be
impossible. The records are singularly incomplete; very rarely is the
evidence wholly reliable. Moreover, some eclecticism is apparent in most
text-books and in all social histories. It was in the first century a.d. that
the Christians first appeared in Rome; so I shall discuss the details of
Roman marriage law only down to that era. Of the events after that date
I shall do no more than present a bare outline. Then I shall pass to the
consideration of the Anglo-Saxons. The Christian priests did not dominate
the law and practice of Anglo-Saxon marriage until the reign of Cnut,
when they succeeded to the office of the Anglo-Saxon 'orator'. The
priestly benediction, of course, did not add to, nor did its absence detract
from, the validity of any marriage until after the Council of Trent (1563);
but between the tenth and the sixteenth centuries the priests appear to
have exercised a close surveillance over sexual matters. I have already
pointed out some of the points which arise in the study of that epoch. I
have also indicated its general cultural character. I shall not refer to it
again. After describing the changes which the Anglo-Saxons introduced
into their method of regulating the relations between the sexes, I shall
proceed from the reign of Cnut to that of Henry VIII, thenceforward
paying some attention to detail and bringing the record down to the
twentieth century.

Now let us examine the nature of the institution under which alone in
the past sexual opportunity has been reduced to a minimum, and which
alone, therefore, has produced the greatest social energy and the highest
human culture.

168. The Institution of Absolute Monogamy. When absolute monogamy
is the rule, marriage is a means whereby a man secures domestic labour
and heirs of his blood. A wife and her children are under the domination
of her husband; in the eyes of the law he alone is an entity. The wife is
taught to submit to her husband in all things ; it is her duty to serve him
and to obey him. No woman may have sexual relations with any other
man than with him whom she marries as a virgin. When she is married,
she is not permitted to withhold conjugal rights. In an absolutely mono-
gamous society female chastity becomes desirable for its own sake, for after

380 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §168

a while the women accept as a point of honour the restraint imposed upon
them by their lords. Over his children also a man has complete power.

In its full rigour this institution has never been tolerated for very long.
Indeed all those human societies which have adopted it were constantly
revising their methods of regulating the relation between the sexes. More-
over, the reforms which they introduced always conformed to the same
pattern, being apparently designed to correct a state of affairs in which
women and children were legal nonentities. Sometimes (as in Babylon) the
changes were made by a series of separate enactments; sometimes (as in
Rome) by a somewhat violent change in legal premises ; but in every case
they took the same course. In every case, too, the qualification of the
marital and parental authorities was accompanied by the reduction of
marriage to a temporary union made and broken by mutual consent.
Furthermore, in most cases the demand for pre-nuptial chastity was relaxed.
In this manner the sexual opportunity of each society was extended ; and
as soon as a lack of compulsory continence became part of the inherited
tradition of a complete new generation the energy of the society faded
away. Sexual impulses could be satisfied in a direct manner; there was no
compulsory continence, and consequently no energy.

I will briefly summarize the manner in which the legal changes took
place. Their general course is important, especially to those who wish to
understand the cultural history of the English. Among the inhabitants
of England absolute monogamy was enacted twice, married women being
freed from their legal disadvantages on two separate occasions and being
deprived of their equality after their first emancipation.

In all cases except that of the Protestant English and possibly also that
of those Romans who were married by confarreatio, the female occupied
a humble position in society because she had been married to a man who
transferred some property to her parents. This payment secured for him
the exclusive possession not only of her sexual qualities but also of the
products of her labour. The result was that a wife's goods, and even her
life, were at her husband's disposal. In course of time the custom of
transferring property in return for a bride fell into disuse; a new custom,
that of presenting a dowry to a daughter, took its place, a transitional stage
being represented by the custom whereby a father presented his daughter
with the bride-price he had received from her suitor. Sometimes this
substitution of the dowry for the bride-price is apparent in the language
of the people, for in later days the word which at one time meant bride-
price was used also to denote the dowry. The Hellenic hedna is an example.
Another innovation was the custom whereby a bridegroom presented his
bride with a marriage-gift or settlement. The Babylonian nudunnu and the
Saxon morgen-gifa are instances of this. Usually, as time went by, all these
financial arrangements were discontinued, and, from being a matter of
bargaining between a bride's parents and a suitor (or his parents), a marriage
became a matter of mutual consent on the part of the contracting parties.

§168 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 381

In a coincident manner reforms were introduced into the legal position
of married women. From a position of complete subjection and legal
nonentity they succeeded to the status of free and equal citizens, being
able to hold property, to trade, and to contract. They were granted the
power of testamentary disposition, and finally took their place in society on
a complete equality with men. The parental authority also was qualified,
some of the privileges possessed by the father being transferred to public
courts.

Invariably these have been the results of a modification of absolute
monogamy. The only varieties within the pattern occurred among the
Athenians and English. In both cases the varieties owed their existence
to unique circumstances.

So long as Athens remained an independent city, the native-born women
were never legally emancipated. The immigration of the Outlander
women (as Professor Zimmern calls them) seems to have alarmed the
Athenian leaders; and by the Periclean decree of 451 B.C. a strict line of
demarcation between native and alien women was created. The latter were
already emancipated; and, although there seems to have been a movement
to free the native-born married women, nothing definite was done. The
laws of the epicleros also may have contributed to the success of the con-
servative policy.

Among the English, in spite of a consistent outcry by an excited minority,
divorce by mutual consent was not in operation; a semblance of the
Catholic tradition which the Protestant and Nonconformist English had
inherited prevented its legal enactment. If, however, the contracting
parties to an English marriage were rich, they could secure, in the twentieth
century, a divorce as and when they wished, by arranging to break the
letter of the existing law.

With these two exceptions the same changes were made successively
by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Athenians, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and
Protestant English. These societies lived in different geographical en-
vironments; they belonged to different racial stocks; but the history of
their marriage customs is the same. In the beginning each society had the
same ideas in regard to sexual regulations. Then the same struggles took
place ; the same sentiments were expressed ; the same changes were made ;
the same results ensued. Each society reduced its sexual opportunity to
a minimum and, displaying great social energy, flourished greatly. Then
it extended its sexual opportunity; its energy decreased, and faded away.
The one outstanding feature of the whole story is its unrelieved monotony.

I have summarized these changes in matrimonial law so that the whole
matter may be discussed from an impressionistic point of view. From a
superficial study of the available data it might be thought that the questions
of female subjection and parental power are indissolubly allied to that of
female continence ; but actually their alliance in the past has been due to
the chance factor that sexual opportunity has never been reduced to a

382 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 169

minimum except by depriving women and children of their legal status.
It is historically true to say that in the past social energy has been purchased
at the price of individual freedom, for it has never been displayed unless
the female of the species has sacrificed her rights as an individual and unless
children have been treated as mere appendages to the estate of the male
parent; but it would be rash to conclude that sexual opportunity cannot be
reduced to a minimum under any other conditions. The evidence is that
the subjection of women and children is intolerable and therefore temporary ;
but we should go beyond the evidence if we were to conclude from this
fact that compulsory continence also is intolerable and therefore temporary.
Such a statement, indeed, is contradicted by the tenor of the whole story.

Now I will describe the historical careers of the selected societies. In
doing so I shall rely to a great extent on the reader's knowledge of the
historical facts, and shall merely summarize the changes which were intro-
duced into the methods of regulating the relations between the sexes. I
shall neglect, or merely imply, the cultural events which followed those
changes.

In my survey of the facts the points I wish to make are :

1. that when they began to display great social energy the societies had
reduced their sexual opportunity by the adoption of absolute mono-
gamy ;

2. that in each case the society was dominated by the group which
displayed the greatest relative energy;

3. that as soon as the sexual opportunity of the society, or of a group
within the society, was extended, the energy of the society, or of the
group within it, decreased and finally disappeared ;

4. that whatever the racial extraction of the people, and whatever the
geographical environment in which they lived, the manner in which
they modified their absolute monogamy was the same in every case.

169. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Babylonians and Sumerians. The
twelve hundred years of Babylonian history which preceded the death of
King Hammurabi in the twentieth century B.C. divide themselves con-
veniently into four epochs. First we find traces of the Sumerians, the
beginning of whose cultural career is far back in the dim recesses of time.
Gradually they were being thrust south by the Semites from the Arabian
desert. After two centuries of Sumerian prosperity in Lagash, these
Semites extended their sway over the whole country. Two centuries
of Semitic dominion were followed by a Sumerian revival, apparently
inaugurated in Lagash. This lasted for about three centuries, during
which the country, after a period of anarchy, was united under Sumerian
leadership. Then Babylon, hitherto an insignificant village, developed into
a great and powerful city. Commerce was developed; temples were built,
restored, and enriched; the villagers extended their sway from Elam to
the Syrian coast, from the Persian Gulf to Anatolia. They were deistic,

§169 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 383

monarchical, and absolutely monogamous. Three centuries after their
first display of expansive energy, they weakened. Local kingdoms arose,
and eventually the land was dominated by the uncultivated Kassites, whose
crude rule was suffered without demur.

The evidence concerning the changes in the post-nuptial regulations
of the Babylonians is to be found in the Code of Hammurabi, published
about the thirty-fifth year of his reign. The Code does not represent a series
of new regulations which were imposed upon society by the will of a
powerful ruler ; it is a collection of enactments which had been made from
time to time to meet social needs. It consists of three elements: first, the
ancient law; secondly, a series of newer laws based on the old principles;
thirdly, a collection of judicial decisions made to meet special problems.
By separating the older from the later elements we can trace in detail the
changes which the Babylonians introduced into their method of regulating
the relations between the sexes.672

At first a wife was secured by a payment, tirhatu, to her parents; she
was subject to her husband in all things, and possessed no legal rights. If
she denied him, she was drowned; such conduct was regarded as an offence
not only against her husband but also against society in general. A husband
could repudiate his wife if he wished to do so ; he could also sell her out-
right, or give her as security for a debt. Similarly children were the
property of their parents; they also could be mortgaged or sold as slaves.
Parents arranged the marriages of all their children. They gave their
daughters to those suitors who transferred property to them. Any child
could be expelled from the house at any time and for any reason, but a son
who repudiated his parents was branded and sold.673

This is absolute monogamy in its most stringent form. Gradually the
conditions were modified, these modifications extending sexual opportunity.

First a man's power to sell his wife or child was limited to the power to
lease them for three years ; any wife or child given as security was free in
the fourth year. Later this power could be completely cancelled by the
insertion of an appropriate clause in the marriage contract. (No marriage
was valid without a written contract.) The payment of the bride-price,
tirhatu, fell out of fashion; and eventually the tirhatu became a mere
formality, a small token, presented on a plate. Fathers began to present
their daughters with a dowry, seriktu; later a husband made a marriage
settlement, nudunnu. The seriktu and the nudunnu were always regarded
as a wife's personal property, which she forfeited only if she misbehaved
herself. In the old days, as I have said, a refusal of conjugal rights was
looked upon as an offence against society ('One shall throw her into the
river') ; later a wife was given an opportunity of justifying her aversion
in court. If she were judged to be blameless, the court allowed her to take
her dowry and to return to her own people. And it seems that when a
man wished to put away his wife he had to submit his case to the court.
If the woman had acted foolishly and had neglected her duties, he could

384 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §169

either divorce her without compensating her or reduce her to the status
of a slave.674

These regulations qualified the marital authority. The parental authority
was limited in a similar manner, a father being compelled to apply to
the court before he could disinherit his son. The court decided whether
an adequate cause existed or not; but whatever the nature of the son's
offence, if it were the first, it had to be condoned. Moreover, from being
chattels, daughters became legal entities. No father was ever obliged to give
his daughter a dowry, and difficulties appear to have arisen in connexion with
daughters who were not dowered and with daughters who never married.
So in order to abolish all distinctions every daughter was given a definite
claim on the estate, a daughter who subsequently became dowered for-
feiting her right.675

Under the old law a man could repudiate his wife whether she was
innocent or guilty, childless or the mother of children. This power was
never abrogated, but in later days certain formalities had to be complied
with; financial adjustments had to be made; the wife's point of view was
considered. For instance, the Code says that if a man divorced a wife
who had borne him children he must return her dowry and give her
sufficient alimony to keep both herself and her children. When the children
grew up, their mother received a son's share of the estate, and was free to
marry a man of her own choice. If a man divorced a barren wife, he had
to return her dowry and compensate her by presenting her with another
sum of money equal to the bride-price he had paid to her parents ; if there
had been no bride-price, he had to make her a cash payment, the amount
of which varied according to his social status. An invalid wife was pro-
tected by law from her husband's whim. If she wished, she could take her
dowry and depart. If she preferred to stay, she could do so, and her husband
was compelled to support her, but she was no longer regarded as his wife,
he being free to remarry. Likewise the rights of a widow were recognized
and codified. Even if her children were young, a widow could remarry if
she wished, after obtaining permission of the court, which filed an inven-
tory of the children's property and handed it over in trust to the woman
and her second husband. If she did not remarry, she could continue to
live in her deceased husband's house, from which, should her own conduct
be blameless, her sons could not dislodge her. Her dowry and her marriage-
settlement always remained in her hands. If there had been no marriage-
settlement, the widow was given a son's share of the estate.676

Plainly this legally protected individual was a very different person from
the chattel which in former times had been secured in order to provide
heirs for the man who purchased his rights over her ; and in course of time
the status of all women, married or unmarried, underwent a complete
transformation. When Hammurabi published his Code, women enjoyed
the same social and legal position as men. They could trade, contract, hold
property, and dispose of their goods as they wished ; from the date of her

§ i6g NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 385

marriage a wife became equally liable with her husband for all post-
nuptial debts. So greatly, indeed, had the relations between the sexes
changed that, comically enough, Hammurabi had to protect a husband
from his wife ; he ordained that if a woman had incurred a debt before her
marriage her husband's person could not be seized either in payment or
as security. The equality of the sexes and the total disappearance of the
old absolute monogamy are well illustrated by this marriage contract:
'Enlil-idzu, priest of Enlil, son of Lugal-azida, has taken Ama-sukkal,
daughter of Nunurta-Mansi, to wife. Nineteen shekels of silver Ama-
sukkal has brought to Enlil-idzu. If Enlil-idzu divorces Ama-sukkal, he
shall return the nineteen shekels of silver, and, in addition, pay half a mina.
If Ama-sukkal divorces Enlil-idzu, she shall forfeit the nineteen shekels
of silver, and pay half a mina. In mutual agreement they have both sworn
by the name of the King.'677

Such a marriage is a union of two individuals broken and made by
mutual consent ; such were the customs of the Babylonians towards the end
of Hammurabi's reign. Female emancipation, freedom of divorce, legal
equality of the sexes, and freedom to choose or to repudiate a sexual
partner, had succeeded the stern rigour of absolute monogamy. After
Hammurabi's death the Babylonians weakened. Samsu-iluna, his son and
successor, lost control of the southern provinces. The Hittites raided the
country, robbed the rich temples, and returned to their own country with
their booty. Soon afterwards the Kassites dominated the once vigorous
city. The inhabitants of the village of Babylon came from Amurru. They
reduced their sexual opportunity to a minimum and, displaying tremendous
energy, flourished greatly; they then extended their sexual opportunity,
and declined.

Similar changes to those I have described had occurred in Sumerian
law. We possess some fragments of a Sumerian Code which, when con-
sidered in the light of the old Sumerian family laws, shows that in the
case of the Sumerians the adoption of less rigorous sexual regulations
immediately preceded their subjection to the men of Babylon.

At first absolute monogamy was the rule. A wife was secured by means
of payment to her parents ; a marriage was arranged by the parents of the
contracting parties; a man enjoyed full marital and parental authority.
Gradually these conditions were modified. For example, if a man eloped
with a girl without consulting her parents, he violated the old ordinance;
later it was enacted that the marriage between the runaways was to be
recognized, provided that the man agreed to pay what the parents de-
manded. The spirit of the old rule was preserved, but the new regulation
was a step towards the changing of marriage from a bargain between
parents into a union based on mutual consent. The parental authority
was qualified also in another way. In the old days a parent could repudiate
a son at any time, without giving any reason, and without making any
provision for the lad; later the lad could demand his share of the family

c c

386 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §170

estate. Later still a son could leave his home whenever he wished, and
could take with him his share of the family possessions.

We do not possess the complete Code, so all the details of subsequent
legislation are not known to us ; but in the days of the last independent
kings of Ur the same conditions prevailed as among the Babylonians in the
time of Hammurabi. Women, from being legal nonentities, had become
free and equal citizens; they could possess real estate; they could contract,
administer, buy, and sell. They were granted a definite legal status, and
could appeal to the court in their own names. A wife could even prosecute
her husband. Sons and daughters married without their parents' consent.
Adultery, punished in the old days by drowning, was regarded with more
lenience.678

The introduction of these customs was followed by the fall of the great
Sumerian race. Even at the end of Shulgi's reign the Semites were becom-
ing restless. Later Gimil-sin built a great wall in a futile attempt to keep
them back; but the Sumerians were in rapid decline. Their energetic days
were done. They had reduced their sexual opportunity to a minimum
and, displaying tremendous energy, nourished greatly; they then extended
their sexual opportunity, and declined.

There is one more piece of evidence from this area. In the days before
the Akkadian domination which preceded this Sumerian revival, Lagash
was a rich and powerful city; and it thrived. After a few generations
the usual symptoms of degeneracy began to appear. A huge bureaucracy
sprang up; officials and priests plundered the poor; public funds were
misappropriated; and there was great oppression. Urukagina usurped the
throne, and tried to stem the flowing tide. He found that the marriage tie
had fallen into disrepute. Open adultery was rampant ; the cupidity of priests
and officials prevented the just administration of the law. Urukagina
reintroduced the old severe punishments for incontinence. In address-
ing himself to the abolition of practices which he regarded as a danger, 'he
probably revived', says King, 'the law of a still earlier age which had been
allowed to fall into disuse'.679

The damage, however, was done; Lagash fell. Within a quarter of a
century Sargon of Akkad had inaugurated two centuries of Semitic
dominion, after which hordes of barbarians from Gutium overran the
country, plundering and ravaging. Then came the Sumerian revival to
which I have already referred. And it was in Lagash, the city in which the
old laws of continence had been re-enacted, that the new age seems to
have received its inspiration.

170. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Athenians. In speaking of the people
who occupied Hellas towards the end of the second millennium we must
distinguish carefully between the various groups into which they were
divided, Achaeans, Dorians, Ionians, Aeolians. The conception of a
straight-line cultural process to which I have alluded (para. 159) has given

§170 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 387

a bias to Hellenic history. Thus the comparatively high position of women
in the Iliad and the Odyssey has been compared with their lowly position
in fifth-century Athens, and historians have interpreted the facts as a sign
that among 'the Greeks' the position of women deteriorated. Such con-
fusion between the separate ethnic units is dangerous and misleading.
It is not permissible to mass 'the Greeks' together in that vague manner;
each of the four groups must be considered separately. If the social
conditions described or implied by Homer be accepted as historical, the
evidence applies either to the Achaeans or to the time when Homer lived,
which is unknown ; it has nothing to do with the Dorian Spartans or with
the Ionian Athenians. The Achaeans flourished, and then declined, as the
Cretans had flourished, and then declined. Later the Athenians displayed
an even greater energy; in their turn they flourished, and then declined.
In each case, as time went on, the method of regulating the relations be-
tween the sexes was altered; the position of women in any group at any
time was a reflection of the method which prevailed at that time. We must
not be surprised, therefore, to find Nausicaa enjoying comparative freedom
and Agarista being treated as a piece of property, for Nausicaa belonged to
one group, Agarista to another and entirely separate group. Moreover,
since in every monogamous society of which we have detailed knowledge
marriage customs were constantly changing, we must not assume that in
any particular Hellenic group the post-nuptial regulations which prevailed
in one century were in operation also in the preceding or in the succeeding
century. It would be as sensible to think that the ideas of twentieth-century
white men were shared by nineteenth-century white men. Furthermore,
we must not assume that any particular custom prevailed in all the strata
of any particular group, for each social stratum may have preserved its
own particular habits. Just as the position of women in the comedies of
Congreve and Webster cannot be used as evidence of English middle-class
life in the nineteenth century, so the evidence on which we rely for our
knowledge of Periclean Athens cannot be employed in a discussion of the
social conditions of the Athenian aristocracy in the Solonian era. It would
be as reasonable to suppose that the facts deduced from the Middle
Comedy were true of the mothers of the men who built the Parthenon.

Professor Westermarck has observed that 'among the Greeks of early
days marriage was evidently a union of great stability, although in later
times it became extremely easy and frequent'. That, indeed, is the gist
of the matter, but the significant fact is that each separate group of Hellenes
was energetic while it preserved its rigorous customs and that, after its
sexual opportunity had been extended, each group rapidly declined.680

When first they appeared in the historical arena, the Hellenes were
absolutely monogamous. Marriage was a lifelong union, contracted for
the supply of legitimate offspring of the male blood. It was only by the
procreation of legitimate children that the tradition and ritual of the
domestic hearth could be perpetuated. Dionysius of Halicarnassus states

388 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §170

that at one time throughout Hellas capture was a favourite method of
obtaining a wife. According to Aristotle the early Hellenes bought their
wives. M. Beauchet considers that purchase succeeded capture as the
prevailing custom. The bride was sold to her husband's family by her
guardian (kurios), who might be her father, brother, or nearest male
relative; she was regarded as a child-producer and as a housekeeper. If
she were guilty, or even suspected, of adultery, her husband had no option:
society compelled him to put her away. An adulteress was a social outcast,
and liable to suffer any insult, however violent, which stopped short of
murder. A man's children were looked upon as his personal property,
and were not legal entities.681

These absolutely monogamous men displayed great expansive energy.
They penetrated to the utmost confines of the Mediterranean coast, and
established colonies on the eastern shore of Spain, in the south of Gaul, in
Italy and Sicily. They placed outposts in the north of Africa and founded
settlements on the western coast of Asia Minor. They were deistic,
monarchical, and extremely energetic, especially in Hellas, Asia Minor,
and Sicily. We know very little of their early history, less of their social
life. Of the conditions which prevailed in Sicily and Asia Minor we have
no continuous record. We know that in Sicily Charondas made it possible
for a woman to secure a divorce; his date is about 500 B.C. We are left to
infer that corresponding changes may have taken place in the relations
between the sexes. The customs of those who settled in Asia Minor must
have altered very considerably between the date of colonization and the
sixth century B.C., for in the sixth century we find traces of rationalism
there, accompanied (as usual) by the emancipation of women. Only con-
cerning the Hellenes who settled in Attica is the evidence reliable and
adequate. Even in their case it is lamentably incomplete.

We know little of Athenian history before the sixth century, but by
that time many changes had taken place. The office of basileus had been
abolished ; the control of affairs was in the hands of a few noble families,
who became rich from piracy and trade. Of these, the Alcmeonids were
outstanding. They had been driven out of Pylus by the Dorians (who
avoided Attica) and had settled in Athens, whence they were banished, for
sacrilege, about 595 B.C. Later they returned, and played a leading part
in Athenian history.

By the beginning of the sixth century the custom of buying a wife had
fallen into disuse among the noble families; it had become the practice
to provide a daughter with a dowry. This did not affect the parental or the
marital authority, but it acted as a defence against a husband's caprice;
for the dowry seems to have remained the property of the wife's people,
so if the husband exercised his power of repudiation he had to restore
the dowry. Moreover, he was sometimes required to give collateral
security that the property would pass to the wife's children. A good idea of
the relations between the sexes can be gathered from the manner in which

§170 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 389

Megacles, son of Alcmeon, received his wife, Agarista. She was the daughter
of Cleisthenes of Sicyon ; at his invitation suitors arrived from all corners
of the Hellenic world. Cleisthenes was inclined to bestow Agarista upon
Hippoclides, son of Tisander, but at the feast Hippoclides was ribald, so
Cleisthenes changed his mind, told Hippoclides that he had danced away
his wife, and gave Agarista to Megacles. In such a way did a Eupatrid
receive his wife; in such a manner were a woman's sexual inclinations
disregarded. Agarista's son was Cleisthenes, the lawgiver; her grand-
daughter was the mother of Pericles.682

It appears, however, that in the first half of the sixth century some of
the aristocratic families departed from their ancient customs. The status
of women improved, and they were granted social privileges which hitherto
they had not enjoyed. We have no knowledge of Athenian law before the
end of the fifth century, but it seems that as the noble families became
richer their women became creatures of pomp and vanity, indulging in
spendthrift entertainments and nocturnal escapades. In the middle of the
sixth century, Solon was appointed dictator to cope with the economic
crisis which had arisen. Our knowledge of his reforms is inconsiderable,
but according to Plutarch Solon placed a statutory limit on the amount
of money a woman might spend on dress, entertainment, and household
furniture. He also enacted that no woman was to carry more than three
dresses on her travels and that in future she was not to go abroad at night
unless she was accompanied by her attendants. Moreover, she must
travel in a lighted carriage. Plainly these queer regulations would apply
only to the women of the noble families, and we are left to imagine the
circumstances which rendered them necessary. Indeed a few examples of
sexual laxity (compared with the customs of former days) may be noticed.
Pisistratus possessed an Argive mistress, Timonessa, as well as a legitimate
wife; by both of them he had sons. We do not know what happened to
these women, but later Pisistratus married the daughter of his former
enemy, Megacles. Two generations later another aristocrat, Cimon, is
reported to have indulged an amorous disposition. He is said to have had
at least two mistresses, in addition to his lawful wife, the granddaughter
of Megacles. Gossip was also rife concerning his sister, Elpinice, who
was said to have been intimate not only with her brother but also with
Polygnotus, the painter. She married Callias, a rich man who paid the
fine of fifty talents, for the non-payment of which Cimon had been
imprisoned.683

These are slight indications, but, as I have said, we are ignorant of the
real state of affairs. The evidence, such as it is, suggests that among the
Athenian aristocracy of the sixth century a less intense sexual continence
was suffered than formerly. Towards the end of that century the aristo-
crats began to lose their supremacy ; by the middle of the fifth century the
sovereign power had been transferred to those whom the once energetic
aristocrats had dominated for at least two, possibly for three, centuries.

NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §170
Meanwhile the monogamy of the lower classes remained absolute.
Apparently some of them had retained the habit of selling their womenfolk,
for Solon forbade the practice. Anyway the old rigours were preserved.
At the time when the aristocratic ladies were enjoying considerable freedom,
the ordinary Athenian girl was still brought up in the strictest seclusion.
Her very existence pointed towards her ultimate fate, for the Athenians
did not hesitate to expose an unwanted female child. A girl's marriage
was arranged by her legal guardian (kurios), and when she was about
fifteen or sixteen she was handed to her husband. A special part of the
house was set aside for her; to those rooms she was confined. She was not
present when her husband entertained his guests, and her activities outside
The house were limited to participation in religious festivals. She was not
allowed to walk the streets unaccompanied; even if she was seen looking
out of a window, she was shamed. It was to the sons of these women that
the sovereign power was transferred; it was their sons who defeated the
Persians at Marathon and at Salamis; they were the mothers of the men
who displayed such tremendous mental and productive energy that their
influence on human thought, religion, architecture, and aspirations is still
felt bv the Western European, two thousand four hundred years later tor
a time the Athenians remained deistic; then their most developed cultural

stratum became rationalistic.684

By the end of the fifth century, however, the old customs had dis-
appeared, the sexual opportunity of both sexes being extended. There was
no compulsory continence; sexual desires could be satisfied in a direct
manner Divorce became easy and common; paederasty appeared; the
men possessed mistresses as well as wives; the women broke bounds, con-
soling themselves with both wine and clandestine love-affairs. The energy
of the Athenians declined. Three generations later the once vigorous city,
torn by dissension, was subject to a foreign master.685

The changes in the relations between the sexes conform to the usual
pattern except in regard to the position of married women and unmarried
girls. As I have said (para. 168), there were special reasons for this excep-
tion to the rule. , ,

From the beginning of the sixth century onwards many strangers had
found their way to the growing city ; and among the visitors were a number
of women, by this time emancipated, from the settlements in Asia Minor.
Keen-witted, charming, and intelligent, these women were attracted to a
city which after the time of Pisistratus offered them a more abundant lite
than did their native towns, which, in truth, were in decline and subject
to Persia. We have seen that in the sixth century the noble Athenian ladies
had been freed from many of their social, if not also from their legal,
disadvantages, but in the first half of the fifth century they lost their
predominant position in Athenian society, being supplanted by the new-
comers, who assumed an intellectual and social equality with the men.
Some of these cultivated women married Athenians, but their presence

§i7o NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 391

alarmed the more conservative natives; so at the instigation of Pericles,
who was anxious to curry favour with the voters, it was decreed that no
one could enjoy full civic rights unless both his parents were Athenians.
Thus from the middle of the fifth century onwards there lived side by side
two distinct types of women, the aliens, who were free but unable to bear
legitimate sons, and the native-born wives, who could bear legitimate sons
but were far from free. Between them a great gulf was fixed ; this gulf was
never bridged. Greater stress than ever was laid upon the ideal of a wife
whose duty (Thucydides makes Pericles express the sentiment publicly)
was to provide the city with sons. The alien women, unable to be wives,
became 'companions'. Later they descended to being mere sexual partners
or professional whores. Euripides lashed out in fury against the unequal
lot of the native women ; Aristophanes wrote comedies in which he depicted
the city under the control of wives; but the old tradition was preserved.
Even in the fourth century, when the institution of regulated marriage was
held in public contempt, we find cases of a literal interpretation of the
law. Thus on his death-bed the father of Demosthenes bequeathed his
wife to Aphobus and his daughter to Demophon. Likewise Pasion, the
banker, gave both his wife and a large fortune to Phormion, his freedman.686

At the same time it is doubtful, I think, if these cases could have occurred,
or if female emancipation could have been postponed, if the epicleros law
had been modified or repealed. When an Athenian died without male
heirs, his daughter was in a peculiar position. She alone could inherit
the estate, yet she was not qualified to hold property. She was an heiress
(epicleros) who could not possess her heritage. So her nearest male relative
was compelled to marry her, he being the agent through whom she took
possession of her own. Increased wealth had created many desirable
estates, and in the late fifth and early fourth centuries there seems to have
been considerable litigation and dispute. In every case the successful
claimant had to marry the epicleros. If she was married, he took her away
from her husband ; if he was married, he put away his wife. Apparently
the law was never altered while Athens remained an independent city, and
the helplessness of the unfortunate heiresses bore public witness to the
lowly position of a native-born girl who had no brothers. Doubtless too
it contributed towards the intensity of the rebellion against marriage which
was common in the fourth century.687

I have said that when a society changes its sexual regulations the same
sentiments are always expressed. The point is well illustrated by the
literature of the fourth century B.C. Thus, when first the girls insisted on
choosing their own husbands, the parents first used the familiar arguments
concerning modesty and maidenly shame; in the fifth century these had
been extolled as the greatest of feminine virtues. In a significant dialogue
a middle-class mother is depicted as remonstrating with her daughter who
announces her inability to control her desire for a certain man. The
mother suggests a dose of hellebore (an alleged cure for insanity). It

392 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §171

became the custom, too, for middle-class women to embellish their
features by means of artificial devices. This is a constant theme in contem-
porary literature. Of a lady who delighted in these factitious aids to beauty,
it is said: 'And with frequent glances she surveyed her person and looked
to see if others noticed her.' This kind of literature would have been quite
impossible in the fifth century. Alexis remarked that no sensible man ever
married ; his nephew, Menander, seems to have shared his views. Doubtless,
too, when they coined the following epigrams the later dramatists were
giving their public what it wanted: 'marriage is worse than disenfranchise-
ment' ; 'why do girls prefer old wine but young men' ; 'love is a severe god,
especially to the old'; 'the sudden effects of a kiss'; 'a respectable woman
does not dye her hair'; 'a wife is an expensive luxury'. Such bright little
sayings could be quoted almost indefinitely from the Middle Comedy. They
illustrate the shallow superficiality of the Athenians who were conquered
by Philip.688

171. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Romans {down to the first century a.d.).
When the Athenians were discussing the exclusion of the sons of Out-
lander women from the enjoyment of civic rights, a special council of
ten (Decemvirate) was appointed by the populus Romanus to reduce the
laws of the village to writing. According to native tradition Rome was
founded in the middle of the eighth century B.C., but for the first three
centuries of Roman history there are no indisputable records. At first the
people were absolutely monogamous, deistic, and monarchical. Usually
the rex is regarded as having been the head of the hierarchy, but by the
fifth century the office had been abolished. The institution which at one
time had been looked upon as the origin of blessings was then held in
contempt. The sovereign power was transferred to the patricians. Up
to the fifth century the patricians alone were the populus Romanus ; they
alone possessed civic rights. They ordered their lives according to the ius
civile, the benefits of which were conferred upon those who were cives,
that is, upon those who were the offspring of a iustum matrimonium. A
citizen contracted a iustum matrimonium when he took to wife a citizen of
Rome, or a Latin or alien to whom the Romans had extended the right of
intermarriage, ius conubii. His children were cives, and subject to his
potestas, or that of his paterfamilias; his wife was in manu.

In the early days, before any proposal could be enacted, first, it had to
be approved by the senatus, then sanctioned by the populus: potestas in
populo, auctoritas in senatu. For this purpose the populus assembled as
a comitia curiata, which was an exclusively patrician organization. Before
the fifth century, however, this had been changed, and according to a
reform credited to the sixth rex, Servius Tullius, a comitia centuriata was
formed, of which every landowner (patrician, plebeian, or cliens), and all
the adult males in potestate, were members. Originally, the comitia cen-
turiata was nothing but the standing army. Frequent wars had necessitated

§171 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 393

the formation of a stronger military organization, so from being a personal
obligation military service was changed to an incident of land tenure. Not
unnaturally, as soon as this assembly began to function, it assumed the
right of deciding the question of peace or war, hitherto exercised by the
comitia curiata. This transfer of power was the first of many. Indeed in
the first hundred and fifty years which followed the publication of the
Twelve Tables the comitia curiata lost its dominating position, which
thereafter was assumed by the comitia centuriata, the final victory of the
plebs being formulated in the Lex Hortensia, 287 B.C. Gradually the
plebeians broke down the barriers which separated them from the enjoy-
ment of political rights and privileges, and were finally in a position of
complete equality with the patricians.

Thus by the beginning of the third century the population of Rome,
instead of being divided into two distinct endogamous elements, the
populus Romanus and the plebs, had become homogeneous ; the plebeians
had climbed until they reached the topmost social and political heights.
The parallel evidence is that at first the compulsory continence inflicted
by the sexual regulations of the patricians was greater than that suffered
by the plebeians, whose institutions were based on less rigorous principles,
and that from the fifth century onwards the plebeians followed patrician
practices.

After the population had become homog eneous, the expansive social
energy of the Romans was tremendous. When they had subdued what is
now called Italy, they extended their sway over the whole of the Mediter-
ranean area, rising from an insignificant township to a position of domina-
tion in less than three centuries. Moreover, the members of the most
developed cultural stratum began to show a rationalistic inclination, and
listened with sympathy to the members of the Hellenistic intelligentsia
who visited the growing city. Then the archaic ius civile was supplanted
by the ius gentium, a. form of law which came into operation in response
to the demands of advancing society. Absolute monogamy was modified ;
sexual opportunity was extended ; sexual desires were expressed in a direct
manner ; the marriage institution fell out of fashion ; women were emanci-
pated ; the marital and parental authorities were qualified ; Roman gravitas
disappeared.

There is some evidence that sexual laxity first appeared among the
patricians, and then later among the plebeians also.

Such, in outline, are the facts; the details are these.

At first the patricians were married by confarreatio, an almost indis-
soluble bond, solemnized by a religious ceremony performed by the
pontifex maximus. Marriage was an institution designed for the provision
of children of the male blood. The marital and parental authorities were
complete. A wife was in manu, either of her husband or of his paterfamilias ,
the man being sole judge in all matters which concerned his wife and
children. Their lives were in his hands; he could sell them into bondage.

394 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §171

By the fifth century, however, it had become the custom to assemble the
family council before any drastic action was taken. The system of relation-
ship was agnatic; blood-relationship, as understood in later days, was
unknown. Any person or persons transferred from one family to another
ceased to be related to their former family, and owed allegiance only to
their new family. Thus when a woman was married she was no longer
legally related to her parents; she exchanged the sacra of her family for
those of her husband. Her relationship to her children was that of a sister;
both she and they were subject to the same patria potestas. A father decided
whether a child should be exposed or permitted to live ; no person could
marry without the consent of the head of the family. Adultery was an
offence which was possible only for a woman. Every male was either
filiusfamilias or paterfamilias. A filiusfamilias could be a debtor, but not
a creditor; he could be a witness, but could not make a will. If he
benefited under a succession, his rights were vested in his father. He
might be permitted to administer some of the family property, but he held
it on the same terms as a slave. Privately he could only contract obliga-
tions ; he possessed no rights. Publicly it was different. As a civis a. filius-
familias was equal to his paterfamilias ; he could even act as index in a case
to which his father was a party. Women, however, possessed no legal rights
whatever; they could neither hold property nor administer it. A widow
was under the complete control of her guardian, and possessed no power
over her children, who were her legal equals.689

Such was the compulsory continence, such the severe discipline, suffered
by the men who expelled the reges and assumed control of Rome. It is
difficult to imagine a more complete reduction of sexual opportunity or
a more rigid cancellation of personal impulses. To the period of patrician
domination belong the stories of Cincinnatus, Coriolanus, Camillus, and
Cloelia. It was the patricians who defended Rome against the Tuscans and
who gained the victory of Lake Regillus. They gave Rome her gravitas.
Their honourable dealings became proverbial as the ttlgtls tojv 'Pwybalcov (as
the Hellenistic people called it), which towards the end of the Republic
disappeared.

Before the fifth century there had been no written law. The fas was an
oral heritage, handed on from one generation to another. Soon the plebeians,
having gained some standing by virtue of their membership of the comitia
centuriata, seem to have complained both of their ignorance of the law and
of the uneven justice with which they were treated. The patricians replied
by a contemptuous reference to the loose sexual behaviour of the plebs.
They decided, however, to reduce the ins civile to writing, this entailing
the definition of plebeian customs according to patrician principles. A
plebeian secured his wife either by coemptio or by usus. Coemptio was a
civil act, consisting of the conveyance of a woman to a man in the presence
of witnesses. In earlier times coemptio seems to have been a literal sale,
but by the fifth century the bride-price had become a formality (like the

§171 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 395

Babylonian tirhatu (para. 169)). Under the conditions of a sale, albeit
a symbolic one, the marital and parental authorities were, of course,
complete; so there was no difficulty in identifying the marital authority
incurred by the plebeian coemptio with the patrician manus, and the
parental authority with the patrician potest as. The case of usus was not
so simple. In early times some of the plebeians seem to have married by
cohabitation, simply. Some authorities maintain that such cohabitation
was a survival of forcible abduction and that in course of time capture
gave way to mutual consent. However that may be, there was no com-
pulsory continence about the sexual union, a separated couple being
regarded as no longer married. Naturally such a custom was severely
condemned by the patricians, who made no secret of their disgust; but
since among them any property which had been held for a year became
legally acquired (in manu), they appear to have held that a woman who had
lived with a man for a year automatically incurred manus. Thus in the
Twelve Tables it was enacted that cohabitation for a year produced manus.
Yet plainly from the plebeian point of view this decision contravened the
fundamental character of the union, so (apparently this was the reason) the
trinoctium was introduced, by means of which it was ordained that if a
woman wished to escape manus she must absent herself for three successive
nights in each year. In this manner the conflicting points of view were
adjusted, for the patricians were unable to conceive of marriage without
manus, and the device of the trinoctium was their method of giving legal
recognition to the customs of the despised plebs.

Thus before the fifth century the compulsory continence suffered by
the plebeians was less than that of the patricians. Immediately after the
publication of the Twelve Tables the former began to discard their old
customs (if indeed they had not done so already) and to adopt those of the
patricians, including confarreatio. First they gained the right of inter-
marriage. This was the most significant revolution of all, but the privilege
was not obtained without difficulty, the loose character of plebeian sexual
regulations being the point at issue. It was only after 'much strong
language,' Muirhead says, 'much contemptuous denunciation of the loose-
ness of the matrimonial relations of the lower order, sanctioned by no
auspices, and hallowed by no sacrifice, and much declamation, more or
less sincere, about the divinity of the commonwealth, that the patricians
accepted the motion'.690

There is no evidence that the patricians ever compromised in any way.
Indeed it is certain that they adhered to their principles. The evidence is
that they permitted the plebeians to take public office only after the latter
had discarded marriage by usus and adopted confarreatio. This is proved
by the passing of the Lex Ogulnia (300 B.C.). This law enabled a plebeian
to be pontifex maximus. Now no man was allowed to hold that high office
unless he was the son of a woman married by confarreatio and unless his
own marriage had been sanctified by the same holy rite. Thus for two

396 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 171

generations at least before 300 B.C. (say sixty years) some plebeians must
have been married in that manner, and, moreover, the number of plebeian
confarreatio marriages cannot have been small, for, if only a small minority
of the plebeians had adopted confarreatio, the patricians would hardly have
passed the Lex Ogulnia. The dates on which the various public offices
were thrown open reveal the fact that the patricians never accepted
plebeian officials until, from the patrician point of view, the plebeians had
mended their ways. After the patricians were convinced of plebeian
orthodoxy, however, plebeian successes were continuous, they being
admitted to the consulate in 367, to the dictatorship in 356, and to the
censorship in 350; but even though the praetorship was opened in 360 no
plebeian succeeded to that important office until 337, so reluctant were the
patricians to permit any break with the old traditions.

By the end of the fourth century the extended populus Romanus was
absolutely monogamous, homogeneous, deistic, and extremely energetic.
Furthermore, signs of rationalism started to appear. It was at this time
that the patricians began to depart from their old customs. There is some
evidence that the men had taken advantage of their privileged position at
an earlier date; but it is not indisputable.691 In 295, during the third
Samnite War, matrons are said to have been publicly tried for adultery.
Ihne remarks: 'We cannot imagine that immorality on such a scale was
confined to one year, or to one period. It must have been an evil of long
growth before it could reach such dimensions. For moral disease, unlike
a physical epidemic, is not capricious and unaccountable in its devastations.
It can neither come nor go quickly.' The plebeians, on the other hand,
continued to preserve the ideas which in former times had been exclusively
held by the patricians. Although intermarriage between the orders had
been legal for one hundred and fifty years, it was still unpopular with the
patrician ladies, some of whom once appear to have excluded one of their
number, Virginia by name, from participation in their rites, because she
had married a plebeian. Virginia is said to have returned to her own house,
and erected a new altar there. She dedicated it, she said, to Plebeian
Pudicitia, and she exhorted the Plebeian matrons to emulate in regard to
chastity the courage of their men-folk. Moreover, she is said to have ex-
pressed the hope that her altar would be honoured 'by more holy obser-
vances and by purer worshippers' than that of the Patrician Pudicitia.
Thenceforward the plebeians played not merely an equal but even a leading
part in Roman life. The Decii, who offered their lives as an expiatory
sacrifice, were plebeians; by plebeians Pyrrhus was checked, then con-
quered. A plebeian subdued the Gauls in Italy; another plebeian anni-
hilated the Cimbri and Teutones. A plebeian consul foiled Catiline. The
Catos, Gracchi, and Brutus were plebeians. Some of the patrician families
retained their old customs, however; indeed this was true of the majority;
and the energy of the patrician order was by no means exhausted. Families
who preserved the ancient tradition in their homes included the Sulpicii,

§171 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 397

Valerii, Fabii, and Cornelii: 'Their images stand peaceably beside those of
the great plebeians. . . . All gradually deteriorated. . . . But new families
from the municipia preserved the city in its youthful vigour.'692

It was during the Punic Wars, and in the years after Zama, that the ius
gentium took shape. Its introduction seems to have been due to Roman
exclusiveness. A legal transaction could take place only between rives;
thus the business done by peregrini was not valid. In early days, by an
act of special friendship, the ius conubii and the ius commercii had been
extended to favoured aliens, but the practice ceased after the break-up
of the Latin League in 338 B.C. After that date the Romans reduced their
conquered enemies to a condition which approached servility; only in
exceptional cases (e.g. that of Carthage, after the Pyrrhic Wars) were
peregrini treated as equals. As time went by, however, the numbers of
peregrini in Rome increased rapidly; and, since they were outside the law,
chaos ensued, for none of their transactions was valid. So a special praetor
was appointed, praetor peregrinusy who was charged with the jurisdiction
over all the peregrini in Rome. Unlike the praetor urbanus, the praetor
peregrinus was bound neither by tradition nor by statute, so his decisions
effected the introduction of a new form of law, the ius gentium. At first
the ius civile and the ius gentium were administered side by side; but
eventually the latter superseded the former, being applied not only to
peregrini but also to cives.693

Under the ius gentium marriage was a union based on the mutual consent
of the contracting parties. There was no manus; the wife did not pass into
her husband's family; she and her children remained under her father's
potestas. At first this 'free' marriage was illegal, but the numbers of free
marriages increased so rapidly that they compelled recognition, the system
of relationship changing from agnatic to cognatic. Soon it became the
custom for a man to recognize his children publicly ; then they came under
his potestas ; but the wife ceased to have the status of a filiafamilias , and
became an individual on an equality with her spouse. Moreover, by the
Maenian law of 168 B.C., the family council was deposed from the position
of judge of family conduct, its functions being transferred to a iudicium
de moribus.694

In the second century confarreatio disappeared, and for no less than
seventy-five years it was impossible to find a man qualified to occupy the
priesthood of Jupiter, for the occupier of that office had to be the product
of a confarreatio marriage. Free marriages became usual, made and broken
by mutual consent. Indeed the will of one party only was sufficient for
a divorce, the intention to dissolve being communicated either by word of
mouth or by messenger. There was no ceremony, no registration, no
formality. Women were free from any trace of marital authority; they
could hold property and could contract in their own name. The tutela
remained, but a woman could appoint her own guardian, and the ingenuity
of fashionable lawyers assisted them to escape the limitations which a

398 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 171

nominal tutelage imposed. Even on these terms marriage became un-
fashionable, especially among the men — but perhaps it would be more just
to say that marriage on these terms was despised, for there seemed to be
few advantages to be gained, many to be lost. A large number of leading
citizens preferred a mistress (concubina) to a wife. A Roman concubina was
not an additional sexual partner; she was a man's sole female companion,
sometimes his life-long associate. The one great difference was that a
freeman could take a freed woman as a concubina but not as a wife.695

Augustus endeavoured to effect a change by the Lex Julia et Papia
Poppaea, but it is doubtful if his efforts to prop up a rotting edifice were
successful. It took three years to persuade the people to accept the law,
which Muirhead describes as 'a voluminous matrimonial code, which for
two or three centuries exercised such an influence as to be regarded as one
of the sources of Roman law almost quite as much as the Twelve Tables'.
Certainly the tone of many of its provisions was contrary to the practices of
the first century B.C., but the basis of sexual relationships remained the
same — mutual consent. The object of the law was not to reintroduce com-
pulsory continence, but to encourage fertility and to restore some order
into the existing chaos. Marriage with men and women of low character
was forbidden; unmarried persons were not allowed to benefit under a
will; married childless people were permitted to inherit only half their
legal share; mothers of children were relieved of tutela; concubinage
received official sanction ; no divorce was valid unless a formal declaration
was made before witnesses. Such was the tenor of the proposals of the
Princeps. Soon the emancipation of women received official sanction.
The parental authority also was abolished almost completely.696

Gradually the old forms of government, outwardly preserved, ceased to
function. The comitia lost even the shadow of authority; it was simply
incapable of possessing it. It was the same with the senate. 'There can
be little doubt', Sir Samuel Dill observes, 'that there were men who
dreamed of a restored senatorial power. It is equally certain that the
senate was incapable of asserting it.' The extension of sexual oppor-
tunity had done its work. The Romans satisfied their sexual desires in
a direct manner. Consequently they had no energy for anything else.697

In some parts of the Empire, however, the old Roman traditions were
preserved. In Italy, Gaul, Illyria, and Spain, the old idea of the family was
still put into practice. The ladies even did their hair in the old-fashioned
way, long discarded by those who lived in the city. The sons of these
women went to Rome, succeeded to high office, and controlled the Empire.
They entered the senate and restored some of its old authority. From this
provincial stock came Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines.

It is often supposed that in the second century the Roman Empire was
at its strongest. These provincials were the men who gave it strength,
conditions in the provinces being such as to produce social energy.

Then in their turn the provincials reversed the habits of their fathers

§172 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 399

by extending their sexual opportunity. Paederasty also was not unknown.
The lack of energy displayed by their sons and grandsons is apparent in
the records of the third century.

Yet once more there emerged a group of men who had spent their early
years in an atmosphere of compulsory continence. I mean the Christians.
They had survived many violent persecutions ; eventually they dominated
the Empire, which in the fourth century recovered the strength it had
shown in the second century. The Edict of Milan may have been a
political move, but Constantine was right in thinking that the Christians
were the men on whom he should rely. Then the Christians in their turn
changed their habits. In the matter of post-nuptial regulations they com-
promised with the civil authorities; they also encouraged, even com-
manded, their finest women to be sterile. Then the Teutons overran the
Western Empire. These Teutons possessed, in regard to sexual regulations,
the same absolutely monogamous ideas that the Sumerians, Babylonians,
Athenians, and Romans had once possessed, and later discarded.

172. Post-nuptial Regulations of the Anglo-Saxons. When first the
Teutonic tribes appeared in history, manifesting great expansive social
energy, they were absolutely monogamous, deistic, and monarchical.
Parents, sons, sons' wives, and children formed a hearth-circle similar to
that of the early Romans. The father was the head of the hearth-unit;
over his wife and children his power was absolute.

A man obtained his wife by making a bargain with her parents. He
transferred property to them, and so obtained for himself the authority,
mund, over her which hitherto they had possessed. Fearful punishments
were inflicted upon an unfaithful wife, for adultery was a violation of the
mund. Similar conduct on the part of the man was not punished in the
same way; but since by such action a man violated the mund of another
man he was liable to certain penalties. Usually a widow was put to death
on her deceased husband's pyre, or at his graveside. If she did not offer
herself for death, she was scorned and hated.

A father decided whether a new-born child should live or be killed. At
one time a son seems to have been subject to his father in all things, but
by the fifth century, when the great revolutions took place, a son was free
to arrange his own marriage. It was the custom, however, for a son to
consult his parents before taking any definite steps in the matter. Probably
at one time the system of relationship was agnatic, but we possess no certain
information in regard to the system which prevailed before the seventh
century. Indeed no one system may have been in vogue. ' There would
be two neighbouring villages in Germany,' Messrs. Pollock and Maitland
declare, 'they would be inhabited by men of the same race, religion, and
language, and yet have different rules concerning the commonest of human
relationships.' With these exceptions the same customs were common to
the Goths, Franks, Allemanni, Burgundians, Angles, Saxons, Lombards,

400 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §172

and Jutes. The Roman historian, Tacitus, writing about the end of the
first century, has described the social condition of some of the tribes, but
we do not know from which area his information was collected. As if
contrasting by implication the habits of the Teutons with those of his own
contemporaries, Tacitus says that the Teutons did not laugh at vice, nor
regard it as the fashion to corrupt and be corrupted. For a woman to limit
the number of her offspring, he adds, was accounted 'infamous', 'good
habits here being more effectual than good laws elsewhere'.698

These absolutely monogamous Teutons overran the Western Roman
Empire, and founded new kingdoms throughout western Europe; but so
deep an impression had the gravitas of Rome made upon them that, even
after capturing the city and conquering the Western Empire, some of
them acknowledged the suzerainty of Rome. The Franks and Burgundians
moved westward, settling in northern and south-eastern Gaul respectively.
The Vandals left the banks of the Vistula and made their way to Spain,
whence they proceeded to North Africa, making raids from there upon
southern Europe and upon the Mediterranean islands. They were suc-
ceeded in Spain by the Visigoths, who arrived from the lands of the lower
Danube via Italy, Rome, and southern Gaul. The Ostrogoths, after supply-
ing the Eastern Roman Empire with soldiers and generals, set up a separate
kingdom which included Italy and the Alpine country. To the north of
this kingdom, astride the River Oder, lay the Lombards ; in the sixth century
the Lombards crossed the Alps and conquered northern Italy. The Angles
and the Saxons, who had occupied a district to the north and west of the
Lombards, crossed the seas to Britain and conquered all the lowlands,
pushing the Britons westwards and south-westwards. The Saxons occupied
the district now known as Essex (East Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons), and
Wessex (West Saxons). From the Angles were descended the East Angles,
Middle Angles (Mercians), and Northumbrians, who peopled the area
north of the Humber. The Jutes embarked from Denmark and made their
way to Kent, southern Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight.

At first the Jutes seem to have been the most energetic tribe, for in the
sixth century the whole of England south of the Humber appears to have
been subject to Ethelberht, king of Kent. The facts, however, are obscure.
Even if it existed, the Jutish domination did not last long. We possess
some information concerning Jutish laws of the sixth century ; they suggest
(nn. 701, 705) that the Jutes modified their absolute monogamy at an earlier
date than did either the Angles or the Saxons. We possess also some know-
ledge of Anglo-Saxon laws between the seventh and tenth centuries; it is
from them that we learn the changes which the Anglo-Saxons introduced
into their method of regulating the relations between the sexes. In
describing these changes, I shall leave it to be understood that the course
of social change may have been more rapid in some parts of the Heptarchy
than in others. So far as the qualification of the marital and parental
authority was concerned, the change was of the same pattern as that with

§172 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 401

which we are now familiar. In the matter of post-nuptial regulations some
'variety within the pattern was introduced by the conversion of the people
to Christianity, monasticism being encouraged and divorce condemned.
It must be remembered, however, that during the whole of this period
marriage remained a civil contract. The benediction of the Christian priest
did not add to, and its omission did not detract from, the validity of any
marriage.

For some time after the pagan tribes had arrived in Britain the 'usual
and lawful' method of obtaining a wife was still purchase, the mund of
a woman being secured by the transfer of property to the head of her
family. On the death of her father the mund of an unmarried girl passed
to her guardian, who enjoyed the use and product of any estate. The
guardian could sell the mund to whomsoever he wished. The earliest laws
which we possess are those of Ethelberht, Jutish king of Kent. One of
them was as follows :

'If a man buy a maiden with cattle, let the bargain stand if it be

without guile; but if there be guile, let him bring her home again, and

let his property be restored to him.'

The exact nature of the 'guile' to which Ethelberht refers is obscure;
but since a law of Alfred (ninth century) refers to the bride-price, weotuma,
as 'the price of maidenhood', the guilt may have consisted in selling the
mund of a girl who was no longer virgo intacta.

Another law of Ethelberht was :

'If a man carry off a maiden by force, let him pay 50 shillings to the

owner, and afterwards buy the consent of the owner. If the woman has

already been betrothed, the man is to make restitution to the value of

20 shillings.'

Presumably the 20 shillings was additional to the 50 shillings. Thus the
fine for carrying off a betrothed girl was 70 shillings, 50 being paid
to the owner of the mund, 20, perhaps, to the man who had arranged to
buy it.

A definite scale of mund- values was published, the cost of the mund
of a first-class widow being 50 shillings, of a widow of the second class
20 shillings, of the third class 12 shillings, of the fourth class 6 shillings.
Women had no legal rights. Adultery on the part of a woman was punished
by death; her lover was merely fined. Thus, 'if a freeman lie with a free-
man's wife, let him pay for it with his wergeld and provide another wife
with his own money'.6"

The wergeld was the monetary compensation paid by a man who violated
the rights either of another man or of another family. Murder, adultery,
and some lesser crimes were punished in this way.

Similar customs still prevailed also among the Anglo-Saxons in the
seventh century. Thus a law of Ine (Wessex, late seventh century) begins:
'If a man buy a wife and the marriage does not take place . . .' In the
seventh century, however, the marital authority began to be qualified.

Dd

402 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §172

Possibly also cognation began to supplant agnation as the system of relation-
ship, for one of the first qualifications of the marital authority arose out
of a recognition of the rights of the woman's kindred.

According to ancient custom, when a man was murdered, his kindred
had to avenge the act by slaying an enemy of equal rank. In some tribes,
even in the time of Tacitus, a system of property compensation had
developed, but in Britain the acceptance of monetary compensation was
not compulsory before the seventh century. Until then one of the sureties
against the recurrence of a blood-feud was intermarriage. Naturally, under
such conditions, the woman's kindred watched over her interests, and
gradually the mutual rights and obligations of the two kindreds were
defined. The mund was still the exclusive possession of the husband, but
wergeld was paid as to two parts by the paternal kindred and as to one part
by the maternal kindred. If a husband died leaving a wife and child, the
child followed the mother, but the paternal kinsmen appointed a guardian
who acted until the child was ten years old ; and so on.

Another seventh-century innovation was the postponement of the pay-
ment of the weotuma. Instead of being compelled to pay the whole sum
at the betrothal, beweddung, the groom handed over a nominal amount as
earnest money. The legality of the marriage was still dependent on the
payment of the weotuma in full ; the beweddung was still a contract of mund-
sale; but, instead of completing his marriage by one cash transaction, a
man contracted to pay in the future. Thus the beweddung ceased to be
the legal bond ; a second ceremony assumed that character. Moreover,
either party could refuse to proceed after the beweddung had taken place.
If the refusal came from the man, he lost his deposit; but if it was the
woman who changed her mind, the man received back his deposit plus
one-third.700

Other alterations were made in the financial transactions which attended
a legal marriage. It became the custom for a man, on the morning after
his marriage, to present his wife with a morning-gift, morgen-gifu, as a
token of his satisfaction. Later the morgen-gifu consisted of real property,
which was transferred in a written document signed at the beweddung
ceremony, this property being the special perquisite of the bride. Later
still the bride-price, weotuma, was paid not to the bride's parents but to
the bride herself. Alfred (late ninth century) commanded that a bride j
should receive not only raiment but also 'that which is the price of her j
maidenhood, namely, the weotuma1.

It was in this manner that married women became the legal possessors
of real property. In later times the weotuma and the morgen-gifu were '
merged, and developed into the dowry; but this transition was not com-
plete in Anglo-Saxon times. The change in the legal position of women S
was begun when a married woman received real property as a morgen-gifu 1
and when Alfred commanded that her weotuma was to be paid not to her
parents but to herself. Marital authority was further qualified by the j

I

§172 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 403

custom that a widow who had not received a morgen-gifu was entitled to
a part of her deceased husband's estate, usually one-half.?01

By the tenth century the consent of the bride was an essential part of
a valid marriage. Edmund laid it down that, 'if a man desire to betroth
a maiden or a woman, and it so be agreeable to her and her friends . . .', he
must state what he would give her 'if she chose his will' (i.e. as morgen-gifu)
and what he would settle on her in the event of her living longer than he did.
His friends had to act as guarantors that his promises would be fulfilled.
By the eleventh century a woman was in a very different position from
the purchased creature of the sixth century. Indeed she was completely
emancipated. A girl could arrange her own marriage; she and her chosen
husband could conduct their own ceremony. Cnut said: 'Let no one
compel either woman or maiden to him whom she dislikes, nor for money
sell her.' When she was married to a man of her own choice, a woman
could hold property, dispose of her goods either by sale, or by transfer or
by testament. She could bear witness in the courts, and plead in her own
right. She possessed her own private keys. From being subject to the
tutelage of her husband's kindred, a widow became an unfettered indivi-
dual, a transitional stage in her emancipation being represented by her
power to appoint her own guardian. One of the legal historians emphasizes
'the enormous change that had taken place in the position of women since
the settlement of the Saxons in England'. Thrupp says: 'There was as
much difference between the morals and manners of the time of Hengest
and Horsa and those of the reign of Edward the Confessor as between
the customs of England under Henry VII and those of the nineteenth
century.'702

I wish to emphasize the legal equality of the sexes among the Anglo-
Saxons in the eleventh century, for no one will understand the social
history of the English unless the fact is carefully remembered. In the
sixteenth century the married women of Protestant England occupied a
legal position inferior to that of their Anglo-Saxon forbears; and even by
the twentieth century English married women had not regained all the
rights which an Anglo-Saxon wife enjoyed. Under the influence of canon
law, and a literal interpretation of the teaching of Paul of Tarsus (e.g.
Eph. v. 22; Col. iii. 18; cf. 1 Pet. iii. 1), married women lost what they
had possessed in the reign of Cnut, the reason being that husband and wife
were not regarded as two individuals but as one flesh. In all his writings
on the family, of course, Paul was not publishing any new opinion which
Jesus may have taught; he was repeating the old ideas which as a strict
Jew he had learnt from Gamaliel and in Tarsus. Thus by the sixteenth
century, so far as the relations of husband and wife were concerned,
absolute monogamy had been re-enacted in England. Then the usual
struggle for legal recognition began to take place, its severity being in-
tensified by the fact that organized religion was in favour of absolute
monogamy. In spite of this, however, the English married women were

404 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 172

again emancipated; and between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries,
so far as the legal position of married women was concerned, the same
social changes took place as those which had occurred among the Anglo-
Saxons between the seventh and tenth centuries a.d., among the Romans
between the fifth and second centuries B.C., among the Babylonians
between the twenty-third and twentieth centuries B.C., and among the
Sumerians at a still earlier date.

The nature of the influence which the Christian priests exerted between
the eleventh and sixteenth centuries can be illustrated by a reference to
the English marriage ritual.

In the marriage rite of the Protestant English there were both Roman and
Anglo-Saxon elements. The long white robe in which the English Christian
bride was dressed, her girdle, veil, and floral wreath, her loosed hair and
her gold ring — these were of Roman origin ; but the words of her covenant
were Anglo-Saxon. When, however, the Christian priests took over the
pagan sentences, they adapted them in accordance with their own ideas.
In the pagan ceremony the bride promised that she would take her hus-
band 'to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse,
for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health . . . and thereto I plight thee
my troth'. These words were adopted without change. The Anglo-Saxon
bride also promised to be 'buxom and bonny in bed and at board'; but
these companionable words conflicted with the Pauline notion that mar-
riage was a concession to the flesh, so they were omitted. Moreover, other
words were inserted which stated more succinctly the Pauline view. So,
instead of making the friendly promise of her Anglo-Saxon ancestress, the
English Christian bride promised to 'honour' and to 'obey' her newly
acquired master. In that form the English Protestant marriage ritual was
preserved until the twentieth century, when in the rejected liturgy of
1928 an unsuccessful attempt was made to delete the implication of female
subjection.703

Between the seventh and tenth centuries the Anglo-Saxons modified also
the parental authority. At first the life and person of every child was at
the disposal of its father; but by the seventh century no father was per-
mitted to sell any child above the age of seven years. At that time too a
widow's child was accounted her own, the paternal kinsmen being respon-
sible for its upkeep until it was ten years old, when their authority ceased.
Infanticide, which had been customary, gave place to exposure, and Ine
(Wessex, end of seventh century) laid down a scale of monetary rewards
which were to be paid to the foster-parents of foundlings, which became
a favourite subject of fireside stories (and later of legends and fairy-tales).
Soon the sale of children was absolutely forbidden. We have already seen
the manner in which a daughter was free to choose her own mate. In the
time of Cnut a son was free at the age of 12 and 'for the female', we are
told, 'as for the male, there came a period of majority'. The regulations
which controlled the lives of unmarried girls, however, are obscure. As

§172 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 405

soon as a woman married, she was her own mistress, and on a legal equality
with her husband.704

It is almost impossible to say what post-nuptial regulations prevailed
among the Anglo-Saxons between the sixth and tenth centuries. At first
the right of repudiation was enjoyed exclusively by the husband, this being
the logical accompaniment of the mund. A husband seldom used his power,
however, and one commentator considers that the severance of the marriage
tie was 'alien to the German legal consciousness'. Indeed we can readily
understand that a man did not repudiate a purchased article so long as it
suited the purposes for which he had acquired it. Yet the point is unim-
portant, for in the seventh century the man lost his arbitrary right; from
that time onwards he had to plead a cause. Moreover, the influence of the
Christian priests began to be felt. The nature of their teaching is obscure,
but on the whole the Christian principle seems to have been that a marriage
was indissoluble, except for adultery. There was no agreement concerning
the situation which arose when a couple were separated or divorced for
adultery. It is doubtful if, guilty or not guilty, they could remarry. Even
on the question of indissolubility there was no unanimity. The Peni-
tential of Theodore, an archbishop of the seventh century, reveals a laxity
of principle and practice which can be explained only by assuming that
Theodore was applying to the Anglo-Saxon Christians the teaching of the
Eastern Church into which he had been born. On the other hand, in 673
the Council of Hertford, which met under the presidency of Theodore,
proclaimed indissolubility. In the eighth century remarriage after divorce
was permitted ; in the tenth century the Laws of the Northumbrian Priests
forbade it. Contemporaneous with the latter were the ordinances, applying
to parts of Wales, of Howel the Good, which appear to have been regarded
as equally Christian. Howel allowed a couple to live together on mutual
probation for seven years; after seven years they could separate if they
wished and take other sexual partners, the duration of the second and subse-
quent unions depending upon mutual consent. The conclusion must be
that opinions differed and that no practice was common to the whole
island. A law of Cnut (eleventh century) reveals a peculiar mixture of
pagan and Christian ideas: 'If during her husband's lifetime a woman lie
with another man, and it become public, let her afterwards be for a worldly
shame, and let her lawful husband have all that she possess, and let her
forfeit both nose and ears.' We are not told what happened if the sexual
lapse did not become public. It will be noticed that in the eyes of the law
the adultery itself was not the crime ; the woman's fault lay in her violation
of her husband's rights. This suggests that the pagan ideas still prevailed
in regard to adultery, the Christian contribution consisting of the 'worldly
shame'.

Doubtless much of this confusion is due to the paucity of our knowledge,
but we should be wrong if we exaggerated the influence of Christianity
on Anglo-Saxon post-nuptial regulations. Until the eleventh century it

406 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §173

was not the custom for a couple to receive the priestly benediction; not
until the Council of Trent (1545-63) was the benediction a necessary part
of a valid marriage. Many petty kings may have been persuaded of the
sinful nature of divorce; but the Christian priests preached many things
which those chieftains disregarded, and I do not think that the pagan idea
of marriage passed away either so easily or so rapidly as is popularly sup-
posed. Moreover, the evidence is that at first the Christian priests did not
emphasize the sinful nature of divorce so much as the sinful nature of
sexual intercourse. Ecclesiastical influence was directed not so much
against divorce as against marriage. Marriage was a concession to the
flesh; if possible, it had to be avoided. Towards the end of the seventh
century mixed religious houses were founded throughout the countryside,
especially in the north and midlands. I have already discussed (para. 167)
the effect of these houses on social energy. The records are extremely
imperfect.705

I pass on, as stated (para. 167), to the consideration of English customs
from the sixteenth century onwards.

173. Post-nuptial Regulations of the English {sixteenth to twentieth
centuries). Towards the middle of the sixteenth century some order was
introduced into the chaos which had been created by the uncertainties of
canon law (para. 167). No longer was a marriage declared null and void
because another marriage (or a pre-contract, or sexual intercourse) had
taken place between some relatives of the contracting parties within the
seventh degree. For a time there was considerable uncertainty concerning
not only the nature of the law but also its future character ; but the English
did not go to the extremes which some of the Reformers recommended.
King Henry VIII appointed a commission to consider the whole question
of post-nuptial regulations; but the recommendations of this commission
were never adopted. Eventually such regulations were enacted as reintro-
duced absolute monogamy; but divorce, instead of being impossible for
the woman and disadvantageous for the man (as was always the case with
pagan absolute monogamy), became wellnigh impossible for them both.
The control of post-nuptial regulations remained in the hands of the
ecclesiastical authorities, and officially marriage was still a concession to the
flesh; but women were no longer encouraged to be barren.706

We have already seen (para. 172) that married women had ceased to be
recognized as legal entities; likewise the parental authority had been
reinforced. Thus the sexual opportunity of the English was reduced to
a minimum, the stringent law being accompanied by the same marital and
parental authorities as among the early Babylonians, Athenians, Romans,
and Anglo-Saxons. The English were deistic and monarchical. Soon
they began to display tremendous social energy. They founded the
greatest empire which the world had ever seen, established a large
foreign commerce, sent out colonists to every part of the world, and

§i73 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 407

conquered less energetic nations. Later they displayed productive as
well as expansive energy ; the most developed cultural stratum became
rationalistic. Thenceforward the changes in their method of regulat-
ing the relations between the sexes, and consequently the changes in
their cultural condition, were the same as those with which we are noW
familiar. After the ruling clan had lost its energy, a powerful minority
dominated the society. When the aristocrats had modified their absolute
monogamy, they lost their supremacy to the rising middle classes, who
preserved (or adopted) Pauline absolute monogamy. Nominally until the
nineteenth century marriage was indissoluble ; but throughout their history
the English were casuists in any matter which concerned the relation
between husband and wife, and, by passing a special bill through a parlia-
ment which they dominated, the nobles proclaimed the dissolution of the
indissoluble bond. In the middle of the nineteenth century the control of
post-nuptial regulations was transferred from the ecclesiastical to the civil
authorities, a special court being created for the hearing of matrimonial
causes. Once again absolute monogamy had proved itself an intolerable
institution. Then the middle classes in their turn discarded their rigorous
habits. Less stringent sexual customs began to prevail. By the twentieth
century marriage and divorce by mutual consent was the theory, and,
among the rich and the brave, the practice. Meanwhile married women
were freed from their legal disadvantages; but, having obtained some legal
recognition, the English married women do not appear to have demanded,
even if they desired, the cancellation of the marital authority which a
husband still enjoyed, and the testamentary power of the male was not
qualified. The parental authority was limited, special courts being em-
powered to override a father's decision; but no widow and no child had
any legal claim on the estate. This was one of the details in which the
English were less advanced than, for example, the Babylonians and the
Anglo-Saxons. Towards the middle of the twentieth century some failure
of nerve was apparent throughout the society; there were signs, too, that
the middle classes were losing their supremacy. No further records are
available, and the productive energy of the English remained tremendous,
for marriage, sexual intercourse, and divorce by mutual consent had not
become part of the inherited tradition of a complete new generation.
Indeed the majority of the population still insisted on some degree of
compulsory continence. Evidence is not lacking, however, that such
customs were falling into desuetude. Those noble families who preserved
the old tradition maintained their position as national leaders.

Summarily these are the salient facts. I will discuss separately the
modification of the marital and parental authority, and the question of
post-nuptial regulations.

When it is applied to the details of daily life, the smallest change in the
fundamental principle of a social law will revolutionize the social tradition ;
and, although I acquit the clergy of a conscious intention to deprive married

4o8 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 173

women of their freedom, it is impossible not to be staggered by the result
of the literal interpretation of the doctrine that husband and wife are one
flesh. In the sixteenth century a wife could not possess separate property;
all her rights were vested in her husband, who was entitled to the profits
accruing therefrom. No wife could withhold conjugal rights. Debts due
to a wife were payable to the husband. Only her personal ornaments, and
apparently her blankets, were her own possessions; all her other goods,
including her furniture, belonged to her husband. With her husband's
consent a wife could dispose of her own possessions by will; but this
privilege was granted to her only if she survived him. Indeed, with one or
two technical exceptions, this was the only condition under which a married
woman could make a will. So long as her husband lived, she was a legal
nonentity. Yet some vestige of the older customs remained, for nominally
a married woman could be invested with legal authority on behalf of a
third party. We are left to conclude that the responsibility was rarely
placed upon her. Unmarried women could trade, contract, sue, and be
sued; but many difficulties, inherent in the feudal system, survived which
embarrassed them when they became the possessors of real estate. It may
be that the confusion between a woman who was one flesh with her husband
and a woman who was a legal entity was responsible for the exclusion of
women from the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act of Henry VIII; but
unmarried women were especially mentioned in the Bankruptcy Act of
Elizabeth, and in each subsequent act, so doubtless by that time the ecclesi-
astical authorities had educated the minds of plainer men in the subtle
difference between the legal position of married and unmarried women.

In the so-called Middle Ages the personal apparel of the women had
been the subject of legislation. In the fourteenth century Edward III saw
fit to make certain regulations which are reminiscent of the Solonian
legislation in Athens (para. 170). Edward limited the amount of money
which a female commoner might spend on dress, and ordained that only the
women of the royal and noble families should be permitted to wear fur.707

Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries there was no alteration
in the legal position of married women. 'That women should possess any
rights beyond that of marriage, ruling the household, or superintending
the education of infant children, was a thought rarely, if ever, entertained.'
'Throughout the whole three hundred years the position to her' (i.e. a
married woman) 'was very little better than that which she held under the
House of Tudor.' In the nineteenth century, however, the marital author-
ity was fully qualified, the last vestige (with the exceptions already men-
tioned) disappearing in 1891 ; and, though minor difficulties remained, the
theory that man and wife were one in the eyes of the law was exploded.
A wife was no longer compelled to cohabit; her husband's control of her
property was cancelled; she could trade, contract, plead, execute, sue,
and be sued.708

In the eleventh century, a girl could betroth herself and conduct her

§173 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 409

own marriage ceremony. Even in the early Middle Ages she could consent
or dissent from a marriage when she was 12 years old. It is possible that
at the same age she could bequeath her personal estate; but the law is
obscure. At 14 she was free to choose her own guardian; at 17 she could
act as executrix. Later the whole tendency of the law, we are told, was 'to
strengthen the parental authority'; and it was only in the nineteenth
century that the English began to qualify it. The power of choosing their
own guardians was not taken away from unmarried women until the
seventeenth century; but for some time previously children were being
deprived of the rights they had enjoyed in Anglo-Saxon times. A widow
and her children used to be entitled to some share of the estate (usually
one-half or two-thirds); but this was no longer the case in the sixteenth
century, except in the province of York, city of London, and principality
of Wales. Later the rights of widows and children were abolished in these
areas also. The sale of children was still forbidden ; but a parent was given
control of his child's person, a father being allowed to claim damages if his
daughter was seduced. Moreover, during the lifetime of the father, a
mother had no legal authority over her children. Finally the parental
authority was maintained until a child was 21 years of age. And thus the
law remained, until the twentieth century, when the courts of justice were
empowered to override a father's refusal to consent to the marriage of one
of his children.709

The significant fact about the post-nuptial regulations is that while the
Reformers were arguing in favour of easy divorce, and while the ecclesiasti-
cal authorities were disputing concerning the precise meaning of such
passages as Matt. v. 32; xix. 9, no one seems to have considered the possi-
bility of male and female equality. The advanced opinions of such men
as Martin Bucer were never in danger of being adopted ; but even when in
the seventeenth century John Milton, angered at Mary Powell's desertion,
turned his private complaint into a public protest, he concerned himself
solely with the grievances of husbands. Even by implication he never seems
to have suggested that a wife should be allowed to institute proceedings
against a detested husband ; yet he quoted Martin Bucer's teaching with
facility and consistency in order to plead for the freedom of dissatisfied
husbands. This distinction in favour of husbands, typical of all forms of
absolute monogamy, pagan or Christian, was always preserved throughout
English legislation until the twentieth century. As I have said, the precise
nature of the law which prevailed in the second half of the sixteenth
century is uncertain. Undoubtedly irregularities existed; but in the main
they consisted not in easy and frequent divorce but in remarriage after a
judicial separation. Towards the end of the seventeenth century the
practice of parliamentary divorces originated; but even then, while an
injured husband was permitted to remarry, the same indulgence was not
extended to an injured wife.

Doubtless the idea of parliamentary divorces was suggested by prior

410 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §173

legislative interference with matrimonial questions, which for a long time
were still regarded as the exclusive concern of the ecclesiastical courts;
but in all probability the deciding argument in their favour was that the
law should take some notice of, and attempt to regularize, the private
departure from established custom which had become common after the
Restoration. Anyway the nobility and landed gentry were not slow to take
advantage of the facilities. In the eighteenth century divorces were granted
in increasing numbers. Yet, even though the ratio of increase was continu-
ally accelerated, I doubt if a mere quotation of the figures would give an
accurate idea of the real state of affairs, for often both a man and his wife
possessed extra-matrimonial sexual partners and took no steps to regularize
their position in the eyes of the law. It is an important fact that in every
succeeding decade a greater average number of divorces was granted, and
that the facilities were extended only to the nobility, who dominated the
nation ; but the habits of the time are best judged by a reference to Restora-
tion literature, the point being that from the end of the seventeenth century
the sexual opportunity of the English nobility was increased. Moreover,
another phenomenon of equal importance appeared, viz. the opinion that a
wife should be a man's equal, not his slave. Just as the Athenian drama-
tists lashed out in fury against the unequal lot of the native-born women,
so in a gentler manner Congreve preached a new social doctrine. To a
society in which women preened themselves on being prominent as wits, he
presented The Way of the World, where Millament is given an opportunity
to proclaim the rights of married women. Angelica, in Love for Love, speaks
to the same effect.710

Meanwhile the English puritans had adopted different views in regard
to post-nuptial regulations from those which had been published by Bucer
and Milton. Indeed, from being comparative libertines in their opinions
they became the sternest of disciplinarians. And it is for their later prac-
tices, not for their earlier opinions, that they are remembered in popular
literature. In the seventeenth century, when the members of the nobility,
with cultivated grace, sped lightly from one sexual partner to another, the
middle classes practised and preached the most rigorous absolute mono-
gamy. By the middle of the nineteenth century the days of the aristocracy
were done ; the middle classes began to dominate the nation.

During the nineteenth century legislation was fast and furious. Two
generations were born and died; and the whole social system, so far as
the relations between the sexes was concerned, was altered. In 1823 banns
were ordered to be published ; but (those of Jews and Quakers excepted) no
marriage was valid unless it was solemnized by the rite of the established
Church. Thirteen years later the numerous sects of Dissenters were given
the power to celebrate their own nuptials. In 1857 a civil court was
established which dealt with matrimonial causes; divorce became legal,
and possible for the richer members of the middle classes. Public courts
also took over some of the parental authority, the common rights of parents

§174 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 411

over children being considerably curtailed. In 1841, 1843, and 1869 the
husbands and wives of parties to civil (but not criminal) proceedings were
adjudged to be competent, and so were compelled, to give evidence, the
doctrine of one flesh being retained in the provision that no husband or
wife need disclose any communication made during marriage. Married
women were granted rights over their estates in 1870; in 1882 they were
empowered to contract, acquire, and to do all other things relating to their
separate property.711 And just as private practice preceded the public re-
nunciation of ancient custom by Riho-riho, king of Hawaii (para. 48), and
just as in their private lives the English nobility anticipated the legal exten-
sion of their sexual opportunity, so also the English middle classes took
matters into their private hands. By their behaviour they assumed the legal
equality of the sexes before it had been legally enacted ; and they accepted
without comment the greater laxity in sexual conduct which in public was
not acknowledged until a generation later.

Before the middle of the twentieth century a modified monogamy had
become general throughout the society ; and, just as under the same con-
ditions marriage became unpopular among the Athenians and Romans,
so among the English middle classes there were many men who preferred
a mistress to a' wife. Middle-class dramatists presented to middle-class
audiences the same sentiments and the same situations as those which
Congreve and Webster had treated according to the manner of their time ;
the captions of the daily press repeated the same shallow sentiments as had
amused the fourth-century Athenians. Except among those who preserved
a dying tradition, pre-nuptial chastity was neither demanded by the males
nor practised by the females; homosexuality was not unknown. Further-
more sexual freedom was accompanied by one of its usual manifestations,
namely, the artificial prevention of conception. Casuists to the last, how-
ever, in anything that concerned sexual matters, the English did not
openly express their desire to indulge in sexual intercourse without the
risk of the organic results that so often attend it ; they preferred to justify
their use of contraceptives by professing a concern for the abundance of the
population.

174. Human Entropy . Such, in brief but sufficient outline, were the post-
nuptial regulations of these vigorous societies ; such were their methods of
regulating the relations between the sexes. In each case they reduced their
sexual opportunity to a minimum by the adoption of absolute monogamy ;
in each case the ensuing compulsory continence produced great social ener-
gy. The group within the society which suffered the greatest continence
displayed the greatest energy, and dominated the society. When absolute
monogamy was preserved only for a short time, the energy was only expan-
sive, but when the rigorous tradition was inherited by a number of genera-
tions the energy became productive. As soon as the institution of modified
monogamy, that is, marriage and divorce by mutual consent, became part

4I2 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §174

of the inherited tradition of a complete new generation, the energy, either
of the whole society or of a group within the society, decreased, and then
disappeared.

It is in this manner that the behaviour of these societies was controlled by
their methods of regulating the relation between the sexes. In no case was
sexual opportunity reduced to a minimum unless married women, and usu-
ally unmarried women also, were compelled to suffer legal and social disad-
vantages. The manner in which the marital and parental authorities were
modified was the same in each society. In every case the same situations
arose ; the same sentiments were expressed ; the same changes were made ;
the same results ensued. The history of these societies consists of a series
of monotonous repetitions ; and it is difficult to decide which aspect of the
story is the more significant: the lamentable lack of original thought
which in each case the reformers displayed, or the amazing alacrity
with which, after a period of intense compulsory continence, the human
organism seizes the earliest opportunity to satisfy its innate desires in
a direct or perverted manner. Sometimes a man has been heard to declare
that he wishes both to enjoy the advantages of high culture and to abolish
compulsory continence. The inherent nature of the human organism,
however, seems to be such that these desires are incompatible, even con-
tradictory. The reformer may be likened to the foolish boy who desires
both to keep his cake and to consume it. Any human society is free to choose
either to display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom ; the evidence is
that it cannot do both for more than one generation.

After great social energy has been displayed, a new element, inherent
in the nature of the organism, makes its appearance. The society begins to
discriminate between the slovenly and the elegant, between the vague and
the exact. When a society first displays expansive energy, its members
appreciate little but fighting, eating, and drinking; their standards of judge-
ment are comparatively uncouth. Such a society will erect a bridge, and,
so long as the bridge bears the weight imposed upon it, the men who made
it are content. After a time, however, they begin to have different ideas.
They not only pay particular attention to the material used for making the
bridge but also concern themselves with considerations of line, colour,
form, and proportion. In different cultural eras different proportions are
preferred, for the standards of aesthetic judgement change with the passing
of time ; but it is the appearance and existence of the new element that
matters. Just as a man of cruder taste cannot appreciate the delicacies
which delight a more cultivated palate, so at first expansive societies fail to
understand the subtleties which their descendants regard as of paramount
importance. The former can appreciate a story, but not the manner in
which a story is told. They can understand a rhyme, but cannot distinguish
it from poetry.

As soon as this new element appears in the culture of any society, the
cultural tradition is refined and enriched. The ability to refine and enrich

§174 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 413

is inherent in the nature of the organism; but in the past the potential
power has never manifested itself until after great energy has been displayed.
Only after a new generation has inherited a tradition which has been
heightened by a display of great energy has the inherent nature of a human
society been manifest in the loftiest form yet known. I call this new
element human entropy, for it is innate, and transforms the cultural tradi-
tion. Moreover, it reveals the apparent Direction of the Cultural Process.712

It is impossible to mistake the appearances of human entropy. It can
be seen by contrasting the achievements of deistic societies. Both the
Uganda and the Athenian temples were erected by human energy. The
former were mud huts, roofed in grass. In their early days the Athenians
were satisfied with buildings of a similar character ; later they were produc-
tively energetic, human entropy being manifest in the Parthenon frieze and
in the Caryatides. There was no need to add these decorations to the
temples ; moreover, other societies were equally capable of executing the
work (though, of course, they would have executed it in a different manner) ;
but the Athenians had satisfied the conditions under which alone human
entropy can appear. The Teutons vaulted the Roman basilica and produced
Gothic architecture ; eventually they created such things as Amiens Cathe-
dral. The difference between their early buildings and the porches of
Amiens Cathedral was due to human entropy. Sometimes after being
present in the achievements of a society human entropy disappears, recur-
ring at a later period. Thus in the eighteenth century the English aristo-
cracy was productively energetic; human entropy refined its tradition. In
the nineteenth century it was degenerate ; the middle classes dominated the
society. At first among the middle classes human entropy was absent, and
the world was strewn with their crude creations. Later human entropy
began to appear among the middle classes also, and then they regarded the
tradition of their fathers as graceless and grotesque.

Of course it is not only in architecture that human entropy can be seen ;
it manifests itself in every department of human life. Thus both Pythagoras
and Copernicus supposed that the earth went round the sun ; their instru-
ments were in proportion to the energy of their society. The twentieth-
century spectroscope represents the degree of energy that the white man
has exerted in the production of the instruments which he uses for the
purpose of studying the stars and nebulae ; the desire for greater exactitude
in this direction was due to human entropy. If I were asked to define a
sophist, I should describe him as a man whose conclusion does not follow
from his premise. Sophistry is appreciated only by those among whom
human entropy is disappearing; they mistake it for sound reasoning. It
flourishes among those people who have extended their sexual opportunity
after a period of intense compulsory continence. The ideas of a society are
translated from abstract conceptions into concrete forms by social energy ;
human entropy transforms the ideas by introducing a new element which
in less developed societies remains potential. Conversation, literature,

414 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS § 174

drama, art, science, cookery, furniture, architecture, engineering, garden-
ing, agriculture — these and all other human activities are winnowed by
its gentle breeze. All societies may travel the cultural road so far as to meet
its influence; in the past few have been so energetic as to arrive.

Now I can formulate the second primary law which operates on all
human societies. By means of the first primary law (para. 160) we can
determine the cultural condition of any society at any time. The secon-
dary laws (paras. 162-4) are particular statements of the first primary
law, and apply more especially to less developed societies. The second
primary law applies only to those societies which manifest productive
energy. It is this:

No society can display productive social energy unless a new generation

inherits a social system under which sexual opportunity is reduced to a

minimum. If such a system be preserved, a richer and yet richer tradition

will be created, refined by human entropy.

There is no need for the whole society to suffer the same continence.
So long as the sexual opportunity of one social stratum is maintained at a
minimum, the society will display productive energy.

I have been obliged to discuss human entropy in a summary (and there-
fore unsatisfactory) manner, because in this treatise I am not erecting an
edifice but digging some of the foundations on which an edifice may after-
wards be erected. The ideas of our fathers in regard to human affairs were
not dictated by an inquiry into the nature of human behaviour but by the
application to human behaviour of certain hypotheses concerning the
method by which the human organism arrived on the earth's surface.
Thus their conclusions were based on what appear to have been mere
intuitive preconceptions, the nature of which was due, in no small degree,
to their confusion of the biological and cultural processes. As a result of
the researches presented in this treatise I have been compelled to abandon
the old opinions (which once I held), but I do not think it is advisable to
introduce too many complications into my presentation of the apparent
facts, and to lay too much stress on the philosophic significance of those
facts. And this is what I should do if I were to discuss the Direction of the
Cultural Process at greater length. Having given, therefore, this slight indi-
cation of what I conceive to be that Direction, I propose to conclude my
present submissions by making a summary of the changes in human
behaviour which appear to occur necessarily according to the degree of
compulsory continence imposed by the sexual regulations that a society sees
fit to adopt. First I shall pass some general remarks on the cultural process
as a whole ; and then place the various cultural states where in the process
they appear to belong. In order that the salient features of the process may
receive the emphasis they deserve, my picture will have to be of such a
nature as to appear over-simplified. I regard this as unavoidable. Actually
the cultural behaviour of a society is often distorted and pulled out of shape
by the different forces that act upon it; and this is particularly the case

§175 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 415

when a vigorous society is displaying expansive energy. It then comes into
contact with many other societies which it would never have met if it had
displayed a lesser energy. Less energetic societies come within its sphere
of influence; and, just as a star seems to be twisted and warped when it
comes within the field of force of another and greater star, so the cultural
behaviour of these societies is affected by their contact with the more
developed society. If some members of that society settle among the less
developed societies, and intermarry, a fresh cultural stratum is added to
the strata already existing ; but if the members of the more energetic society
pay a passing visit or visits the result of the contact is merely a new variety
within the cultural pattern. In no case is the cultural pattern, either of the
visitors or of the natives, affected unless there is an increase or decrease in
their energy. From the historical point of view such cultural clashes are
important ; but, since they do not affect the cultural pattern, there is no need
for me to enlarge my canvas by considering them; for my attention is
confined to the cultural pattern. I am not concerned with the intense
variety which always exists within it (paras. 11, 90, 122, 142).

175. Conclusion. In this mysterious cosmos three processes seem to
occur continually. Actually these processes appear to be part of a single
Cosmic Process, but for the purpose of study it is convenient to divide the
Cosmic Process into the universal, biological, and cultural processes. If
we were content to speak in the language of our forefathers, we might say
that these three processes concerned matter, life, and mind, respectively;
but the use of these popular terms is unsatisfactory. In the first place,
there still attaches to the word 'matter' some of the old pre-electronic
ideas. So far as our present knowledge goes, matter seems to be a con-
gealed form of energy or radiation, and to consist of whirling units of
electrical forces. It is not 'material' in the sense in which our fathers
used the word. But their ideas are still preserved among us by those who
regard the piercing of the atom as a death-blow to 'materialism', and as an
argument in favour of the 'spiritual' nature of things. The idea seems to be
that matter is something we can see, spirit is something we cannot see;
thus, if matter consists of waves of energy, it cannot be material. Let it be
said, then, that, though analysis seems to reveal matter as consisting
finally of energy or radiation, nevertheless it still remains matter. The only
thing is that we have found our fathers' idea of matter to have been mis-
taken. The apparent dissolution of matter in radiation has not given it a
spiritual nature; and, unless the idea is dispelled, it will not only create
needless misunderstanding with those who emphasize the importance of
spiritual values but also introduce an erroneous impression of the universal
process itself. Matter is not something we can see, feel, or hear; it includes
many forms of radiation which our senses are incapable of appreciating.
Our scientific instruments are sensitive to some forms of radiation which
escape our senses, but at present only a few of the events in the universal

4i6 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

process are within our comprehension; and the more we study the process,
the more exciting and astonishing it becomes, the more mistaken our
fathers seem to have been. Moreover, since a scientist, or student of
process, can speak with knowledge of only a fraction of the process, he can
make no claim, on the strength of his scientific learning, to any special
authority or hearing when such questions as Purpose or Reality are being
debated.

The second difficulty in regarding matter, life, and mind as technical
(though convenient) terms lies in the fact that no man has yet succeeded
in defining what he means by 'life'. The division between the living and
the non-living is obvious enough when we compare a mammal and a mat,
but it is not at all obvious when we consider certain forms of colloidal
matter. Recently, indeed, some biologists have perceived the advisability,
even the necessity, of a complete revolution in their methods. Until then
we were so affected by the evolutionary hypotheses of our forefathers that
biological conclusions rested, as Dr. Gray has pointed out, not on the
result of observation but on 'a rather indefinite foundation of intuitive
belief. Dr. Gray himself seems to regard it as possible but improbable
'for a living organism to have been evolved spontaneously from inanimate
matter'; and, in his study of the biological process, seems disinclined to
accept, as a dogma, the spontaneous origin of living from non-living
matter. He further suggests that, just as the physicist is not conerned with
the origin of inanimate matter, so 'the biologist must likewise accept the
living state as he finds it, and not allow his science to rest on theories,
however spectacular or attractive'. Doubtless less distinguished students
of the biological process will take this advice, and, having shaken them-
selves free from the more arbitrary assumptions of the Victorian era, will
pay greater attention to the observed behaviour of each living entity, to its
structure, and to the manner in which its behaviour and structure changes
according to the conditions of its experience. But even then the problem
of what is living or non-living will remain, for plainly when we speak of the
'living cell' we are using the word 'living' in a different sense from that
implied in the words 'living organism'.713

Most of our fathers thought not only that life evolved or emerged out
of matter but also that mind evolved or emerged out of life. Perhaps both
these things are true; no man yet knows. Such hypotheses belong to what
I have called historical science (para. 159); and it cannot be too greatly
emphasized that in making his plea for a revision of the methods of experi-
mental zoology Dr. Gray was actually asking his fellow workers to forget
historical assumptions and to adopt purely inductive methods. But whether
or not mind was evolved or emerged out of matter, the difficulty of
defining 'mind' remains. Just as it is difficult to say whether or not some
colloidal cells are living or not, so it is difficult to say whether in some
organic activities mind is present or not. Thus a bird builds a nest, a man
builds a hut. Is the act of building a manifestation of mind ? If it is, then

§175 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 417

a bird possesses mind, and we must find some other term to denote those
human powers which are not displayed by other vertebrates and which are
usually classed as the manifestation of mind. If the act of building a nest
is not an act of mind, when does mind begin to enter into human architec-
ture? Plainly it was present in the human organism that designed, for
instance, Salisbury Cathedral or Broadcasting House.

To say, then, that the three great divisions of the Cosmic Process, the
universal, biological, and cultural processes, concern matter, life, and mind
respectively is to repeat without reflection the phraseological inexactitudes
of our fathers. All of us have a vague idea of what we mean when we use the
words, but, since we cannot explain our meaning exactly, it follows that in
using such words as matter, life, and mind we are speaking not scientifically
but journalistically. As a social scientist I am not concerned with placing
an exact definition on the universal and biological processes ; it is not my
affair ; but in studying the cultural process I have tried to adopt the methods
recommended to biologists by Dr. Gray. Just as he wishes his fellow
workers to take the living state as they find it, and not to allow their study
of the biological process to be affected by theories, 'however spectacular
or attractive', so in my study of the cultural process I have tried to take
human societies as I found them, and have not allowed my inquiries to
be affected by the theories that were current in the last century. Just as
the biologist, according to Dr. Gray, is not to concern himself with the
origin of living matter, so I have not concerned myself with the method by
which the human organism may have arrived on the earth's surface. That
problem belongs to historical science, which of its very nature, as I have
already suggested (para. 159), seems to become unavoidably philosophical,
even teleological. And with these things a student of process, as such, has
nothing whatever to do.

In the cultural process (para. 159) can be seen the results of uneven
developments. We must now understand what is developed.

If we observe the human organism, we notice that it possesses at least
three attributes that appear to be lacking in all other mammals. It may be
that other attributes also are peculiar to the human organism, but I myself
can find no certain evidence that this is so, although I confess to being
puzzled sometimes concerning its evident aspirational behaviour. Its ex-
clusive possession of three attributes, however, is attested and undeniable.
These are the power of reason, the power of creation, and the power of
reflecting upon itself. I define the cultural process as the series of events
for which these powers are responsible. Human energy, as I use the term,
consists of the use of these powers, which are potential in all human organ-
isms. And in my view it is remarkable that, although we can conjecture,
and even indicate, the physiological coefficient of many human moods and
actions, we have not yet discovered the physiological coefficient of the
powers to which I have referred. If the body is in certain chemical con-
ditions, the use of the powers appears to be difficult, even impossible; but

e e

1

418 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

as yet we do not know where in the organic structure the seat of self-
consciousness and reason lies.

The powers themselves appear to co-exist and blend. Thus the power of
reason cannot well exist except in a self-conscious organism ; the power of
creation cannot be used unless the power of reason has first been active ; and
so on. But in human records there is no trace of any use of the powers except
by a human society : in the past human energy has always been social energy.

The powers of reason and of reflecting upon the self need no elucidation,
but the power of creation is not of such an obvious nature. 'Creation' is a
word that has a dual meaning. It includes not only an appearance out of
nothing from nowhere but also any rearrangement of existing events. In
the study of the cultural process the word can only be used in the second
sense. I do not deny that the human organism may be able to produce
something (e.g. ideas) out of nothing, but I do not see that such a creation
can be finally proved. Moreover, there is always the difficulty about the
meaning of 'something' and 'nothing'. At first sight they seem to be simple
words, but a little reflection persuades us that they are not so simple as they
appear. In the sense in which I use the term, then, human creation is
merely a rearrangement, in accordance with some preconceived plan, of
existing material; and it is the existence of the preconceived plan that
shows whether the event is a creation or a fortuitous happening. In a
previous paragraph (para. 160) I said, perhaps prematurely, that there
seems to be no reason why in the future the events in the cultural process
should continue to be as fortuitous as they appear to have been in the past.
By using its inherent powers the human organism can rearrange the events
in the universal process, and theoretically there seems to be no reason why
it cannot rearrange the events in the cultural process also. I believe that
the idea only seems strange because in the past we have studied human
affairs historically instead of inductively, and have confused the biological
and cultural processes.

I do no more than record this possibility of a created (or rearranged)
event in the cultural process. Likewise I have been content merely to note
the apparent existence, and do not discuss the final meaning, of a Direction
in the Cultural Process. In its connexion, however, there is one general
truth which may be stated here. In the past, as we have seen, the amount
of energy displayed by any human society has varied from century to
century. Moreover, some of its social strata have displayed a greater energy
than other strata; and the amount of this energy also has varied from time
to time. Thus the cultural state of the society, and that of its component
parts, has changed, and changed again. To these changes our forefathers
were accustomed to apply such words as progress and decay, development
and degeneracy ; and there is no serious objection to them if there is no
subjective intrusion ; but it cannot be denied that such words embarrass the
mental detachment that is vital in the study of the cultural process. To
our fathers (as Mr. Max Beerbohm has well said) progress and develop-

§175 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 419

ment merely implied a larger edition of themselves ; anything of which they
disapproved, or which they did not practise, was decadent or degenerate;
and they did not always succeed in excluding moral judgements from their
minds. This will not do; and my suggestion is that all we can really say
of any cultural change is that it is in or away from the Direction of the
Cultural Process. The evidence is a little scanty, but, if I have read it
correctly, the creations of the most energetic stratum of a vigorous society
have always changed in a direction which the creators regarded as refine-
ment, elegance, and exactitude. In them there was an urge towards these
things; and as we look back we see that this urge was sometimes satisfied.
Then, according to my terminology, human entropy appeared. There is
no question, of course, of our intruding our opinions on them. We must not
compare the Parthenon with Salisbury Cathedral or Broadcasting House,
and judge which is the more elegant. The point is that in the Parthenon
there was present an element that was absent from the Athenian buildings
of a previous epoch. In human records this element seems to appear if the
energy of the most energetic stratum is great enough, and lasts long enough ;
and it disappears when the energy decreases. If another stratum then
begins to dominate the society, and if its energy is less than that of its
predecessor, the element is absent ; but it reappears if the energy of the new
stratum increases. I conclude, therefore, that this is the Direction of the
Cultural Process, and that if a society were to display great energy for an
extended period its cultural tradition would be continually refined and
augmented.

In a previous paragraph (para. 154) I compared the relation of an
individual human being to the society of which he is a member with the
relation of an electron to the chemical element which it helps to form. The
analogy is a useful one, and will bear expansion.

There is a sense in which every event in the cultural process is created by
an individual man, but in order that he may display his potential powers
he must be a member of a society. Moreover, in the past no single event in
the cultural process has occurred in isolation ; it has always been accom-
panied by a number of other events, created by other individual men.
They themselves were separate entities, distinct, unique; yet they were
:he products of a society. If we say, as our fathers said, that the human
)rganism is a gregarious mammal, we miss the main point: just as the
electron sometimes appears as a wave, sometimes as a particle, so each
ndividual man is sometimes an entity, sometimes an influence. And these
wo aspects of his nature cannot be separated. Actually he is neither the
l>ne nor the other, but both at the same time. As an entity he is affected by
jhe behaviour of other men; as an influence he affects the behaviour of
hose who come within his field of force ; and there is no possible method
f studying the one aspect apart from the other; for we cannot analyse a
jnan unless he is aware of it, and, as soon as he is aware of it, his behaviour
Iters. In so far as the behaviour of a man is mere reflection of his previous

42o NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

experience and that of his ancestors, he is a determined product; and some
students have been so impressed by the evidence that they boldly deny our
possession of free will. But so far they have failed to produce incontestable
proof of their conclusion. Meanwhile we ourselves still cherish a belief
that we at any rate are in some measure free. None of us can point to any
irrefragable evidence that he possesses free will; and this, of course, is
what would be expected if, as some claim, our possession of free will is an
illusion; but we refuse to admit that we do not possess it, so we must make
the same concession to all other men. This possession of free will, however,
though unequivocally granted and even emphasized, is not a matter of
great importance in the study of the cultural process, for the evidence is
that the behaviour of a human society is determined. By some students of
the universal process the electron has been credited with some spontaneity,
and, although I myself am not persuaded of the fact (n. 646), I am not
competent to deny it ; but, whether the behaviour of a single electron is
determined or spontaneous, that of a mass of electrons is demonstrably
determined. In a similar manner the spontaneity of the individual man
does not in any way affect a deterministic conclusion in regard to the
behaviour of a human society. I do not know what in future the physicists
will say about electronic spontaneity, but in the case of the human organism
the explanation of the apparent contradiction seems to lie in the dual
existence of the individual man as determined entity (dominated by an
unconscious or congealed experience) and as creating influence. As a
creating influence he is free, but he himself is incapable of placing himself
in the environment necessary for the display of his potential powers.
The conditions must be imposed by his society. If by chance or design
they are imposed, the society produces many free creative citizens; but, if
the conditions are not imposed, the determined aspect of each individual
man seems to be uppermost. In the latter case a man's behaviour is a mere
reflection of or a reaction against his previous experience and that of his
ancestors ; in the former case the conditions are ripe for the display of the
powers that suggest the existence of free will. Human energy is the result;
and the higher a society advances in the cultural scale, the more free will
is displayed by its most developed stratum.

In the universal process the chemical properties of an atom are deter-
mined by its outer belt or belts of electrons. A spectrum, too, is an extra-
nuclear, not a nuclear, affair. In a similar manner the cultural state of any
human society depends not on the behaviour of the majority (who often are
almost completely controlled by their unconscious minds) but on that of a
small minority who display their inherent powers. In the study of human
history this is not always remembered ; yet a few examples make it clear.
When we speak, for instance, of Hellenic culture, we refer either to a few
rich rationalists who left Asia Minor and settled in Hellas and Italy or to
a few notable Athenians ; we overlook the thousands of less cultivated
Ionians who preserved their old superstitions and submitted to the Persians;

§i75 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 421

we also forget the number of less developed Athenians who did not under-
stand the anger of Euripides or the taunts of Aristophanes. Again, when
we speak of modern architecture, we refer to a few isolated buildings, or to
the plans of buildings that are contemplated or hoped for ; we forget the
vast acreage that groans under bungaloid and other growths that no
cultivated architect could ever have conceived or proud craftsman ever
have built. It is the same with any society. The number of those by whose
behaviour we assess its cultural state bears a small proportion to the whole
society; and in the past the higher the society has risen in the cultural
scale the smaller has been the proportion of those who have reached the
highest cultural heights.

Another property of the electron is to control the valency of its atom,
that is, the measure of the atom's capacity to unite with other atoms within
a molecule. In a similar manner the ideas and behaviour of a dominant
minority in a human society seem to control the extent to which it can
sympathize or coalesce with other societies. The particularist spirit which
exists among uncivilized societies, which prevented an understanding
between the Hellenic city-states, and which is noticeable among modern
nations, would appear to be due to the fact that their valencies are dis-
similar. What may be called human valency is, indeed, an item of immense
significance in the study of the cultural process.

In one way the behaviour of an event in the universal process is opposite
I to that of an event in the cultural process. An atom consists of a nucleus
j and a number of electrons which, though free in the sense of being attached
to the atom by no visible bonds, are held in position by forces we do not
understand. Nor do we understand how the electrons and protons in the
nucleus are held together. When an atom emits energy, the outer electrons
seem to jump down a quantum or a number of quanta ; finally they are
locked against the nucleus; and what was once a massive event of low
density becomes a small event of high density. When a human society
radiates energy, precisely the opposite occurs. We begin with a society in
■ which all the individuals are locked together by forces we do not under-
stand; such a society displays no energy; but, as soon as we energize it,
individuals begin to leave the nucleus, and form, as it were, an energetic
r belt around it, the behaviour of this belt determining the cultural condition
; of the society. If the society is energized again, more individuals leave the
, nucleus and join the outer belt; others leave the belt itself, assume still
I newer modes of behaviour, and form, as it were, a second belt, this belt in
its turn determining the cultural condition of the society. And the more
energy a society displays, the greater is the cultural distance between the
I outer belts and the original nucleus, which, indeed, may even be disinte-
grated. And just as the outer electrons of an atom are held to the nucleus
by invisible, uncomprehended forces, so all the individuals of a human
society, however highly cultured or undeveloped, are united by influences
that have not yet been completely analysed or understood.

422 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

Diagrammatically this process can be represented not only as I have
described it, that is, by a nucleus with outer rings, but also by a cone, the
top of which bears a smaller and smaller proportion to its base. In this
case the society in its inert state would be represented by a level line, out
of which the various cultural states emerge. I have already used this
symbol (para. 167), but it is not so eloquent as the nuclear one, for by
means of the latter we can show not only the four great cultural conditions
but also the six different states of energy into which, in the past, human
societies have arrived.

The idea I am trying to put forward can also be illustrated by a reference
to ice. In a piece of ice the molecules consist of hydrogen and oxygen
atoms, each with its free electron or electrons. As I have said, some students
ask us to believe that the behaviour of these electrons is spontaneous, but, if
that be so, the spontaneity disappears when the electron forms a part of ice.
In a piece of ice the molecules cohere rigidly, but, when energy in the form
of heat is applied to it, these molecules move freely, and the ice changes
its state, and becomes water. The ice has no choice in the matter; when
treated in this manner it cannot help changing its state; nor has it any
choice concerning the state into which it must arrive ; and it becomes water,
I submit, because it is part of its inherent nature, when energized, to
behave in that manner. If we apply still more energy to the event that at
one time was ice, the molecules are dissociated from one another to a
still greater extent, and fly apart, and appear to us as steam. Again, the
water has no choice in the matter; nor can the compulsory change in
its state be any other than that which is observed. In a similar manner,
in a zoistic (dead level of conception) society the individuals are locked
together by invisible forces, united in such human atoms as secret societies,
gangs, clans, families, brotherhoods, sisterhoods, and other similar forma-
tions. If the society is energized, some of these individuals move apart,
and between them and their fellow citizens there is a cultural distance
due to the energy they have displayed. And, if the society is energized
again and again, new cultural strata are continually formed; the cultural
distance between the groups grows larger ; the behaviour of each stratum
changes and changes again ; the behaviour of the society alters ; its cultural
condition changes ; new events in the cultural process continually occur.

The process of turning ice into steam is reversible; similarly any cul-
tural change is reversible. In such a case the energy of the society de-
creases; the outer belts of individuals fall back into other positions; and
the cultural condition of the society passes through the various states repre-
sented by the various positions of the outermost belt. To any individual
human being, whether he is transferring himself from an inner belt to an
outer one, or from an outer belt to an inner one, the change will appear
obvious and desirable, for his natural egocentricity seems to be such that
he imagines his own behaviour, whether it be that of his society in general
or of himself only, to be right and proper. Only a detached observer of the

§i75 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 423

cultural process can tell whether or not the change is in the Direction of the
Process, or away from it. Even he cannot express, on the cultural evidence
alone, any opinion in regard to the desirability of the change.

Any form of energy is a mysterious thing. We speak of energy as being
the secret of the universal process, but no man knows what it is. According
to Professor Einstein, energy possesses mass, and has inertia; and, when a
physicist analyses matter, he seems to find energy only. Indeed, matter
seems to be a congealed form of energy. Yet the two cannot be identified,
for matter may have qualities which energy may not possess, and energy may
have qualities which matter has not. We cannot tell, for we have no direct
acquaintance with energy except in its material form. In the process of
congealment energy (if it constitute the whole of matter) begins to change
its form, and to assume attributes which, so far as we can tell, had no exis-
tence in the energy from which they were apparently derived. Thus in the
universal process something new seems to emerge continually. Moreover,
what is old changes continually, the change being the result of a display of
energy. Stars and other forms of matter radiate energy ; and, as their energy
is emitted, new elements are produced, their chemical qualities depending,
first, on the electrons in orbit around the atomic nucleus, and, secondly,
on the manner in which the atoms are placed in relation to one another.

With the difference already stated, the cultural process seems to be
similar. We do not know what human energy is; we only see its fruits;
but if we reduce any event in the cultural process to its final terms we
find nothing but human energy. In the process of manifesting itself
human energy seems to assume qualities and attributes which must have •
been potential in the human organism but which in the beginning were
neither visible nor calculable. As a human society displays its potential
energy it arrives into different states, and with each change of state a new
event in the cultural process is created. The character of the state depends
on the behaviour of the individuals that are farthest removed from the
nucleus; and the structure of the society alters according to the relative
energy of the strata of which it is composed.

Again, in the universal process certain radio-active elements emit energy,
and transform themselves. Thus uranium becomes thorium, then radium;
from radium comes an emanation. From this fact physicists have concluded
that it may be theoretically possible to transmute elements artificially, and
from radium emanation to produce lead, from lead mercury, and from
mercury gold. Similarly, in the past, human societies have continually
transmuted their cultural condition, fortuitously; but theoretically it seems
possible to transmute, consciously and artificially, the culture of any
society, simply by decreasing or increasing the amount of its energy. It
might even be possible to change the structure of a society in such away that
it would display energy unceasingly. In that case it would appear that every
subsequent change in its cultural condition would be in the Direction of
the Cultural Process.

424 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

Although the external properties of any chemical element are simply the
outward expression of its structure, it may be either stable or unstable. If
in each atom the number of sentinel electrons (as they are sometimes
called) produces equilibrium, the atom will be stable, and the element
inert, inactive. Helium seems to be an example of an inert, inactive element.
But if the atom has one sentinel electron too many, or one too few, it is
unstable. Under such conditions the inherent nature of the atom seems to
be such that its unsatisfied requirements, positive or negative, must be
satisfied; so the atom or the element combines with another atom or
element which has an opposite charge unsatisfied. As a result of this
combination, a new event in the universal process comes into existence.

An event in the cultural process is created in a similar manner. By virtue
of its inherent nature each human organism possesses certain require-
ments which must be satisfied. If the members of any society have no
unsatisfied requirements, the society is stable, inert, inactive; but, if
some of the requirements are unsatisfied, it is restless and unstable. If
the unsatisfied requirements are those of hunger and thirst, the society
is likely to stampede, but it settles down again as soon as its hunger is
appeased, its thirst quenched. If, however, the unsatisfied requirements
are those of sex, and if these cannot be directly satisfied, some satisfaction
must be sought elsewhere. And the evidence is that the effect of this
dissatisfaction is to awaken the potential powers to which I have referred,
and to create what I have called human energy. As a result of a display of
this energy, uniquely human, the society rises in the cultural scale. No
such rise occurs, or apparently can occur, unless a sexual requirement is
unsatisfied; but as soon as there is any sexual dissatisfaction (biological
fitness being assumed, para. 160), a rise in the cultural scale must occur.
Conversely, if, after a period of dissatisfaction, complete direct satisfaction
becomes the rule, the energy of the society begins to decrease, and the
society falls in the cultural scale.

We do not know why this should be so. I submit the conclusion as
the result of a detailed examination of human behaviour, from which
alone we can judge. No student of process can ever say why anything
in the universal, biological, or cultural processes should be as it is observed
to be ; he must always be content to record the fact as part of the natural
constitution of things. We do not know why, when heated, ice becomes
water, not coal, or why carbon atoms, when differently placed, should
produce coal and diamonds. We merely know that the observed facts
are such as I have said. For his authority no scientist can point to any-
thing except the results of his observations. Thus my authority for saying
that a display of human energy is dependent on the limitation of sexual
opportunity (which results in sexual dissatisfaction, or, as some psycholo-
gists prefer to say, in the diversion of sexual energy into other channels of
expression) is the observation of human records and the results of psycho-
logical researches.

§175 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 425

I will now take an inert, inactive human society, and then energize
it in such a way as to create the six states of energy which in the past have
been produced by the seven classes of sexual regulations with which we are
familiar (para. 161). This inert society is the nucleus with which we begin
when we wish to draw an impressionistic picture of the cultural process.
The society is in the zoistic cultural condition and at a dead level of concep-
tion. Diagrammatically it can be represented either by a black circle or by
a thick black line (Fig. A).

To every human society known to us a certain power (or powers) has
manifested itself in the universe; the people have endeavoured to main-
tain a right relation with it (or them). Since there is no known exception
to this rule, we must conclude, in all humility, that such behaviour is part
of the inherent nature of the human organism. For the same reason it
appears to be part of its inherent nature both to react strongly to anything
unusual or beyond its comprehension, and to see in any unusual natural
feature, animal, or man, a dangerous, powerful, and therefore desirable,
quality. Before such natural features a human being, manifesting his
inherent nature, places offerings which consist either of those things
which he himself values or of those which he thinks the recipient will
prefer. In this manner he tries to avoid the danger immanent in any place
where the power is manifest or to secure the power for himself. More-
over, he makes similar payments for the same purpose to the men whose
manner of life is unusual or supernormal, and whom he credits with the
possession of the power; for by virtue of the power, he thinks, these men
can inflict ill fortune upon him, or relieve him of his afflictions. He also
considers that the power is manifest in the corpses of such men, and he
may even try to secure a piece of such a corpse, that he himself may possess
the power on his own account (paras. 146-7, 149, 162).714

If a human society is in an inert, inactive condition, its behaviour is
such that this inherent nature expresses itself without any appreciable
modification. A zoistic (dead level of conception) culture is the result.
Now let us energize the society by checking the satisfaction of its pre-
nuptial impulses to an increasing extent. Soon a number of energetic
individuals begin to change their ideas concerning the cause of an unac-
countable affliction and to credit a newly dead magician with still possessing
the same magic power as he had possessed when he was alive. The living
{ magicians are still regarded as capable of controlling or creating any form
of sky-activity, but their failure to cure a stubborn sickness is apparent
to the awakening minds of their energetic brethren, who consider it more
appropriate to placate the dead. These newly dead men, however, are
not remembered for very long, and are continually replaced in popular
estimation by more recently deceased men, whose exploits are more fresh
in the people's minds ; and these in their turn give place to those who die
after them. The people also begin to decorate the places where they make
their offerings to the ghosts of these powerful dead men. Small huts are

DIAGRAMS OF THE CULTURAL STATES

xxx

zoistic (d.l.c.)
Fig. A

manistic
Fig. B

°°°o

X

O x

:>
o

O xxx

o

/ooo\
'ooo>
fo o o1

fx X X x^
>x x x x

ooo

deistic, from manistic

Fig. C

deistic,from zoistic

Fig. D

+ + +
+ o o o +

00 +

+ + +

fooy
(00 ON
'OO ON

'00 oo\
0000
'xxxxx

rX X X XXX'
X X X X X X

deistic,f rom manistic,
and expansive

Fig. E

+
+

+ o°yx0ooV

O vX - I o +

X • X

+

00 +

+ +

ra ti ona I isticwith expansive,deistic
and manistic strata

•■• + + + ••

,+ 0°0 +

r o • o +

+ 00 +

+ + + •••

00 o
oooo1
foooo

fOOOOOi

000 ooo\
000 o oo\

rationalistic, with expansive and
deistic strata

Fig.F

Fig.G

Zoistic

x manistic
x

O deistic

_y expansive energy

rationalistic

N.B. These diagrams are intentionally over-simplified. Actually the divisions between
the strata (or belts) are never rigid and defined, as they appear, but loose and undefined.

A human society is a dynamic unit, but it may be an inert, inactive one. If it is active,
as generation succeeds generation individual persons continually leave the stratum (or belt)
into which they were introduced as babes, and join another. After two generations a
stratum (or belt) may disappear. Alternatively, a new one may be created.

If a society comes within the field of force of another and more energetic society, its
cultural state may be warped and distorted. See para. 174.

The diagrams only reveal the cultural patterns. Within the patterns there is an intense
variety. Culture-contact increases this variety.

§175 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 427

erected over their graves. Similar huts are erected in a place where the
power in the universe is manifest. It is not the custom for zoistic societies
to do these things, and by behaving in this manner the individuals respon-
sible for the innovations separate themselves from their zoistic brethren,
and form a manistic belt around the zoistic nucleus (Fig. B).

The cultural state of the society can also be represented by a manistic
cone, with a level zoistic base (Fig. B). The Akamba, Lango, and Wayao
(paras. 149-51, 163) were in this condition.

Under the influence of further energy the manistic individuals begin to
lose their faith in unassisted magic, and to request the aid of a powerful
ghost whenever they embark on some dangerous, unaccustomed, or impor-
tant enterprise. They also decorate their sacred places more elaborately;
and soon a cult of the powerful dead is established. The SE. Solomon
Islanders were in this condition (paras. 151, 152, 163). Moreover, an
increased number of individuals leave the zoistic nucleus and join the
manistic belt; and the dead are no longer replaced in popular favour by
those whose mortal exploits are greener in living memory. The cult of
some powerful ghosts is handed on from generation to generation. The
Shilluk were in this condition (paras. 151, 152, 163).

If the pre-nuptial sexual impulses of the females are not satisfied at all,
still greater energy is produced. Then the huts over the graves, and in
other sacred places, assume the dignity of temples; and to uprising genera-
tions the powers manifest therein appear as gods who have charge of all
human and natural activities, and rule them in an arbitrary and personal
manner. A sense of the past arrives in the consciousness of the most
developed stratum; and, separating themselves from their manistic and
zoistic brethren, the individuals of that stratum form a deistic belt outside
the manistic belt, so that the society now consists of three cultural strata
(Fig. C).

The cultural state of such a society can also be represented by a cone
which at its top is deistic, and in the centre manistic, with a zoistic base
(Fig.C).

The Fijians, Bakitara, Baganda, Yoruba, Dahomans, Ashanti, Tongans,
and Samoans were in this cultural state (paras. 149-51, 164).

This is what would happen if we energized the society gradually. If we
excite it quickly by introducing pre-nuptial chastity suddenly, without any
such preparatory steps as compel only an irregular or occasional continence,
the behaviour of the society conforms to the same pattern but it has no
manistic stratum. The energetic individuals lose their faith in unassisted
magic before they begin to tend the powerful dead ; thus the power in the
universe becomes the only hypothesized cause of any unaccountable suffer-
ing. No cult of the great dead is inaugurated ; the power in the universe is
regarded as the only source of supernormal help, and is thought of as an
entity that rules the whole world in a personal and arbitrary manner. So,
instead of a number of different powers, the most energetic individuals

428 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

think of one power only; their temples are erected to that power alone
(para. 164). These individuals separate themselves from their zoistic
brethren, and form a deistic belt around the zoistic nucleus (Fig. D).

The cultural state of such a society can also be represented by a deistic
cone, with a zoistic base (Fig. D).

The Arabs appear to have been in this cultural state in the seventh century.

All these processes are reversible. If a deistic society, with a manistic
stratum, ceases to insist on pre-nuptial chastity but retains such regula-
tions as compel an irregular or occasional continence, its deistic stratum
disappears; but in the cultural tradition there probably remain some
cultural items which were produced during the period of greater energy.
This is what appears to have been happening among the Baganda, Fijians,
Tongans, and Samoans at the time to which our information refers (para.
166). It appears to have happened among the Maori and Tahitians before
we met them (para. 166).

Similarly, if a manistic society ceases to demand even the irregular or
occasional continence which at one time it compelled, its manistic stratum
disappears, and the society becomes zoistic again; but in the cultural
tradition there probably remain some cultural items which were produced
during the manistic period. This is what seems to have happened among
the Kiwai Papuans and Purari (para. 166). Many of the American Indians
also appear to have been the comparatively inert descendants of more
energetic ancestors (para. 166).

Now let us return to the experimental society with which we began. We
left it energized to such an extent as to bring it into the deistic cultural
condition.

If we wish to energize it to a greater extent, we must reduce its
post-nuptial sexual opportunity, thereby introducing some post-nuptial
dissatisfaction. If we merely give it a modified form of polygamy, it
simply exists as a deistic unit while it retains its demand for pre-nuptial
chastity ; but if the male as well as the female is compelled to confine him-
self to one sexual partner the society begins to display some expansive
energy. It bursts over the boundaries of its habitat, explores new countries,
and conquers less energetic peoples. Such energy does not create a cultural
change ; expansive energy is the form of behaviour adopted by societies
which have reduced their sexual opportunity to a minimum. A number of
lusty individuals form an expansive belt outside the deistic and manistic
belts, but the cultural condition remains the same (Fig. E).

The early Babylonians, Hellenes, Romans, and Teutons are classic
examples of deistic societies which displayed great expansive energy (paras.
167, 169-72).

If, after suffering such limitations of their post-nuptial opportunity, the
males are permitted to have more than one sexual partner, the society
ceases to display expansive energy, but so long as it continues to demand
pre-nuptial chastity it remains deistic. It also enjoys the usufruct of its

§175 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 429

conquests for so long as it possesses a greater energy than the societies which
desire to rob it of its possessions. If a man's wives are compelled to confine
their sexual qualities to their husband for the whole of their lives, or for
so long as he wishes, the energy of the society is greater than it would be if
the wives could leave their husband of their own free will. In the former
case the society is in the absolutely polygamous condition. The energy of
an absolutely polygamous society is greater than that of any other society
except an absolutely monogamous one; so if, after displaying expansive
energy, the society becomes absolutely polygamous, it is likely to preserve
its conquests as well as its culture. If, however, it relaxes its sexual regula-
tions to a further extent, it collapses. By deduction I consider that this
is what happened among the Persians, Macedonians, Huns, and Mongols
(para. 167). At one time the Yoruba also seem to have displayed a slight
expansive energy, and, when we first met them, they were still the most
energetic people in West Africa (paras. 42, 44; n. 154).

We must remember that no change in the sexual opportunity of a society
produces its full effect until the third generation (paras. 157, 162, 167). Thus
when a society appears in the pages of history it is displaying an energy
produced in the two previous generations. In order to see the effect of the
sexual opportunity it enjoys when we first hear of it, we must search the
records of the next century.

It may be that the members of an absolutely polygamous society, which
in an expansive period has conquered new lands, marry native women.
If these women have spent their early years in an atmosphere of intense
continence, the energy of the new generation will exceed that of its abso-
lutely polygamous fathers. This greater energy will be maintained for
so long as the mothers of new generations are reared in a sterner environ-
ment than that of absolute polygamy.

The history of the Arabs affords the best illustration of these complica-
tions. The Arabs are an authenticated instance of a society which, after
permitting pre-nuptial intercourse, instituted pre-nuptial chastity, reduced
its sexual opportunity to a minimum, displayed some expansive energy,
faltered under the influence of absolute polygamy, and then, by marrying
women of other societies, increased its energy again and again.

Among the early Arabs women were not compelled to be pre-nuptially
chaste; but, in the generations that immediately preceded the birth of
Mohammed, they began to replace mot' a marriage by baal marriage.
Pre-nuptial chastity being introduced, the Arabs necessarily became deistic.
Moreover, the effect of baal marriage was to create some expansive energy,
for at first baal marriage reduced the post-nuptial opportunity of the
males to a minimum ; but, when this marital authority became part of the
inherited tradition of a new generation, the question arose, Of how many
women could a man be baal} It is clear that the problem was being dis-
cussed when the Prophet was alive, for he published an explicit answer to
the question. After charging his followers to 'reverence the wombs' that

1

430 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

bore them, he said, 'And if ye are apprehensive that ye shall not deal
fairly . . . marry but two, or three, or four; and if ye still fear that ye shall
not deal fairly, then but one only.' The energy created by baal marriage
carried the Arabs to Egypt, but they were unable to proceed farther. They
stayed in Egypt for more than a generation, and there married Christian
women, who had not only been reared in an atmosphere of intense contin-
ence but also encouraged, perhaps commanded, to adopt a life-long virgi-
nity. The sons of these women conquered North Africa. Then Berber men
under Berber leaders led the way to Spain ; and there once more the Arabs
married Christian women, and Jewish women too. Soon an incipient
rationalism began to appear, and flourished spasmodically for two, perhaps
for three, centuries. It failed to mature greatly, however, for soon there
were no more women who had been reared in an atmosphere of intense
sexual continence.715

There is one more complication which we must notice before we ener-
gize our experimental society again.

If into a society which insists on pre-nuptial chastity, and has a limited
post-nuptial opportunity, such habits are introduced as compel only an
irregular or occasional continence among its less cultivated members, a
manistic stratum appears beneath the deistic stratum. This is what appears
to have happened among the Christians in the fourth century (para. 167).
This manistic stratum may be squeezed out again by the adoption of more
rigorous pre-nuptial ordinances. This is what appears to have happened
among the English in the sixteenth century (paras. 167, 172, 173). Many
energetic Englishmen wished to squeeze out the manistic stratum before
that time, but their own energy was insufficient to accomplish a task which
was not completed before the sixteenth century, perhaps not even then.

We return to the experimental society.

So far we have energized it by a complete reduction of its pre-nuptial
opportunity, first in two stages, then in one stage, and by placing varying
limitations on its post-nuptial opportunity. In order to make it display
expansive energy, we reduced its sexual opportunity to a minimum. Now
let us retain that opportunity at a minimum for at least three generations.
The society now begins to display such energy as the world has seldom
seen. Indeed, among the societies we have discussed, there are only three
indisputable instances of such behaviour. I refer to the Athenians, Romans,
and English.

When I compared certain aspects of the universal process with certain
aspects of the cultural process, I noticed one detail in which the events
in these processes differed. A star, for instance, seems to begin by having
a large mass and a low density; the effect of its radiation is to reduce its
mass and to increase its density. After inconceivable aeons have passed, its
component atoms are locked together against one another. At first, we are
told, it squanders its energy profusely, like any youth; then the pace slack-
ens; and in the end the star emits energy in the mature, measured manner

§175 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 431

that we associate with old age. The opposite is the case with a human
society. We begin with a number of individuals locked together by their
uniform ideas and behaviour. The first energizing, painful though it is
(para. 163), produces few cultural results; with subsequent energizings
cultural effects become more noticeable ; under the influence of still greater
sexual checks, the society bursts its boundaries, conquers, slays, subdues,
and explores; but, if this intense continence remains part of the inherited
tradition for two generations, the energy increases abundantly, changes
its form, and displays attributes which up to now remained hidden.
The energy increases, indeed, in what seems to be geometrical progression.
The society expands in all its multifarious activities, exhibits a terrific
mental energy that is manifest in the arts and sciences, refines its crafts-
manship, changes its opinions on every conceivable subject, exerts con-
siderable control over its environment, and manifests its potential powers
in the loftiest forms yet known. Its inherited tradition is augmented by
the products of its abundant energy, and refined by human entropy.
A rationalistic stratum separates itself from the main body and forms
another belt outside the deistic one (Figs. F, G).

The cultural state of such a society can also be represented by a cone,
with a rationalistic top, a deistic centre, perhaps a manistic stratum too,
and a zoistic base (Figs. F, G).

Such is the manner in which human energy seems to be produced and
exerted. In the past no human society has displayed great energy for an
extended period. Moreover, societies which have displayed it have always
been dominated by the stratum which manifested the greatest relative
energy. No society has ever aimed at displaying energy for its own sake;
every burst of energy seems to have been fortuitous. Furthermore, no man
has yet proved that human energy is a desirable thing. All we know is that

, in the past it has been displayed in uneven quantities, and that the amount
displayed by any society has varied from time to time. In the past, too,

! the greatest energy has been displayed only by those societies which have
reduced their sexual opportunity to a minimum by the adoption of absolute
monogamy (para. 168). In every case the women and children were reduced
to the level of legal nonentities, sometimes also to the level of chattels,

I always to the level of mere appendages of the male estate. Eventually they
were freed from their disadvantages, but at the same time the sexual oppor-
tunity of the society was extended. Sexual desires could then be satisfied in
a direct or perverted manner; no dissatisfaction demanded an outlet; no
emotional stress arose. So the energy of the society decreased, and then

I disappeared.

It is difficult to express any opinion with complete confidence, but as,
at the end of my task, I look back along the stream of time, it seems to me
that it was the unequal fate of the women, not the compulsory continence,
that caused the downfall of absolute monogamy. No society has yet
succeeded in regulating the relations between the sexes in such a way as

432 NECESSITY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS §175

to enable sexual opportunity to remain at a minimum for an extended
period. The inference I draw from the historical evidence is that, if ever
such a result should be desired, the sexes must first be placed on a footing
of complete legal equality.

In the future, it seems, a human society may continue its fortuitous
career, and reflect, both in its cultural behaviour and in its structure, the
amount of energy it chances to possess ; but, if any society should desire
to control its cultural destiny, it may do so by decreasing or increasing
the amount of its energy. Such decrease or increase will appear in the
third generation after the sexual opportunity has been extended or reduced.
A lesser energy is easily secured, for the force of life seems to flow back-
wards, and the members of the society will not be slow to take advantage
of any relaxation in the regulations. If, on the other hand, a vigorous
society wishes to display its productive energy for a long time, and even
for ever, it must re-create itself, I think, first, by placing the sexes on a level
of complete legal equality, and then by altering its economic and social
organization in such a way as to render it both possible and tolerable for
sexual opportunity to remain at a minimum for an extended period, and
even for ever. In such a case the face of the society would be set in the
Direction of the Cultural Process ; its inherited tradition would be continu-
ally enriched ; it would achieve a higher culture than has yet been attained ;
by the action of human entropy its tradition would be augmented and
refined in a manner which surpasses our present understanding.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AJ.S.L.

Amer. Anth.

Amer. Nat.

Ann. Arch. Rep.

Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.

Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus.

Nat. Hist.
Anth. Ser.

Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.

Bull. Arch. Inst. Amer.

Col. Univ. Contrib. Anth.

Contrib. N. Amer. Eth.

Enc. Rel. Eth.

G.B.

J.A.F.L.

J.A.O.S.

J.{R.)A.I.

J.R.A.S.

jf.R.G.S.

J.P.S.

J. Str. Br. R.A.S.

yourn. Afr. Soc.
Mem. Amer. Anth. Ass.
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.
N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull.
N.Z. Dom. Mus. Mon.
Peabody Museum Amer.

Arch. Eth.
Pte. Com.
Proc. Can. Inst.
Proc. R.G.S.
Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc.

Rep. Brit. Ass. Adv. Sc.

Smith. Rep.

Smith. Contrib. Knowl.

S.N.R.

Trans. Can. Inst.

Trans. R. Soc. South Aust.

T.N.Z.I.

Univ. Cal. Publ. Amer.

Arch. Eth.
Univ. Wash. Publ. Anth.

American yournal of Semitic Languages.
American Anthropologist.
American Naturalist.
Annual Archaeological Report, Toronto.
Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology ,
Washington.

Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of

Natural History.
Anthropological Series.

Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.

Bulletin of the Archaeological Institute of America.

Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology .

Contributions to North American Ethnology.

Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics.

The Golden Bough*, by Sir J. G. Frazer.
yournal of American Folk-Lore.
yournal of the American Oriental Society,
yournal of the (Royal) Anthropological Institute,
yournal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
yournal of the Royal Geographical Society,
yournal of the Polynesian Society,
yournal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society.

yournal of the African Society.

Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association.

Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History.

Bulletin of the New Zealand Dominion Museum.

Monograph of the New Zealand Dominion Museum.

Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and
Ethnology.

Private Communication to Author.

Proceedings of the Canadian Institute.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society.

Report of the Australian Association for the Advance-
ment of Science.

Report of the British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science.

Smithsonian Report (Washington).

Smithsonian Contribution to Knowledge.

Sudan Notes and Records.

Transaction of the Canadian Institute.

Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia.

Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.

University of California Publications in American
Archaeology and Ethnology.

University of Washington Publications in Anthro-
pology.

Ff

434 NOTES AND REFERENCES § i

1. Our comparative ignorance of human history is indeed lamentable. We
possess reliable information concerning only a few societies which have inhabited
a small part of the earth's surface for a short space of time. Even in this imperfect
record there are many gaps.

The social and cultural condition of the Babylonians before 1800 B.C. is revealed
in the Hammurabi Code and in the extant inscriptions, contracts, and letters ; that
of the Sumerians is also known, though to a less degree; but no Egyptian law-code
has yet been recovered, and, though our knowledge of Egyptian history extends
over three thousand years, there is a complete lack of detailed information in regard
to the conditions prevailing in any particular century. Our knowledge of Assyria
is confined almost to the post-Sennacherib epoch; early Persian life is revealed only
in glimpses. It is uncertain whether or not the customs of the Achaean Greeks are
reflected in the* Iliad and the Odyssey. Athenian law is a dark corner in an otherwise
well-lit room ; we should know very little about Dorian Sparta if we did not possess
the Athenian writings. The laws of Manu tell us something about the conditions
under which the ancient Hindus lived ; but few facts can be gleaned about the early
Chinese and Japanese. For our study of the Sassanids Rawlinson is almost our
only English authority ; we must rely almost exclusively on Robertson Smith when
we discuss early Arabia. Our knowledge of the Hittites, Neo-Babylonians, and
Moors is not good enough to be used as the foundation of an inquiry ; it can be used
merely as corroborative evidence for a conclusion which has been based on more
detailed material. The Romans, Teutons, and Anglo-Saxons are the only societies
of which the social and cultural history is really well known.

Researches which are confined to this historical material cannot claim to be
exhaustive.

For the post-nuptial regulations of the Sumerians, Babylonians, Athenians,
Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and English, and for some comments on the nature of
these regulations, see paras. 167-73.

2. O. Lodge, Science and Human Progress, p. 16.

3. See J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, passim; A. van Gennep, Les Rites de
passage, passim; B. Malinowski, in Science, Religion and Reality, ed. J. Needham,
pp. 28 fT. ; idem, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, passim, and esp. pp. 105 ff.;
J. H. Driberg, The Savage as he really is, p. 47; idem, At Home with the Savage,
pp. 188 fT.

4. Definitions of 'religion' are numerous; their quality is uneven.

As an example of some of the meaningless phrases which have been submitted,
I quote the following: 'Religion is a substitute in the rational world for instinct
in the sub-rational world' (L. F. Ward, 'The Essential Nature of Religion', Inter-
national Journal of Ethics, viii (1898), p. 169).

J. H. Leuba {A Psychological Study of Religion, pp. 24 f., 339 ff.) has arranged
forty-eight different definitions in two different series or groups, but his discussion
of them is vitiated by the fact that he confuses religion with religions. This neces-
sary discrimination has been recognized by Wilson D. Wallis {An Introduction to
Anthropology, p. 284): 'If we are to approach the matter of religion anthropologi-
cally, we must not confuse religion in the large with any special brand of it. The
pretensions of the devotees are one thing, their validity is another. As anthro-
pologists we are not concerned with validity but with verbal and ritualistic expres-
sions of the religious consciousness.' Professor Wallis does not commit himself
to any definition of the word 'religion'.

A. Lang was guilty of the confusion between religion and religions when he said
{The Making of Religion, pp. 35-6) : 'By religion we mean the belief in the existence
of an Intelligence, or Intelligences, not human, which could not be dependent on

§4 NOTES AND REFERENCES 435

a material mechanism of brain or nerves. . . . We also mean the additional belief
that there is, in men, an element so far kindred to those Intelligences that it can
transcend the knowledge obtained through the bodily senses.' The subjective
intrusion in such a passage is intense. Lang had a genius for controversy, and the
character of his other writings has given his anthropological conjectures a wider
currency than their scientific importance warrants. His thought is seldom exact.
'It is a positive fact', he says, 'that among some of the lowest savages, there exists,
not a doctrinal and abstract monotheism, but a belief in a moral, powerful, kindly,
creative Being, while this faith is found in juxtaposition with belief in ghosts \
totems, fetishes, &c.' (op. cit., p. 254). But can we accept the evidence on which
such statements are based ?

Lang did not divulge the criteria by which he judged whether or not an alleged
belief could be included as a belief in a 'High God' ; nor did he define the term
'High God'. Yet this vague conception has been allowed to masquerade as a scienti-
fic classification. Moreover, when Lang maintained {Magic and Religion, preface)
that the 'earliest form of religion was comparatively high' and that it was 'inevitably
lowered during the process of social evolution', he did not define such important
words as 'earliest', 'high', and 'lowered'. Yet the value of his submissions depends
on the meaning which he attached to them.

Sir James Frazer {G.B., The Magic Art, i. 222-3, 235, 426) defined religion as
the 'propitiation and conciliation of powers superior to man, who are believed to
control the course of nature and of human life'. He maintained that a Magical
Age preceded the Religious Age.

If religion is defined in this manner, it follows that the phenomenon is confined
to those people who believe in a power superior to man. Those who do not
recognize any such power are 'magical'. But Sir James's antithesis is not complete.
He recognized that religion consisted of 'two elements', beliefs and rites, but in
his use of the word 'magical' he confused them. The propitiatory rites which were
conducted by 'religious' people may be legitimately contrasted with 'magic', as
he defined the term, but Sir James omitted to point out that some power in the
universe manifests itself to those who are in the 'Magical Age'. In his definition
of 'magical' there is no mention of a power corresponding to the 'power superior
to man' which manifests itself to 'religious' people. Dr. R. R. Marett {The Threshold
of Religion, passim) has made a tentative attempt to fill the gap ; indeed his sugges-
tions concerning the nature of the power which is manifest to people who are not
'religious' in the Frazerian sense of the word are extremely valuable ; but he does
not seem to have pursued his researches to their final or logical conclusion. He
remained a disciple of Sir E. B. Tylor, and did not appreciate that the power in
the universe (which is, as he rightly said, the same as the source of magic power)
was associated exclusively in the native mind with something unusual or beyond
comprehension. Thus his suggestions were deprived of their full value. I must
add, however, that I have learnt more from Dr. Marett's early writings than from
the more extensive publications of other scholars. I should like to acknowledge my
great debt to him.

For some comments on the Tylorian 'animism', see paras. 4, 62, and 148. For
another comment on Sir James Frazer 's terminology, see n. 633.

The pronouncements made by the following writers are vitiated by an apparent
confusion between the belief and the rite : A. Lang, Magic and Religion, pp. 69-70 ;
E. S. Hartland, Ritual and Belief, p. 96; F. B. Jevons, Comparative Religion,
p. 51 f-; idem, Introduction to the Study of Religion, p. 39; idem, Introduction to
the Study of Comparative Religion, p. 147. These writers freely criticize Sir James
Frazer, but appear to have overlooked his declaration that religion consisted of
'two elements'.

The dual character of religion has been recognized by W. James, The Varieties

436 NOTES AND REFERENCES §5

of Religions Experience, p. 53 : 'The Life of Religion consists of the belief that there
is an unseen order and a supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves
thereto.' In that passage James is discussing certain civilized religions, but ob-
viously he is stating in philosophical terms the same idea as A. C. Haddon, Magic
and Fetishis?n, p. 93, has expressed: 'There are thus produced the two fundamental
factors in religion, the belief in some mysterious power, and the desire to enter
into communication with the power by means of worship.' The substitution of
the word 'it' for the last six words of that sentence would make this definition
almost identical with the meaning which I have attached to 'cultural condition'.

For the phraseology of my definition I am indebted in no small measure to Ira D.
Howarth, who says ('What is religion?' International Journal of Ethics, xiii (1903),
p. 205): 'Religion is the effective desire to be in right relations with the power
manifesting itself in the universe.' I have restated Mr. Howarth's suggestion,
however, so as to emphasize the dual character of the phenomenon. W. Warde
Fowler, The Religious Experience of the Roman People, p. 9, has relied on the same
passage, but he has altered the last part of the sentence to '. . . the Power mani-
festing itself . . .' The transition from the lower-case to the capital letter changes
the sense.

According to E. Durkeim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, trans. J. W.
Swain, p. 36, we cannot define a rite until we have defined the belief ; but I do not
understand how we are to discover the nature of a belief apart from the rite. See
para. 4. The 'bipartite division of the universe' which M. Durkeim (op. cit., p. 40)
calls the 'real characteristic' of religious phenomena is indeed important, but
among most uncivilized peoples it is not fixed and conscious, as he suggests, but
variable and unconscious. R. H. Lowie, Primitive Religion, pp. 322-3, also derives
the 'least common denominator' of religions from a 'dichotomy of the universe'.
Professor Lowie adds that the difference between the two parts is 'the differential
response to normal and abnormal stimuli'. That is a penetrating judgement. See
para. 146.

5. H. Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu, p. 106.

6. F. Boas, Fifth Report of the Committee on the N.W. Tribes of Canada, Report
of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Newcastle, 1889, p. 848;
J. R. Swanton, 'Social Conditions, Beliefs and Linguistic Relationships of the
Tlingit Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1904-5, p. 451, n. 3.

For the Tlingit, see para. 103.

7. J. H. Driberg, The Lango, p. 223 ; C. G. Seligman, art. 'Dinka', Enc. Rel. Eth.,
ed. J. Hastings, iv. 708; J. G. Frazer, The Worship of Nature, p. 314.

For the Dinka and Lango, see paras. 83, 84.

8. J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, passim; idem, Pte. Com., 30 /n I29; T. C.
Hodson, Pte. Com., 29/11/29.

For the Angami Nagas, see paras. 53, 54.

Sir James Frazer, The Worship of Nature, p. 9, has maintained that a god is
a generalization from a multitude of indwelling spirits, but I am unable to accept
the evidence on which his premises are based. I discuss the suggestion in paras.
62, 148.

9. R. H. Codrington and J. Palmer, A Dictionary of the Language of Mota,
ss.w. gai, lama, vui; R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, pp. 142, 15 1-2.

For the Banks Islanders, see para. 72.

10. J. Perham, Tetara or Sea-Dyak Gods', J. Str. Br. R.A.S., no. 8 (1881),
PP- 133-5-

§n NOTES AND REFERENCES 437

Archdeacon Perham's interpretations have been reprinted in H. Ling Roth,
The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, pp. 168-9.
For the Sea-Dyaks, see para. 139.

11. W. Brown, New Zealand and its Aborigines, p. 79; G. F. Angas, Savage Life
and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, pp. 331-2; W. Colenso, On the Maori
Races of New Zealand, p. 42; E. S. Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions of
the New Zealanders, p. 81 ; J. S. Polack, Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders,
i. 249; F. E. Maning, Old New Zealand, p. 119; E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New
Zealand', J.A.I, xix (1890), p. 121.

For the Maori, see paras. 45, 49.

12. Zoism is the word which has been suggested by A. B. Cook, Zeus: a Study
in Ancient Religion, i. 27, n. 4, as an alternative to the animatism of R. R. Marett,
The Threshold of Religion, p. 1 17. As I do not use it in its substantival form, I may
be excused for changing the meaning of the word. There are some similarities
between my term zoistic (based on rites) and Dr. Marett's term animatistic (based
on beliefs). The beliefs of some zoistic peoples, indeed, would be accurately
described as 'animatism', but the beliefs of other zoistic peoples cannot be included
in that category. My 'Dead Level of Conception' (para. 66) almost corresponds
to 'animatism', but the scope of the latter term is not wide enough to include the
application to 'the dead' of the word which denoted (a) the power in the universe,
(b) the source of magic power. This use of the word, however, is as important as
any other. See para. 149.

The term zoistic, as I use it, has no reference to 'life', though this is implied by
its Greek derivation.

I derive manistic from Latin manes.

13. L. R. Farnell, Greek Hero-Cults and Ideas of Immortality, p. 2; W. Crooke,
art. 'Ancestor-worship', Enc. Rel. Eth., ed. J. Hastings, i. 427.

Dr. Farnell's use of 'tendance' and 'cult' has been adopted also by H. J. Rose,
Primitive Culture in Greece, p. 2. Under the former heading Professor Rose in-
cluded the ritual of burial. Among uncivilized societies, however, burial rites often
differ in meaning and intent from post-funeral rites. If the word 'tendance' were
to be used to denote the former, another word would have to be employed to
denote the latter. I have limited the meaning of 'tendance', therefore, to post-
funeral rites.

14. See R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, pp. 158-9, 163.

15. I have borrowed the term 'Frame of Reference' from the physicists. See,
e.g., A. S. Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World, pp. 12 ff. For the impor-
tance of the term, see para. 159.

16. The question of 'group-marriage' and/or 'sexual promiscuity' has been
discussed by E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, i. 103-25 ; iii. 223-66;
R. Briffault, The Mothers, i. 614-781 ; J. G. Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, iv.
139 ff., 151; idem, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, ii. 203 f., 229 ff., 317. The
voluminous literature on the subject is cited by these authorities. B. Malinowski,
in Science, Religion and Reality, ed. J. Needham, p. 41, has applied the epithet
'fantastic' to the hypotheses. The whole question seems to depend on the meaning
which is attached to the word 'marriage'.

For further notes on the 'group-marriage' hypothesis, see nn. 24, 25.

17. None of the following definitions of the word 'marriage' seems satisfactory.
According to Lord Avebury, Marriage, Totemism and Religion, p. 2: 'Marriage

is an exclusive relation of one or more men to one or more women, based on custom,

438 NOTES AND REFERENCES §18

recognized and supported by public opinion and where law exists by law.' It is
a fact, however, that the sexual relationship is not always exclusive.

C. N. Starcke, The Primitive Family, p. 13, considers that 'in its widest sense,
marriage is only a connexion between man and woman, which is of more than
momentary duration, and as long as it endures they seek for subsistence in common'.
This begs the question, What is the nature of the connexion? Furthermore, what
is the meaning of 'momentary duration' ?

W. H. R. Rivers, Social Organization, p. 37, makes an academic distinction
which the facts do not warrant. He emphasizes 'the important function of marriage
as the means by which every individual born into a society is assigned a definite
place in that society'; but there are many societies (e.g. Sia and Navaho, paras.
125, 126) which treat pre-nuptial children in the same manner as children born in
wedlock. In such societies the place which pre-nuptial children occupy in the social
structure does not depend on marriage.

R. Briffault, The Mothers, i. 523 ; ii. 75, considers that 'it is practically impossible
to frame any definition of marriage'. His own attempt is not successful. 'The
whole distinction', he says, 'between sex relations which are and those which are
not marriage turns upon their degree of permanency.' What, in Briffault's opinion,
is the degree of permanency which is required for a sexual union to become
marriage? Briffault uses the word in other senses also: e.g. when he speaks of
marriage being instituted by a mythical legislator, he seems to use 'marriage' as
a synonym for exogamic regulations.

E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, i. 26, 71, employs two separate
definitions, the original and more famous one being: 'A more or less durable
connexion between male and female lasting beyond the mere act of propagation
till after the birth of offspring.' According to this account, a couple who separate
before the birth of a child are never married; a barren woman can never be
married. Moreover, what is the exact meaning of 'more or less' ?

C. Letourneau, Sociology, p. 330, and The Evolution of Marriage, p. 3, declares
that marriage is merely 'a sexual union governed by social conventions'. He
suggests also that 'the institution of marriage had no other object than the regula-
tion of marriage'. His meaning is obscure.

B. Malinowski, in Science, Religion and Reality, ed. J. Needham, p. 41, has
emphasized the 'economic community' in marriage.

18. The word 'exogamy' was coined by J. F. McLennan. See his Studies in
Ancient History2, p. 25.

An extensive study of exogamic regulations has been published by J. G. Frazer,
who criticizes the theories of McLennan, Westermarck, Durkeim, and Morgan in
Totemism and Exogamy, iv. 75 ff., 92 ff., 100 ff., 103 ff. See also E. Westermarck,
History of Human Marriage*, ii. 82-161 ; R. Briffault, The Mothers, i. 201-3, 241-9.

For an example of a man being reported as a member of two exogamous groups,
see R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, pp. 51, 79. But the Ashanti ntoro
is not an easy subject. Cp. e.g. R. S. Rattray, op. cit., pp. 155, 318, n. 1, with
J. G. Cristaller, Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Languages, pp. 254 f., 407, 428.

19. The questions of chastity and modesty have been discussed at length by
E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage*, i. 139-60, 418-54, and by R.
Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 8-64; iii. 259 f. The discussion is vitiated by the fact
that the words have not been denned. Moreover, most of the alleged instances
to which these writers refer are mere expressions of opinion by travellers and
observers whose judgements reveal only their own individual temperaments.

20. See A. C. Fletcher and F. La Flesche, 'The Omaha Tribe', 2jth Ann.
Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1905-6, pp. 323 (for 'chastity'), 325 (for marriage as mere

§21 NOTES AND REFERENCES 439

cohabitation); J. O. Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology', 3rd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
1881-2, pp. 260, 365.

For the Omaha, see para. 118.

21. Cp. A. Grimble, 'From birth to death in the Gilbert Islands', J.R.A.I.
li (1921), pp. 32-3, who reports the demand for chastity, with C. Wilkes, Narrative
of U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, v. 91.

The word nikiranroro has been rendered 'harlots' by Tutuila, 'The Line
Islanders', J.P.S. i (1892), pp. 265-70.
For the Gilbert Islanders, see para. 134.

22. See R. Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 25 ff.

23. For a discussion on alleged indifference to adultery, see R. Briffault, The
Mothers, ii. 100-17.

It is from Pentecost in the New Hebrides that an example comes of a lack of
jealousy on the part of an elderly husband as long as his young wives continued to
work for him. See F. Speiser, Two Years with the Natives of the Western Pacific,
P- 235.

Tanna is the only New Hebrides society which I include in my list. Concerning
Lepers Island (Omba), Aurora (Maewo), and Pentecost (Raga, Araga), our in-
formation is inexact and contradictory. Ambrym has been the subject of what
Professor Malinowski {Man, 1930, no. 17) has called 'Mock-kinship-algebra'.
Concerning Santo, Malekula, Epi, and Vao, nothing much is known. The reports
on Aneityum, Aniwa, Erromanga, and Efate are scanty.

24. Some of the evidence has been collected by E. Westermarck, History of
Human Marriage, iii. 223-66, but I do not understand why the illustrations should
be included in a chapter entitled 'Group-Marriage'. The differences between the
customs of those various tribes were as remarkable as their similarities.

See also R. Briffault, The Mothers, i. 716-66.

25. For 'sororal polygamy', see R. Briffault, The Mothers, i. 614 ff. For the
'sororate', see J. G. Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, iv. 139 ff.; idem, Folk-Lore in
the Old Testament, ii. 203 f., 229 ff., 317.

Sir James Frazer uses the term 'group-marriage' in the same sense as Mr.
Briffault employs 'sororal polygamy'. The latter seems to be the preferable term,
for it states the fact without the theory. 'Sororal' must be understood, of course, as
referring to classificatory sisters.

Sir James Frazer considers that the custom of the sororate is a relic of 'group-
marriage', and endeavours to prove his point by the citation of a number of
instances in which a man has married two or more sisters. I should place a higher
value on his discussion if he had been careful to distinguish between own and
classificatory sisters. Moreover, in the passages to which I have referred his
critical sense is not apparent. For instance, he says {Folk-Lore in the Old Testament,
ii. 264): 'The surmise that marriage with two sisters in their lifetime was an
ancient Semitic custom is confirmed by Babylonian practice, which is known to
have sanctioned such unions.' He then refers to a solitary example of such a marriage
which has been discussed by C. H. W. Johns, Babylonian Laws, Contracts and
Letters, pp. I38ff. But the marriage of the sisters Iltani and Taram-sagil (they
were sisters only by adoption?) to Ardishamash was contrary to the normal
Babylonian custom. The whole point of Johns's discussion is that it was an excep-
tional case. It was so exceptional that when Ardishamash married Iltani two
marriage contracts had to be drawn up instead of one. It was, indeed, so extra-
ordinary for a man to marry two sisters that a legal contract had to be made also
between the two sisters, for this was the only method by which the situation could

440 NOTES AND REFERENCES § 26

be regularized. How, then, can we say that marriage with two sisters was an ancient
Babylonian custom ?

26. Both E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage* , iii. 208, and R. Briffault,
The Mothers, i. 761 , maintain that the levirate was a very widespread custom among
uncivilized peoples. They add an imposing array of references in support of their
submission. But I am not confident that every one of these 'authorities' made
exhaustive inquiries into the widow's rights; nor am I satisfied that every reported
example of the levirate among uncivilized peoples was identical with the Israelite
institution. Moreover, we are not always told whether the brother who took the
widow was performing a duty or exercising a right.

J. G. Frazer, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, ii. 265-341, considers that the
levirate, like the sororate (n. 25), originated in 'group-marriage'. I do not know
how Sir James interprets the custom whereby a widow was free if she repaid the
bride-price which had been paid for her when she married. In many cases she was
taken by a classificatory brother of her husband only if she chose to remain where
she was.

For 'group-marriage', see para. 14.

27. A. Cheyne, A Description of the Islands in the Western Pacific, p. 15; E.
Hadfield, Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, p. 180.

Cheyne was the captain of a ship engaged in the sandal-wood trade. For that
reason I do not place a high value on his testimony. Indeed, if he were our sole
authority, I should be inclined to omit the Loyalty Islanders from this treatise on
the grounds that our knowledge of their customs is inadequate.

Cheyne remarks (op. cit., p. 25) that in one island which he visited strict chastity
was observed among both sexes before marriage. He may have formed this
opinion about the females from their reception of his sailors' advances or from the
slaughter of pre-nuptial children. I am unable to conjecture the source of his
information in regard to the males.

28. A. Cheyne, A Description of the Islands in the Western Pacific, p. 36.

29. C. B. Humphreys, The Southern New Hebrides, p. 30.

30. W. Powell, Wanderings in a Wild Country, p. 261.

When Powell uses the word 'prostitution' he probably refers to sexual inter-
course. The professional element implied by the former term was nowhere present.

According to G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 38, the women prevented
conception by eating a certain leaf.

31 . G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 253-4, wno remarks that children
commenced to have intercourse with one another at a very early age.

In some districts young girls, when about six years old, were placed in bamboo
cages, and were kept there for four or five years until their breasts developed. If
such a custom were carried out regularly, a check would be placed on premature
intercourse ; but in New Britain it does not seem to have been universal in any area.
See G. Brown, 'Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain and New Ireland',
J.R.G.S. xlvii (1877), p. 142 f.; B. Danks, 'Marriage Customs of the New Britain
Group', J.A.I. xviii (1889), p. 284 f.

32. G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 118.

33. G. Brown, 'Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain and New
Ireland', J.R.G.S. xlvii (1877), p. 141.

34. G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 23.

§35 NOTES AND REFERENCES 441

35. H. H. Romilly, 'The Islands of the New Britain Group', Proc. R.G.S.,
N.S. ix (1887), pp. 8, 10 ; idem, The Western Pacific and New Guinea, p. 26 f.

This custom has been interpreted as 'marriage by service' by E. Westermarck,
The History of Human Marriage, ii. 362, but surely the presentation to a future
father-in-law of the product of voluntary labour must be distinguished from the
performance of duties under his personal supervision and command.

For other reports concerning New Britain, see E. Westermarck, op. cit., i. 436,
460; ii. 299, and refs.

36. B. Danks, 'Marriage Customs of the New Britain Group', J.A.I. xviii
(1889), p. 290.

37. B. Danks, 'Marriage Customs of the New Britain Group', J.A.I, xviii
(1889), p. 288; W. Powell, Wanderings in a Wild Country, p. 85.

J. G. Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, ii. 124, states upon authority that the
maternal uncle was responsible for buying a wife for his nephew, but according
to the authorities on whom I rely both the privilege and the duty belonged to the
kinsmen generally.

38. G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 1 12-14.

39. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 235.

40. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 72, 87, 90.

The child of an unmarried girl, or a bastard child of a married woman, was
'a child of auwoo', a term which referred to the haphazard, irregular character of the
birth (ibid., p. 91). Abortion and contraceptives are said to have been unknown
until introduced from Fiji. The practices are still condemned. See A. I. Hopkins,
In the Isles of King Solomon, p. 70; W. G. Ivens, op. cit., p. 92.

We are told that if a girl of good family was found to be pregnant before
marriage, she would be killed, 'unless the paramour could pay enough to save her
and make her his wife': 'A girl of no family might be allowed to become a harlot.'
See R. H. Codrington, op. cit., p. 235. A harlot, repi, was a social outcast. Appar-
ently a girl could be prostituted by her father with profit to himself or be sold by
him to a chief who would share her earnings (W. G. Ivens, op. cit., p. 90).

41. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 71-3; R. H.
Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 238 f. ; A. I. Hopkins, In the Isles of King Solomon,
pp. 97-8; F. Coombe, Islands of Enchantment, p. 257. Dr. Ivens says that the
bride was present at the final ceremony.

42. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, p. 147; B. Thomson, The Fijians, p. 202;
W. Deane, Fijian Society, p. 195.

43. B. Thomson, The Fijians, p. 202.

44. B. Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 236, 238, 302.

According to W. Deane, Fijian Society, p. 195, both sexes wore the plaits, but
Sir Basil Thomson says that men wore them only in some villages in Vanua Levu.

The information in the text applies almost exclusively to Viti Levu, which is
the only island to which our detailed information extends. Cp. n. 91.

The demand for chastity is attributed by Sir Basil Thomson to (i) parents'
cupidity, since a virgin had a higher market value than a girl who had had adven-
tures, (ii) fear of the girl's future husband.

45. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, p. 144; B. Thomson, The Fijians, p. 201.
This, however, may apply only to the girls whose frailty had been discovered prior
to the wedding celebrations. The context is not clear.

442 NOTES AND REFERENCES §40

46. B. Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 221-3.

Abortion was practised by married women of high rank, but seems to have been
limited to them. Ordinary people, we are told, had neither the occasion nor the
inclination to use the drugs ; nor did they possess the money with which to pay the
practitioner. The original cause of the custom is thought to have been the vasu-
right.

47. L. Fison, 'Land Tenure in Fiji', J.A.I, x (1881), p. 34°-

48. E. Hadfield, Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, p. 159 f.

An old authority, cited by S. H. Ray, 'The People and Language of Lifu, Loyalty
Islands', J.R.A.I. xlvii (1917), P- 289, states that the inhabitants of these islands
'invoke the spirits of their departed chiefs: they preserve relics of their dead, such
as a finger-nail, a tooth, or a tuft of hair, and pay divine homage to it'. The passage
probably refers to the custom, noted in the text, whereby certain parts of the body
of a dead magician were seized in order that their new owner might receive some
of the dead man's magic power. See further n. 5 1 .

Such statements as 'they invoke the spirits of their departed chiefs' lack precise
meaning and are valueless as anthropological material. The above quotation
illustrates the extreme need (i) of distinguishing fact from inference, especially
when dealing with the early writings, (ii) of caution in accepting such phrases as
'divine homage'.

49. S. H. Ray, 'The People and Language of Lifu, Loyalty Islands', J.R.A.I.
xlvii (1917), p. 295. For haze, see para. 63.

50. E. Hadfield, Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, pp. 145 f., 193-4, l9%-
Diseases were few; 'doctors' were many. In addition to the tene haze, who used

magic stones, there was also the tene dosino, who gave herbal treatment. Apparently
dosino treatment was ineffectual without haze, for Mrs. Hadfield says that 'the two
arts seem to merge into one another'. Perhaps dosino refers to the herbs rather than
to the herbalist.

51. E. Hadfield, Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, p. 149.

It was probably the prevalence of this custom which caused the early missionaries
to think that the natives worshipped finger-nails. See n. 48.

52. E. Hadfield, Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, pp. 111-12.

The rain-maker was a popular man, but the magician who controlled the sun
was often suspected of causing a drought so that people would die of hunger and
thus furnish food for a cannibal feast. It seems to have been his privilege to pro-
claim a cannibal feast whenever he wished, and, in order to prevent him from
creating too much sunshine, it was ordained that whenever he exercised the preroga-
tive he must kill and eat his eldest son. It seems rational; for, granted such
unquestioning faith in the power of the magician, this was an excellent way of
preventing a drought. Would Professor Levy-Bruhl call it 'prelogical' ?

For Professor Levy-Bruhl's suggestions, see para. 70.

53. S. H. Ray, 'The People and Language of Lifu, Loyalty Islands', J.R.A.I.
xlvii (1917), p. 252. On p. 296 Mr. Ray remarks that almost every individual had
his sacred object and that each object had its special area of operation. Thus some
caused yams to grow, others fertilized the taro fields, and so on.

54. W. Gray and S. H. Ray, 'Some Notes on the Tannese', Intern. Archiv fur
Eth vii (1894), pp. 232-3, who include also the nethuing of Aneityum, the supwe
(supe) of Efate and other islands of the Central New Hebrides, and the nobu of
Erromanga. For our information concerning these islands, see n. 23.

For uhngen, see para. 63.

§55 NOTES AND REFERENCES 443

55. A. C. P. Watt, Twenty-five Years on Tanna, p. 109; C. B. Humphreys,
The Southern New Hebrides, p. 71 f.; W. Gray, 'Notes on the Tannese', Fourth
Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892), pp. 653-5.

56. The missionary, being a 'sacred (uhngen) man', was suspected on more than
one occasion of causing and spreading disease. See, e.g., A. C. P. Watt, Twenty-five
Years on Tanna, pp. 153, 183.

57. W. Gray, 'Notes on the Tannese', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892),
pp. 651-2.

58. W. Gray, 'Notes on the Tannese', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892),
pp. 651, 653 ; C. B. Humphreys, The Southern New Hebrides, p. 73.

The general term for the stones which were used in altering the course of nature
was nauveti nadi, as distinct from nauveti nuruk, which contained the power of
life and death. The meaning of nauveti is not given. If 'stone' be correct, then
nadi and nuruk seem to be qualifying adjectives or adverbs, and nuruk is not the
equivalent of the Loyalty Island haze. The latter conclusion might appear to
follow from the fact that a wizard was tene haze (Loyalty Is.) and yolnuruk (Tanna).
See also the passages cited in n. 55.

59. A. C. P. Watt, Twenty-five Years on Tanna, pp. 178-84, describes the
methods of the rain-maker in some detail, and says that 'he calls on his departed
father and friends and asks them to join him and his party in making rain'. But
it is clear from the passage which I have quoted in the text that the man's success
did not depend upon any assistance which he might receive from them, and that
his failure was not due to their reluctance. Perhaps we should understand that he
mentioned the names of successful rain-makers who were then dead. The word
'father', at any rate, must not be interpreted literally. We are certainly told that
'the power of rain-making was hereditary', but, as Mrs. Watt remarks (op. cit.,
p. 180), 'All a man's brother's children are his children, and there is seldom any
difficulty in finding a successor.' She might have added that since a man's ortho-
cousins were his 'brothers', his 'son' might have been almost any male of the same
social group and of the next generation. Under such circumstances the use of the
word 'hereditary' is grotesque.

When a form of the classificatory system of relationship prevails, all reports
of the alleged hereditary nature of any institution must be received with caution.
The term which has been translated (wrongly, in my view) as 'son' is applied to
many individuals who are not 'sons' in our sense of the word. Thus the alleged
heredity may be a false inference from an inaccurate rendering of a native term.

These criticisms apply also to the alleged hereditary nature of the magical pro-
fession in other societies, e.g. Loyalty Islands (n. 52), Fiji (n. 94), Bakitara (n. 123),
Yoruba (n. 148).

60. G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 193, 196.

61. Ibid., pp. 141-3.

62. Ibid., p. 201.

Dr. Brown states that the recipients were 'ancestors', but on p. 196 he qualifies
the report by saying that the ghosts who were invoked were always those of their
own kindred. 'Kindred', however, is a vague word. The New Britons had a dual
organization and a classificatory system of relationship. The terms which we
translate 'father', 'mother', &c, were applied by an individual to any one of the
previous generation who was a member of the same moiety. The recipients of the
offerings need not have been 'kindred' in our sense of the word.

Elsewhere (p. 193) we are told that 'in the case of relatives food is given for a

444 NOTES AND REFERENCES §63

long time until all funeral feasts are over'. The report is not helpful. No more
details are available.

63. Ibid., pp. 176, 202, 233.

In addition to the tene agagara there were the tene papet and the tene pinapet.
I have been unable to discover whether the same individual could be described
by all these titles or whether they were respectively exclusive. Dr. Brown is the
only authority who mentions them. His language is not exact. On p. 197 the tene
papet is called a sorcerer who practised exorcism; on p. 200 he is a 'priest'. Papet
is translated 'prayer' on p. 177, but since the utterance of a papet over a banana-skin
is called 'praying', and we read of 'chirping' and 'hissing', papet seems to have
denoted an incantation. In that case a tene papet may have been merely the owner
of an incantation.

I can find no description of the tene pinapet. The name is mentioned only once.

Tene agagara seems to have been an inclusive term which was applied to magical
practitioners in general. The other two words may have had a more particular
application. We cannot tell until the native terms have been elucidated.

64. Ibid., p. 199, where it seems to be suggested that the magician worked by the
aid of 'spirits'. The word which is so translated is tebaran, and we must beware of
assuming that his power was dependent on other powerful beings. See further
para. 65.

The description of a wind-making process by W. Powell, Wanderings in a Wild
Country, pp. 166, 169, suggests pure sympathetic magic.

65. J. G. Frazer, G.B., The Scapegoat, p. 82, translates tebaran as 'poor wretch'
or 'sufferer', but I can find no support for his view in the books which I have
consulted. Sir James also mentions (op. cit., p. 109 f.) that the people used to
beat the bushes in order to frighten away 'evil spirits'. According to G. Brown,
Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 14 1-3, the practice was connected with ghosts.

But it is simply a question of translation. G. Brown, op. cit., p. 196, n. 1,
remarks that 'the ideas of the people were very indistinct as to the precise difference
between the spirits of the dead and tebarans'. Why, then, should we distinguish
them? The distinction has been created by our translations; it did not exist in
the native mind, for the natives used the same word in each case. If we refrain
from translating tebaran, and discontinue the anglicized plural, we may say that
the natives applied the word tebaran to some natural phenomena and to some ghosts.
The confusion is reasonable. In fact, it is common. See paras 62, 63, 149.

66. W. G. Ivens, The Melanesians of tlie S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 181, 186;
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 191 f.

The statements in the text refer only to the island of Ulawa and to the district
of Sa'a, Little Mala, and must not be assumed (unless the fact is explicitly stated)
to apply to any other area.

The name Mala (Malanta) was given to two separate islands which are distin-
guished by the adjectives Big and Little. There were three distinct peoples on
Little Mala, each speaking a different language: (i) the inhabitants of Sa'a and its
environs, (ii) the Tolo people of the hill-country, (iii) those who dwelt in Port
Adam, ten miles north of Sa'a. See W. G. Ivens, op. cit., pp. 22-5.

There was a very close connexion between the island of Ulawa and the district
of Sa'a, and, although occasionally I have specified to which place a particular
statement refers, at other times I have assumed that a report may apply to both.

There are some discrepancies between the statements of Dr. Ivens and those
of C. E. Fox in his The Threshold of the Pacific (London, 1924).

Mr. Fox (op. cit., p. 345) says that there was a tradition that the chiefs were
immigrants; Dr. Ivens (op. cit., p. 129) states that he could find no confirmation

§67 NOTES AND REFERENCES 445

of the report. According to Dr. Ivens (op. cit., p. 64) there was at Sa'a a sharp
distinction between chiefs and commoners, alaha and apoloa, which existed in
a less pronounced form in Ulawa, where they were called alaha and ruruha; Mr.
Fox (op. cit., p. 344) states that in Ulawa the apoloa were an intermediate class
which had been formed by intermarriage between alaha, immigrant chiefs, and
commoners, mwai komu. In the opinion of Dr. Ivens (op. cit., p. 65) Mr. Fox
was misinformed.

Mr. Fox (op. cit., p. 344) states that commoners were matrilineal and chiefs
patrilineal; Dr. Ivens (op. cit., pp. 65, 79) is confident that the whole society was
patrilineal. Both writers are referring to a social group called komu. According
to Dr. Ivens (op. cit., pp. 60 f., 65, 69) there were no clans; members of a komu
were a kindred in the sense in which Dr. Rivers used the term, i.e. 'a group con-
sisting of persons related to one another, other than by marriage, through both
mother and father' (W. H. R. Rivers, Social Organization, p. 16). Mr. Fox
(op. cit., pp. 344, 351, n. 2) maintains that the komu was a matrilineal exogamous
clan, and that a man belonged to his mother's komu, 'and must marry a woman of
another komu\ In his opinion, therefore, komu was a unilateral group. Dr. Ivens
(11. cc.) expressly denies this, and considers that Mr. Fox has misinterpreted the
association of groups of individuals with certain animals.

In my use of komu, I follow Dr. Ivens.

The report of C. E. Fox may not be uninfluenced by a desire to prove or to
illustrate a theory concerning the origins of Melanesian culture.

Throughout the discussion the word 'chief is used without precise meaning.
In the majority of passages it seems to denote 'high-born', or 'noble', without any
suggestion of social or political power. Indeed, Dr. Ivens (op. cit., p. 128) expli-
citly states that at Sa'a the 'chiefs' exercised no authority. In other passages the
word is used to denote a social leader.

Dr. Codrington's information in regard to this area seems to have been obtained
at Sa'a. According to W. G. Ivens, op. cit., p. xv f., Dr. Codrington did not speak
the local language, but relied on Mota, the language of the Banks Islands.

67. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 122.

! 68. Ibid., pp. 124, 254, 257. Dr. Codrington equates the tidadho of Ysabel and
I the tinda'o of Guadalcanar with the tindalo of Florida.

69. Ibid., p. 125. That tindalo was 'a ghost of power' seems to be clear from
p. 175. Cp. paras. 66, 149.

70. Ibid., p. 124. Dr. Codrington wrote lio'a, which W. G. Ivens, Melanesians
of the S.E. Solomon Islands, p. 485, n. 2, has corrected to IV oa. I follow Dr. Ivens.

71. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 260. From p. 136 ('The ghost of
some departed warrior, or otherwise powerful man, becomes a li'oa') and other
passages, it is clear that li'oa is used by Dr. Codrington in the same sense as he
used tindalo on p. 175.

72. Li' oa was the Sa'a term. Elsewhere on Little Mala the corresponding term
\ was hi'ona. This word is said to have been introduced from Wango, San Cristoval.

The former word also is alleged to have been an importation. In Ulawa the word
akalo was applied to all the ghosts to whom attention was paid, the very powerful
ones being called Big Akalo. See W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon
Islands, pp. 119, 180-1, 487.

There is some discrepancy between the reports ; e.g., according to Dr. Ivens (op.
cit., pp. 15-16), nunu meant the living soul, but Dr. Codrington {The Melanesians,
p. 260) states that at Sa'a akalo was used for the soul of the living man as well as
for that of a dead man.

446 NOTES AND REFERENCES §73

For akalo as ghosts of the komu kindred and IVoa as ghosts of 'chiefs', 'fighting
men', 'important priests', &c., see W. G. Ivens, op. cit., pp. 34, 119, 178, 274.

The following sentence may appear to conflict with the text : 'They postulate the
existence of two kinds of ghosts both of which are called ghosts, akalo, but only one
of these is an object of worship. The first kind is the ordinary akalo, the ghost of the
dead, and the second is the ghost whose abode is in the forest' (W. G. Ivens, op.
cit., p. 178). But was not the ghost 'whose abode is in the forest' also a ghost 'of the
dead'? If so, what is the distinction between the two? If not, is the word 'ghost'
justified? Only the 'ghosts of the dead' were worshipped, we are told; but there
were big akalo and ordinary akalo in Ulawa, akalo and li'oa at Sa'a, and akalo and
hi'ona elsewhere on Little Mala. How, then, can it be said that 'only one of these'

is an object of worship ?

The answer, I think, is simple. The men of Ulawa and Sa'a applied akalo not
only to souls of the dead but also to some natural phenomena. The word is then
translated (wrongly, in my view) 'spirits'. Thus there were 'sea-spirits', akalo ni
matawa, and 'forest-spirits', whose native name I have been unable to find; but
as akalo was applied also to the dead, and therefore is translated 'ghosts', these
'beings' are referred to (by Dr. Ivens) as 'sea-ghosts' and 'forest-ghosts'. They
were not 'ghosts' in the sense that they were the disembodied souls of dead men,
and only a complete disregard for the meaning of the English words can justify the

translation.

For the meaning of akalo, see para. 63.

When Dr. Codrington's report on this area is studied, his confusion between
akalo and Woa (i.e. little akalo and big akalo) must be remembered.

73. At Sa'a a village was inhabited by a komu kindred, for which see n. 66. This
does not mean, of course, that all the members lived there. We must understand,
I think, that people who were related to one another built their huts in the same
place, and such a collection of dwelling-places is called by us a 'village'. In Florida,
indeed, the word komu is said to have meant village. See W. G. Ivens, The
Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 28, 61 .

We should be justified, perhaps, in assuming that a rite performed in a village
by a member of that village might be tendance, and that a rite performed there by
a man who came from another village would be cult.

74. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, p. 209. This passage
seems to mean that only some ghosts were akalo, but on p. 178 Dr. Ivens remarks
that 'every person at death becomes an akalo' . The native usage of a word trans-
lated 'ghost' is often difficult to understand. See paras. 66, 149, and 162. Yet
sometimes Dr. Ivens increases our difficulties by contradicting himself. Cp. e.g.
n. 87.

75. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 178, 210, 211 f.,
214, 219; R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 177. The passages should be
studied with care. The discrepancies, I think, are only apparent. Probably cus-
toms differed in different villages.

76. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. i79> 246 f.;
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 136 f.

An offering such as a porpoise tooth was considered to be sufficient for an
ordinary akalo, whereas a pig was reserved invariably for a li'oa (W. G. Ivens,
op. cit., p. 241). In a later passage (op. cit., p. 321) Dr. Ivens says that occasionally
an akalo also might demand the more valuable gift. Perhaps he is here referring
to big akalo. From the context, however, I judge that only at Sa'a was a pig
offered to akalo.

§77 NOTES AND REFERENCES 447

77. At Sa'a the first-fruits are said to have been offered on the inland altars, while
sacrifices for success at sea were made at the beach altars. In Ulawa first-fruits also
were offered on the shore. In both cases the recipients seem to have been IVoa,
not akalo. Cp. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 179,
246 f .

78. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 184, 247-8, 321,
467.

79. For disposal of the relics of 'important people' (saka men, i.e. IVoa), see
W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 178, 210, 214; R. H.
Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 177.

Dr. Ivens says that the men of Ulawa placed in the canoe-house the relics of those
ghosts whose magic might be expected to assist with bonito fishing and that at Sa'a
these relics were placed in a special relic-house, tawau, alongside the canoe-house.
According to Dr. Codrington, shrines were erected in Little Mala only when the
canoe-house, oha, was full.

We are told that in a village the relic-house was near the house of the priest.
Only the priest had the right of entry.

Concerning the word 'priest', see n. 82.

80. 'Ownership' of a IV oa might be inherited, or a new claim might be made and
substantiated. See W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 242-3,
250, 252; R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, pp. 128, 132, 192.

Dr. Ivens remarks : 'The right to sacrifice to a ghost was confined to those who
belonged to the ghost as members of his family, or to those to whom he had
appeared as a sign that he wished to be friendly with them. No stranger might
sacrifice, and if he presumed to do so the ghost would punish him for his intrusion.'

The passage raises more questions than it answers. Does the first part refer to
akalo, and the second to IV oa ? Probably, I think, for only powerful ghosts became
'twins' and helped a man. See n. 81. Yet the writer appears to refer to the same
ghost in both parts of the sentence. It seems that the latter part of the quotation
must refer to IV oa, for ordinary household akalo were manifest only in relic-cases
and therefore had no ground upon which a stranger could 'intrude'.

A similar confusion is apparent in other passages also; e.g., when Dr. Ivens
states (op. cit., p. 244 f.) that 'ownership' depended on membership of the family
either by birth, adoption, or dependency, he appears to refer to akalo; he then
cites a passage from Dr. Codrington, who plainly is referring to IV oa.

Such ambiguities as these are not uncommon in anthropological literature, and
would be avoided if native terms were always employed. As it is, the word 'ghost'
is used alone, and confusion arises because more than one native word has been
translated as 'ghost'. For further examples of this confusion, see nn. 81, 87.

81. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 184-5, I9I-
Another word for demoniacal possession was iperi. Apparently iperi was equiva-
lent to awasi, for which see also R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 210; A. I.
Hopkins, In the Isles of King Solomon, p. 206.

Dr. Ivens says that it was beneath the dignity of a IV oa to behave in this manner.
Only an akalo gave the power to pronounce an oracle or caused illness by occupying
the body of a delinquent. To induce 'possession' was ta'e akalo, which refers to
the 'lifting up' or the 'raising' of a ghost. The word rau, 'abide', also was used,
but apparently only in connexion with IVoa, e.g. 'IVoa abode with me and I was
not drowned'.

In his long and detailed description of the native rites, Dr. Ivens does not always
! quote the native word which he translates as 'ghost'. He is careful to point out
(e.g. op. cit., p. 191) the difference between the treatment of an akalo and that of

448 NOTES AND REFERENCES §82

a li'oa, but sometimes we cannot tell to which he refers, for he merely says 'ghost',
simply Moreover, when he speaks of akalo, he seems to refer sometimes to little
akalo and sometimes to big akalo (i.e. lioa, n. 72). Much of what he has written
is extremely confusing.

82. When Dr. Ivens speaks of a 'priest', he refers, he explains, to the man
'who has to do with the worship of the ghosts'. See his Melanesians of the S.E.
Solomon Islands, p. 283. The title of 'priest' is not given to such a man by R. H.
Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 192, who says: 'Almost every man of considera-
tion knows how to approach some ghost or spirit.' Probably this is why he was a
'man of consideration'.

W G Ivens, op. cit., p. 242, says that at Sa'a the following words were used to
denote the man whom he calls 'priest' : poroma'i, 'holy man' ; pwau ni mae, 'head of
the fight'; pwau si henue, 'head of the village'. But surely it is wrong to translate
these terms as 'priest'. The fact seems to have been that a man who knew how to
approach a ghost was sometimes a distinguished warrior also or the head of the
komu kindred whose habitation we call a 'village'. For komu as kindred and village,

see nn. 66, 73. _ . . , c

The English words 'holy man' are submitted by Dr. Ivens as the equivalent ot
the Ulawa poro ni mwane. The phrase ni mwane meant 'of males' ; 'i.e.', Dr. Ivens
says, 'having to do with sacred things'. The connexion is not obvious.
For other notes on 'priests', see n. 87.

83. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 125. The ousting of one li'oa by the
ghost of a man more recently deceased is mentioned also by A. I. Hopkins, In the
Isles of King Solomon, p. 119.

We are told by W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, p. 210,
that the relics which were no longer tended might be placed either on an inland
altar te'ete'e, or on a beach-altar, pirupiru. These were the Sa'a terms. In Ulawa
pirupiru was applied to an inland as well as to a beach-altar. The reports concerning
the disposal of relics, however, are not always clear, for sometimes it appears that
relics which were still tended were placed on an altar, which indeed is said to have
been the usual place of 'sacrifice'. See W. G. Ivens, op. cit., pp. 214, 246.

84. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 177-

W G Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, p. 243, considers it to be
'beyond belief that a man should inaugurate a new style in sacrificing to his father.
I do not see why; nor does Dr. Ivens state his reasons for doubting the fact. Cer-
tainly the taro-cu\t and baigona-cult in Papua (para. 79) were introduced by indi-
vidual men. On this question, see further n. 632.

85 W G Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, p. 246. The altar
consisted of an outer wall of stones piled up in the same manner as those (lihheu)
which were erected to keep pigs out of the gardens. Trees were planted both

inside and outside the wall. .

Trees were planted also at the place where the body of an important citizen was
exposed, being used to support the canoe in which the body was placed. See W. G.
Ivens, op. cit., p. 209.

86. At some of these 'altars' certain li'oa were approached on behalf of the whole
community that they might lend their aid in that department of life in which they
had been famous. Thus li'oa ni mae were the ghosts of great warriors ; others were
those of successful fishermen ; and so on. See W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E.
Solomon Islands, p. 180 f.; R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 136

W. G. Ivens, op. cit., p. 486, n. 9, maintains that li'oa were land ghosts and that
paewa were the only ghosts who had power at sea. He corrects Dr. Codrington s

§87 NOTES AND REFERENCES 449

use of the former word. I notice, however, that in op. cit., p. 185, he himself speaks
of a Woa operating at sea.

Renowned fishermen sometimes announced that they would appear after death
as sharks, and a shark of any special size or colour was considered to be some one's
akalo. Food was reserved for such an animal and only those who were going to be
sharks after death were allowed to partake of it. Every landing-place had a tutelary
shark. There were also other 'sacred' sharks, 'owned' by mortal men, who punished
any sacrilege. Ordinary unowned sharks could be kept off by incantations. More-
over, just as a man could become a shark, so could a shark become a man. The
same word, lapi, was used of both processes.

For the shark-cult, see W. G. Ivens, op. cit., pp. 229-40; R. H. Codrington,
op. cit., p. 179; F. Coombe, Islands of Enchantment, pp. 248 ff. It is impossible to
tell from the appropriate passages whether akalo of the shark-cult were big akalo
( = Sa'a Woa) or little akalo. The evidence seems inferential, not irrefragable.

We are told that ghosts were manifest also in bananas ; but this may be a mere
inference, due to the fact that the word akalo was applied to bananas. Cp. W. G.
Ivens, op. cit., pp. 179, 268 ff.; R. H. Codrington, op. cit., p. 32 f.

Different meanings are attached by these authors to such words as 'worship',
'invoke', and 'sacrifice'.

W. G. Ivens, op. cit., p. 246, insists that the word 'sacrifice' should contain
some idea of substitution, but R. H. Codrington, op. cit., pp. 128, 144, remarks:
'To burn a pig entirely without any accompanying rite, with a view to obtaining
mana, is a sacrificial act'; and again, 'The simplest and most common sacrificial act
is that of throwing a small portion of food to the dead.' Dr. Codrington's use of the
word, however, is not uniform. On the same page he says (i) 'The sacrifices on the
Solomon Islands may well be traced to the desire to make the deceased sharers of
the common meal'; (ii) 'If there is a Melanesian sacrifice to a god, it is to a vui.y
Cp. these quotations with those which are quoted above. The ideas of substitu-
tion, do ut des, do ut abeas, and self-deprivation have been confused under one
heading.

For the Banks Islands vui, see para. 72. It is difficult to understand how any one
can apply the words 'god' and 'sacrifice' to such conceptions and practices.
For oloolo, the word translated as 'sacrifice', see n. 294.

87. For the treatment of affliction, see W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E.
Solomon Islands, pp. 192 f., 247 f., 345-52, 467.

In studying these passages I experience the same difficulties as those mentioned
in nn. 80, 81. The English word 'ghost' is used as the equivalent of two native
words, between which in the native mind there was a vital distinction. I have
tried to cope with the difficulties by referring to Dr. Ivens 's A Dictionary of the
Language of Saya and Ulawa, S.E. Solomon Islands; but I have not found it helpful;
e.g. toto akalo is rendered as 'exorcise', 'propitiate', 'cure', and it seems doubtful
if it was used in reference to Woa ; but this is not certain. Nor can I discover the
real difference between toto and tola.

Dr. Ivens defines a 'diviner' as 'one who knows the proper incantation and is
regarded as a master, as one to whom the ghosts vouchsafe the power required'.
Cp. the definition of 'priest' quoted in n. 82 : 'One who has to do with the worship
of the ghosts.' Apparently the same man is meant. Why, then, does Dr. Ivens
write as if they were two separate men ? The diviner announced (i) the identity of a
wizard who had performed sionga, witchcraft, (ii) the reasons for ghostly displeasure.
His native title is not given.

In regard to the exorcist, Dr. Ivens contradicts himself. Cp. op. cit., p. 192,
! 'The exorcist need not be a priest proper'; and op. cit., p. 462 f., 'The power of
exorcism was definitely confined to the priests.'

450 NOTES AND REFERENCES §88

Dr. Ivens also says, 'The offices of leech and priest are often confined (sic) in one
person, but incantations to ghosts might be used by those who had no claim to
priestly office.' I do not know what he means, for he has already defined a priest as
a man 'who has to do with the worship of the ghosts'.

A. I. Hopkins, In the Isles of King Solomon, p. 206, mentions that the village
medicine-man trained young aspirants and had charge of the village relic-house;
but since a village consisted of a komu kindred (nn. 66, 73), the man was in charge
of the relics of his dead kinsmen. Thus he may have acted in another capacity
besides that of medicine-man.

88. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 324, 352. A li'oa
would deal out death and disease at the request of its 'owner' (ibid., pp. 278, 288 f.).
Cp. Fijian kalou (para. 34), Uganda lubare (para. 65), Tongan otua (n. 212).

89. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 324-7; R- H.
Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 200.

I am not persuaded that the charms reported by W. G. Ivens, op. cit., pp. 97-8,
were anything more than children's games. Before we can admit that a children's
dance or song is correctly termed 'magic', we must have evidence that the organizers
arranged the performance with the intention of exerting magic power, and, more-
over, that they were conscious of their purpose.

90. A. I. Hopkins, In the Isles of King Solomon, pp. 19, 70; R. H. Codrington,
The Melanesians, pp. 47-8.

91. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, pp. 187, 189, 196; D. Hazlewood, A Fee-
jean and English Dictionary, s.v. bure.

Williams says that the bure was used also as a council chamber and as a village
hall. Local dignitaries slept there. 'Though built expressly for the purposes of
religion,' he says, 'the bure was less devoted to them than to anything else.'

A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou and the Origin of Fijian Temples',
J. R.A.I, xlii (191 2), pp. 441, 442 f., objects to this sentence, but his reasons for
doing so are not clear. So much depends on the meaning attached to the word
'religion'.

Mr. Hocart writes bure as mbure. He tells us that the word was applied also to
the small huts which were erected over the graves of the dead.

There were two main islands in Fiji, Vanua Levu and Viti Levu. Except where
stated, the information in the text applies exclusively to the latter. Cp. n. 44.

92. For the kalou-vu, 'ancestor-gods', see the passages cited in n. 102.

93. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, pp. 189-90, 192. For M. Rougier's
statement that priests and chiefs had 'familiar spirits', see n. 97.

94. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, p. 1 92 ; B. Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 1 57-8.
When a classificatory system of relationship prevailed, a statement that an office

was hereditary must be received with reserve. See n. 59. Even if we accepted the
report in this particular case, we could not tell whether the succession was in the
family (as we know it) or in some group like the matanggali. Nor are we sufficiently
well informed concerning the organization of Fijian society to justify an opinion.

Various suggestions have been made in regard to the matanggali. According to
L. Fison, 'Land Tenure in Y$\\J.AJ. x (1881), pp. 335, 345, the matanggali was
a non-exogamous unit which consisted of the descendants of a band of brothers ;
all the members of a matanggali were 'brothers' to one another. W. Deane, Fijian
Society, p. 100, says that the matanggali was an enlarged family, united by the cult
of the kalou-vu. W. H. R. Rivers, History of Melanesian Society, i. 264 f ., maintains
that it was part of a primary body whose members were united by the common

§95 NOTES AND REFERENCES 45 1

possession of a more or less sacred object. If Dr. Rivers is thinking of the 'totem',
then his readers must be referred to the passages quoted in n. 97.

A. M. Hocart, 'The Dual Organization in Fiji', Man, 1915, no. 3, apologizes for
translating matanggali 'clan', since that word, ex definitione (but only according to
W. H. R. Rivers?), implies exogamy. He therefore agrees with Fison. He was
unable to trace any relationship between the matanggali and the vosa.

Mr. Hocart, I think, is our best authority.

95. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, p. 188.

96. B. Thomson, The Fijians, p. 168; P. Rougier, 'Maladies et medecins a Fiji
autrefois et aujourd'hui', Anthropos, ii (1907), p. 70. Apparently Sir Basil Thom-
son's statement is confirmed by T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, pp. 191, 193, but
Williams also mentions the dautradra. M. Rougier's remarks are extremely
vague.

The Fijian had implicit faith in dreams. If a Fijian dreamt of the death of a
man, this man, should he wish to survive, had to make a present to the dreamer in
order to induce him to withdraw the dream ; otherwise death would occur according
to the dream. No dautradra was foolish enough to dream anything about a poor
man.

97. P. Rougier, 'Maladies et medecins a Fiji autrefois et aujourd'hui', Anthropos,
ii (1907), P- 71.

When M. Rougier uses the word 'esprit', he seems to refer to the Fijian tevoro,
which he renders also as 'genie' and as 'familiar spirit'. He attempts to derive the
word voro, 'fear'. I think that tevoro is also the word which Sir Basil Thomson
translates as 'spirit' when he says (The Fijians, p. xiii) that an 'evil spirit' could be
sent into a man.

W. H. R. Rivers, 'Totemism in Fiji', Man, 1908, 75, is of the opinion that tevoro
meant a 'sacred object' or 'totem', and on the strength of his assertion Sir J. G.
Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, ii. 140, remarks that 'Dr. Rivers is unquestionably
right in holding that the sacred animals associated with tribes, or subdivisions of
tribes, are totems in the process of evolving into gods, and that a more advanced
stage in this evolution is represented by the village deities called tevoro\ (I presume
that when Sir James speaks of 'subdivision of tribes' he refers to the matanggali,
for which see n. 94.) Father W. Schmidt, 'Totemism in Fiji', Man, 1908, 84,'
considers that there is little evidence of the existence of totemism in Fiji, and he
refers to P. J. de Marzan, 'Le Totemisme aux lies Fiji', Anthropos, ii (1907), p. 402,
upon whose testimony Dr. Rivers himself relies elsewhere (Hist. Mel. Soc. ii. 369)!
But these vaguely expressed doubts are of no importance compared with the
researches of Mr. Hocart, who shows quite conclusively that tevoro was not a
Fijian word at all. It was Tahitian. The Tahitian Christian missionaries brought
the word to Fiji, when they brought their new religion. To such Christians as the
Tahitians became, all objects which were venerated by the Fijians were 'devils',
tevoro. Thus the kalou-vu and the kalou-yalo were both tevoro, and every ghost,
kalou, was called tevoro. 'Tevoro proper', Mr. Hocart declares, 'are souls of the
dead.' See A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou and the Origin of Fijian
Temples', J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), pp. 437-8, 445. Mr. Hocart repeats the equation
kalou = tevoro in 'Note on the Dual Organization in Fiji', Man, 1914, 2.

Thus Fijian 'totemism' is extremely suspect, and we must conclude that Dr.
Rivers misunderstood the meaning of the word tevoro. This implies that his
interpretation of the meaning of matanggali (n. 94) is unacceptable. Moreover,
when M. Rougier remarks that sickness was due to 'esprit' (i.e. tevoro), he must be
inderstood, I suppose, as referring to ghostly anger. Further, the 'familiar spirit',
tfith the possession of which he credits both priests and chiefs, must be kalou.

452 NOTES AND REFERENCES §98

Such intricate puzzles as these would have been avoided if the native terms had
been employed. The absence of native terms has sometimes cast a mist of vague
uncertainty over the meaning of the reports.

A. B. Brewster, The Hill Tribes of Fiji, facing p. 224, translates tevoro as 'canni-
bal'. It is not difficult to understand that a Christian convert would call a cannibal
tevoro, but when a native term is thus translated, without comment, I feel that the
author is out of touch with the culture of pagan Fiji.

98. A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou' , J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), p. 441.
For wizardry in general, see B. Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 164-5; but if the

passage is to be understood it must be read only after the results of Mr. Hocart's
researches have been digested.

99. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, p. 209. The word vaka-ndraunikau, which,
according to Williams, I.e., meant 'witchcraft', is translated 'wizard' by P. Rougier,
Anthropos, ii (1907), P- 78. Ndraunikau seems to have meant 'leaves'.

Williams observes that there were many who 'laughed at the priest but trembled
at the wizard'. Compare the comparative impotence of the priests among the
Baganda (n. 135). For a discussion on its significance, see para. 166.

100. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, pp. 194, 196.

101. A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou , J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), p. 4431
W. Deane, Fijian Society, p. 39-

102. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, pp. 183-6; W. Deane, Fijian Society,
pp. 39 ff.; B. Thomson, 'The kalou-vu (ancestor-gods) of the Fijians', J.A.I. xxiv
(1895) pp 340-59; idem, art. 'Ancestor-worship (Fijian)', Enc. Rel. Eth., ed.
J. Hastings, iii. 443 f- 1 idem, The Fijians, p. 1 12 ; A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of
kalou', J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), pp. 437-49-

103. A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou , J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), p. 444-

104. P. Rougier, 'Maladies et medecins a Fiji autrefois et aujourd'hui', Anthro-
pos, ii (1907), P- 23-

105. A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou', J.R.A.I '. xlii (1912), p. 442.

106. W. Deane, Fijian Society, p. 42.

107. A M Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou' , J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), p. 441.
Offerings were of two kinds, soro and madrali. There is no precise information

concerning the nature or intent of these so-called 'sacrifices'. Cp. T. Williams,
Fiji and the Fijians, pp. 195-6 (soro and madrali) with A. M. Hocart, op. , cit.y p. 441
(soro). According to Williams, <fo ^^predominated. Madrali is called a thanks-
giving', but surely 'thanksgiving' is as question-begging as 'sacrifice'.

108. A. M. Hocart, 'On the meaning of kalou' , J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), p. 44*-

109. W. Deane, Fijian Society, p. 44-

110. Canon J. Roscoe considers that there may have been 'at least three distinct
races in the Lake Region, each of which has left traces of its residence'.

In the first place, the existence of a number of megaliths suggests that the country
was once inhabited by a people who also left other traces of their presence, tor
instance, there still exist the remains of buildings with stone enclosures; and holes
of considerable depth are found 'which some think to be shafts from which iron-
stone was dug'. (It is not suggested that the present inhabitants of the country are
descended from these men, whose existence is deduced from these remains.)

§in NOTES AND REFERENCES 453

The other two 'races' still occupy the area: (i) The negroes, such as the Bagesu
and others, including those who live on the mountain ridges of Ruwenzori and
Elgon ; (ii) the Bahima, a pastoral people who came into and conquered the country
of these agriculturists. See J. Roscoe, 'Immigrants and their influence in the Lake
Region of Central Africa', Frazer Lecture (1923), pp. 6 ff.

If this hypothesis be accepted, we must conclude that the racial mixture has
produced a different physical type in different districts of the same geographical
area. Among the Baganda, 'there are to be found clans with Roman features and
others varying from this type to the broad nose and thick lips of the negro'; 'every
clan appears to differ from every other either in build or in face, so that after a time,
when these peculiarities have been mentally noted, it becomes possible to distin-
guish at sight the members of certain clans'. Since the line of descent has been
paternal for many generations, and since women from other clans have constantly
been introduced in accordance with the exogamic regulations, the particular features
of these clans must have been 'transmitted solely through the males and retained
in the clan': 'In like manner', Canon Roscoe adds, 'Royalty retain the Muhima
features, though the males have married women from clans differing from the
Muhima type.' See J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 7, 186, 493.

Among the Bakitara, however, the outcome has been different: the admixture
has resulted in the production of 'a shorter and coarser type', and 'the effect of
the mixed marriages was apparent in the physical appearance of the race, though
owing to the fact that some pastoral clans have kept themselves apart, there are still
to be found people who show little trace of negro blood' (J. Roscoe, The Bakitara,
PP-7, 13)-

The same racial mixture, therefore, under precisely similar conditions, has
resulted in the one case in the transmission and preservation of the male type, in
the other case in the disappearance of that type.

Major J. A. Meldon, 'Notes on the Bahima of Ankole', Journ. Afr. Soc. vi (1907),
p. 140, refers to the original negro inhabitants as the Bany ankole and distinguishes
them from the pastoral and immigrant Bahima. Canon Roscoe seems to use the
names as alternatives in 'The Bahima', J.R.A.I. xxxvii (1907), p. 94, but in his
latest publication he uses the title Banyankole to denote the whole of the society
which has resulted from the interbreeding.

Among the Bakitara there were three social grades, the Bahima, Banyoro and
Bahera. The first name denoted the Nilo-Hamitic pastoral nomads ; the third was
given to the agricultural aborigines ; the Banyoro were a middle class which came
into existence as a result of intermarriage between the Bahima and Bahera. Cp.
the apoloa of Ulawa, SE. Solomon Islands (n. 66).

111. J. Roscoe, 'The Bahima', J.R.A.I. xxxvii (1907), p. 105; idem, The Banyan-
i kole, pp. 1 20-1. Girls were placed in a fatting-house before marriage.

The cow-people must have introduced the superstition that pre-nuptial preg-
nancy affected the health of the cattle, but apparently the agricultural people
shared the belief.

Neither the Banyankole nor the Bakitara seem to have connected the prohibition
of pre-nuptial pregnancy with ghostly anger, as might be suspected from R.
Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 26.

Canon Roscoe reports that among the agricultural clans a bridegroom whose
1 bride was not a virgin sent to her parents a hoe-handle 'with a hole in it for the
insertion of the iron blade'. The man seems to have taken no other action ; evidently
>he did not expect, certainly he did not demand, that the girl should be a virgin. The
^custom does not seem to have prevailed among the pastoral clans.

Since the conception of exclusive sexual rights seems to have been quite alien to the
consciousness of the agricultural people, who allowed 'the greatest possible freedom'

454 NOTES AND REFERENCES §112

after marriage, I am inclined to think that the incident of the hoe-handle was
nothing more than an isolated case. Perhaps the man in question had visited the
Baganda or the Bakitara and observed their customs. The sentence in which his
action is described occupies an insignificant position in Canon Roscoe's narrative,
and, indeed, might easily be missed. I have thought it well, however, to drag it
out of its obscurity lest I should be suspected of selecting the evidence instead of
stating it.

Among both the pastoral and the agricultural clans the father of the groom
consummated the marriage if his son was too young. Occasionally the girl seems to
have lived for some time as the father's wife. See J. Roscoe, The Banyankole , pp.
127-9, 132.

112. J. Roscoe, The Bakitara, pp. 66-7, 212 f., 280.

The Banyankole and the Bakitara are two of the examples which have been
chosen by R. Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 25, to show that Dr. Westermarck was
mistaken when he adduced the objection to pre-nuptial pregnancy as evidence of
pre-nuptial chastity. In making this point Mr. Briffault made a valuable contribu-
tion to social anthropology. The reported facts, however, do not warrant the
insertion in the index of his book, 'Pre-nuptial Sexual Freedom', in reference to the
Bakitara. Mr. Briffault omits to point out that the primitiae were demanded.
Indeed, neither the Baganda nor the Bakitara are mentioned in his long note
(op. cit., ii. 2-13) which purports to illustrate the prevalence of pre-nuptial freedom
among 'primitive' peoples, and which, in the opinion of its author, proves that
'primitive' man was pre-nuptially sexually free.

For further comments on the work of R. Briffault, see nn. 155, 163, 172, 382, 421,
470.

113. J. Roscoe, The Banyankole, p. 123 f . ; idem, The Bakitara, pp. 68, 239, 265.
Some Kitara men are said to have used their influence with their wives in order

to persuade them to refrain from such activities. A man 'might be annoyed', we
are told, with his wife if she admitted to her bed 'a member of the clan with whom
he was not on good terms': 'But he could not accuse her of unfaithfulness for so
doing.'

It seems a pity to use the word 'polyandry' to denote these sexual rights. It
might imply an economic relationship which did not exist.

114. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, p. 91. Canon Roscoe says (op. cit., p. 263) that a
girl who became pregnant before marriage was sent to the house of her lover's
father. Her lover was compelled to pay the full bride-price and marry her. If he
refused, he was fined.

115. Ibid., pp. 94, 263. Some clans had special tests whereby they sought to
prove the legitimacy of a child (ibid., pp. 50, 56-8).

Doubtless the stern character of the Baganda sexual regulations was reponsible
for their prudish attitude towards nakedness. 'They preferred to substitute', we
are told, 'for any plain noun dealing with sex and sexual intercourse the politest
and vaguest of paraphrases.' See H. H. Johnston, The Uganda Protectorate, p. 685 ;
J. Roscoe, The Baganda, p. 443. But surely Sir Harry Johnston was wrong when
he attributed the 'appreciation of female chastity' to the influence of Christianity,
if by 'chastity' he means their insistence that a bride should be a virgin. We can
hardly credit the missionaries with the diffusion of the demand for the tokens of
virginity.

For further remarks on Baganda sexual regulations, see para. 166.

116. J. Roscoe, 'The Bahima', jf.R.AJ. xxxvii (1907), P- *°9'> idem, The
Banyankole, pp. 25-6, 149.

§n6

NOTES AND REFERENCES

455

The descriptions of Banyankole 'beliefs' are remarkable examples of loose
phraseology, indefinite translations, and contradictory statements. They illustrate
forcibly the untrustworthiness of any classifications which are based on 'beliefs'.
The value of Canon Roscoe's testimony is vitiated by his neglect of native termino-
logy and his arbitrary use of common English words.

Compare the following statements :

(i) 'Their religion consists of invocations to a spirit known as Mbandua ; he has
seven different personalities, Wemerra, Kagoro, Diangombe, Nyakururu,
Mugasha, Simbua, Ndahura' (J. A. Meldon, 'Notes on the Bahima of
Ankole', Journ. Afr. Soc. vi (1907), p. 142).
(ii) 'The chief fetishes are Wamala, Kagoro, Nyekiriro, Lyagombe, Mugasa,
Ndahora, Kyomya' (J. Roscoe, 'The Bahima', J. R.A.I, xxxvii (1907), p. no;
idem, The Northern Bantu, p. 134).
If we exclude (or identify) Simbua and Kyomya, the names of Roscoe's 'fetishes'
are clearly the same as Meldon 's 'personalities'. In The Banyankole, p. 30, Canon
Roscoe describes the 'fetishes' as 'horns filled by certain medicine-men with herbs
and other ingredients'. I am unable to conjecture how Major Meldon arrived at
the conclusion that such magical instruments were 'personalities'. Mandwa is the
word which was used by the Bakitara and the Baganda to denote the male or female
'medium' who spoke with the voice of the god when 'possessed' by him. Major
Meldon seems to have thought that this man was a 'Spirit' with seven different
personalities. Thus he confused the power and the human agency through which
a right relation was maintained with that power. Cp. Canon Roscoe's various
translations of the Kitara muchwezi (n. 122).

Canon Roscoe does not quote the native words in his monograph on the Banyan-
kole ; but mandwa and mayembe seem to be the words which he usually translates
as 'medium' (or 'guardian') and as 'fetish' respectively.

In The Banyankole, p. 23, he speaks of an 'ancient dynasty of kings' who became
'gods of the people'. He adds that 'these deified kings had no temples'. The native
word which he translates 'gods' is not given; it seems to have been mayembe, which
in other passages is rendered as 'fetish'. Moreover, among these alleged deified
kings were Wamala, Ndahaura, Kagoro, Kyomya, Mugasa, Nyakiriro. All these
names appear in the above-quoted list of 'fetishes'. But the members of the
'ancient dynasty of kings' were not kings of Ankole: e.g. Wamala was an ancient
Kitara king; Mugasa was a king of Uganda. Furthermore, Wamala and Kagoro
were Kitara bachwezi; Mugasa was a Uganda lubare. See The Bakitara, pp. 22-5 ;
The Baganda, pp. 290-300.

We must conclude, then, that the phenomena (one cannot say 'beings') which
Canon Roscoe first calls 'fetishes' and later 'gods' were named after noted African
rulers; and it seems likely that certain bandwa merely manufactured certain
magical instruments, bawembe, which they called by the seven above-mentioned
names and pretended to consult on behalf of applicants. But this is not what
we are told. In his report Canon Roscoe has merely translated the native terms,
which he seldom quotes, and fitted the facts to an animistic or polytheistic frame-
work. Having translated mayembe as 'god', he proceeds to credit the Banyankole
. with some of the ideas which we associate with the word.

Inference is piled upon inference. Thus, we are told that each god 'had his own
I special fetish'. Such a sentence cannot be intelligently understood. The same
native word has been translated both as 'god' and as 'fetish'.

Canon Roscoe contradicts himself in reference to the so-called 'war-god'. Cp.
the Northern Bantu, p. 131 ('The war-god is named Zoba. He has both a temple
and a priest who is also the medium of the god'), with The Banyankole, pp. 23-4
('There were no priests, the duties usually performed by such men being left to
mediums and medicine-men, and there were no temples. . . . Kazoba had a special

456 NOTES AND REFERENCES §117

shrine in the country of the clan Baisanza whose members went there to ask
favours, taking to him cattle and beer'). I rely on the latter (and later) opinion.

We are not always told the native words which are translated as 'temple', 'shrine',
'priest', 'medium', 'medicine-man', &c. The 'priest' and the 'medium' seem to have
been the same man, mandwa; is 'shrine' yet another rendering of mayembe?

For mayembe of the Bakitara and Baganda, see nn. 123, 134.

Cp. also the following statements:

(i) 'Besides the Wemerra and other gods mentioned above, there is the Lugaba,
or spirit, who created mankind. The Lugaba has huts built for his worship.
The priest is called Omusaza. They pray to Lugaba for rain, and the huts
dedicated to him are divided into two parts, one for himself and the other
for his father Luhanga' (J. A. Meldon, 'Notes on the Bahima of Ankole',
jfourn. Afr. Soc. vi (1907), P- J44)-

(ii) 'Lugaba is the supreme deity. He is not worshipped, nor are offerings
made to him. He has no sacred place' (J. Roscoe, 'The Bahima', J. R.A.I.
xxxvii (1907), p. 108).

(iii) 'The chief deity is named Lugaba. He dwells in the sky and is really
the Creator. The Creator has no temples, no priests, and no worship'
(J. Roscoe, The Northern Bantu, p. 131).

(iv) 'The creator was Ruhanga. He was known as the Creator and Powerful
One, but no prayers were offered to him, though his name was used in
ejaculations' (J. Roscoe, The Banyankole, p. 23).

Let us pass over the contradictions in regard to temples and sacred places. Let
us even accept the statement that the Banyankole were conscious of a 'creation'.
What, in their opinion, was 'created'? We cannot accept 'mankind' as a Bantu
conception without direct evidence. And did a Muhima really use the word
'supreme'? What was the Bantu word which he employed? 'Dwells in the sky' —
was this an answer to Canon Roscoe 's direct question ? Let us spell the words lugaba
and ruhanga without capitals : does not the conception alter ? The one fact seems
to have been that on certain unspecified occasions the men of Ankole ejaculated
i ruhanga' .

Cp. n. 122, where the Bakitara ruhanga is discussed. Cp. also my note on the
alleged Maori 'Supreme Being', Io (n. 180). For comments on the reports of other
Supreme Beings, see nn. 237, 246, 451, 462, 471, 501, 585.

Possibly Major Meldon 's omusaza is connected with omusuzi, female diviner,
for whom see n. 119.

Such imperfections as these are due to an attempt to describe native 'beliefs',
apart from the rites that are based upon them, and in other words than the native
words .

117. J. Roscoe, The Banyankole, p. 27.

Mugabe was the title which the British substituted for the original mukama in
order to distinguish the ruler of Ankole from the ruler of Kitara, who also was
called mukama. The Ankole mukama had to drink poison as soon as there were
signs of any deterioration in his mental or physical powers. One of his half-sisters
by the same father (the woman who had purified him after the death of his prede-
cessor) was appointed munyanya mukama, the most important position in the land.
She did not marry the mukama, but on his death she either strangled herself or
retired into private life. It is misleading to call this woman 'queen'. The word
'queen' implies a physical relationship with the mukama which did not exist. See
The Banyankole, pp. 35, 50-1, 59-61. ^ f

I think, too, that we should refrain from translating mukama or mugabe as 'king ,
for the word has no single precise meaning, and popular meanings which exist only
in the translation may be unwittingly attached to it. It would be better if we spoke

§n8 NOTES AND REFERENCES 457

of the Ankole mugabe (or mukama), Kitara mukama, and Uganda kabaka, just as
we speak of the Roman rex and the Hellenic basileus.

For the Kitara mukama and Uganda kabaka, see nn. 126, 131.

118. J. Roscoe, The Bany 'ankole , p. 31. By 'fetish' Roscoe probably means
mayembe. I do not know the word which he renders 'shrine'. I suspect that it is
mayembe also. Cp. n. 116.

J. A. Meldon, 'Notes on the Bahima of Ankole', Journ. Afr. Soc. vi (1907),
p. 145, states that there were no rain-makers in Ankole when he was there. The
influence of the missionaries had caused their total disappearance. His description
of their erstwhile methods agrees with that of Roscoe. For his statement that
'they pray to Lugaba for rain', see n. 116.

119. J. Roscoe, 'The Bahima', J.R.A.I. xxxvii (1907), pp. 103, no; idem, The
Banyankole, pp. 28, 30, 136-7; J. A. Meldon, 'Notes on the Bahima of Ankole',
Journ. Afr. Soc. vi (1907), p. 144.

There were women doctors also, omusuzi. We are not told whether their activities
were confined to divination or whether they were general practitioners who also
divined. The native1 term for the more expensive consultant was mfumu, pi.
abamfumo (Meldon), bafumu (Roscoe).

Ghosts (mizimu) and witchcraft {kuloga) were the commonest causes of sickness.
In his earlier writings Canon Roscoe states that a dead king was held responsible
also for some forms of illness, but this is not so much emphasized in his later
reports. Cp. J.R.A.I. xxxvii (1907), p. 28, and The Northern Bantu, pp. 127, 134,
with The Banyankole, p. 28. Perhaps a dead king troubled only the mugabe {mukama).

I am not clear whether or not a medicine-man condescended to act as a wizard.
In J.R.A.I. xxxvii (1907), p. 103, Canon Roscoe says that the two practitioners
were distinguished from one another, but in The Banyankole, p. 135, he reports
that a man who wished to cause discomfort to his enemy would take a severed por-
tion of the latter's body and a medicine-man {mfumu} mandwa}) 'would work
magic with it and cause the owner to fall ill'.

With other passages which concern illness I have the same difficulties as I have
mentioned in n. 116. For instance, consider this passage. 'If the cause of the
illness', we are told {The Banyankole, p. 137), 'was found to be the action of some
god, the priests of that god were called in.' The native terms are not quoted, and
I suspect that this 'god' is none other than a mayembe, a horn filled with magic
herbs. Moreover, this god does not appear to have been one of the members of
: 'that ancient dynasty of kings' who are said to have become 'gods of the people'.
The only one of these 'gods' who is reported to have caused illness is Kagoro ; he
does not find a place in any list of 'kings'. Kagoro, however, was a Kitara muchwezi,
so perhaps some Muhima may have claimed that this mayembe was a manifestation
of Kagoro.

It is possible, of course, that in the above-mentioned passage Canon Roscoe is
, referring to an illness which was caused by the ghost of a dead king. In such
: a case 'the mandwa or chief priest of the king is the only person who can assist'.

This makes sense of the phrase, 'the priest was called in', but surely the word
I 'god' is inapplicable, for a Muhima would have said muzimu, 'ghost'. On the othei
hand, if we accept the word 'god' {mayembe, see n. 116), how does the 'priest'
come in, for we are told that 'there were no priests' {The Banyankole, p. 23) ?

All these confusions would have been avoided if the native terms had been
quoted. Moreover, when he calls the mandwa a 'chief priest', Canon Roscoe
implies that he was the head of the profession, but this is plainly contrary to fact,
j for the word is a common Bantu term.

Canon Roscoe also uses the word 'priest' to denote the caretakers of Esanza

458 NOTES AND REFERENCES §120

(Ensangi, Isangi), the forest where the bodies of dead kings were deposited. This
increases the confusion of his narrative.

For Esanza, see J. A. Meldon, Journ. Afr. Soc. vi (1907), P- J52; J. Roscoe,
J. R.A.I, xxxvii (1907), pp. 101-2; idem, The Northern Bantu, pp. 53~4; idem,
The Banyankole, p. 128.

120. J. Roscoe, 'The Bahima', J. R.A.I, xxxvii (1907), p. 103 ; idem, The Banyan-
kole, p. 139. According to the former passage, a ghost which caused trouble was
always that of some relation or of some person of another clan, never that of a
father. 'A father's ghost was always good and might never be driven away.' This
statement seems to be contradicted by the erection of shrines to a dead father by
his heir. See The Banyankole, pp. 25-6, 149.

121. J. Roscoe, The Banyankole, p. 141.

122. J. Roscoe, The Bakitara, pp. 21-2.

Apparently the statement that the muchwezi was approached by every one in
time of difficulty must be qualified, for the bandwa, 'priests', had nothing to do
with the agricultural clans. Canon Roscoe does not explain this discrepancy in
his report. The latter statement is on p. 25.

The bachwezi are commonly called 'gods', but in The Northern Bantu, pp. 8, 16,
Canon Roscoe calls them 'priests of the country', and speaks of a 'priestly clan'.
Thus he confused the power with the agency through which a right relation was
maintained with that power. Cp. a similar confusion by Major J. A. Meldon in
reference to the mandwa of the Banyankole (n. 116).

H. H. Johnston, The Uganda Protectorate, pp. 587-9, states that the word
muchwezi meant the ghost of an ancestor or chief, and was translated 'High Priest'
by the early missionaries. The latter would not be interested in the accurate
interpretation of native conceptions and their error may have been the cause of
the later confusion.

Canon Roscoe reports a belief in 'Ruhanga, the Creator', but it is difficult to
understand what ruhanga created. The capital R does not appear to be justified.
Ruhanga is said to have 'created mankind'. Did a Kitara man state, without being
prompted, that this was his opinion? What word did he use to denote 'create' and
'mankind'? Cp. my comments on the alleged Banyankole 'Creator' (n. 116) and
on the alleged Maori 'Supreme Being', Io (n. 180).

Cp. the following statements:

(i) 'He (i.e. ruhanga) had neither temple nor priest. People did not call upon
him for assistance' (The Northern Bantu, p. 91).

(ii) 'There was but one god, Ruhanga, the creator and father of mankind. With
him were associated the names Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya . . . Ruhanga, or
more frequently Enkya, was called upon by the people in distress' (The
Bakitara, p. 21).

The evidence is not quoted which would justify this ejaculation being called
a 'god'. Moreover, if there was 'but one god', why are the nineteen bachwezi
called 'gods'? To call this ejaculation of ruhanga and/or enkya a 'monotheistic
belief, as Canon Roscoe does, and then to report the attention which was paid to
nineteen other alleged 'gods', is to make nonsense of English words. The lack of
exactitude, both in thought and in expression, which is apparent in these pages is
characteristic of most attempts to describe native beliefs apart from the rites, and
in any words but the native words.

In the following passages (The Bakitara, pp. 41, 44, 219) the word or words
translated 'spirit' are not quoted: 'Though there were certain spirits which were
feared, there was no knowledge of a spirit-world or of any spirits created apart
from this world. The people stood in constant awe only of disembodied spirits of

§123 NOTES AND REFERENCES 459

men, ghosts.' A hill is said to have been sacred 'because it was the home of a
special earth-spirit'. A 'hill-spirit' was propitiated by offerings before quarrying
operations were commenced.

Until the native words have been divulged, such reports are valueless. Cp. a
similar use of the word 'spirit' in the report on the Baganda (n. 133).

123. J. Roscoe, The Bakitara, pp. 22, 26-7.

The mandwa of Kagoro, a muchwezi who was connected with the lightning, is
said to have controlled a number of medicine-men. There is no information
concerning the extent of his jurisdiction or concerning the number of his followers.
The native word which is translated 'medicine-men' is not given. Was it bandwa}
Perhaps not, for only the pastoral clans consulted bandwa. The names of the inferior
practitioners who were consulted by the agricultural clans are not given.

The Kitara word for 'shrine' is also missing. Perhaps it was mayembe, for which
see n. 116.

When we are told that the priesthood, i.e. the office of mandwa, was hereditary
in the clan, we may understand (merely) that the clan appointed the successor.
For a comment on the untrustworthiness of the reports of heredity when the
classificatory system of relationship prevails, see n. 59.

124. Ibid., pp. 22-5.

125. Ibid., pp. 28-33. These men are alternately called 'rain-makers' and
'priests'. The native term is not given. Were they the bandwa of Munume?
Possibly they were connected with Munume; but Munume 's power cannot have
been great, or his representatives would not have been treated in this cavalier
manner.

126. Ibid., pp. 27 f., 38-41, 1 18-19, 285.

A cure might be effected also by drawing the sufferer through a hole made in an
ant-hill — a procedure (perhaps uncommon) which may be compared with the
Lango method of drawing a child under a granary (n. 358).

The native terms for wizard and witchcraft are not given.

The Mukama, 'King', was not allowed to live to a ripe old age. As soon as he
showed any sign of mental or physical deterioration, one of his wives prepared
poison for him. When the new king succeeded, a mock or substitute king was first
put upon the throne and afterwards was killed — in order to deceive death, we are
told. See J. Roscoe, The Northern Bantu, pp. 14, 27, 50 f.; idem, The Bakitara,
pp. 6-1 1, 89, 123, 129-30.

For a comment on the translation of the word mukama, see n. 117.

The native word which is translated 'queen' is not given. A comparison with
the Ankole terms suggests a compound of mukama. A half-sister of a recently
enthroned Mukama was chosen when he succeeded to power, and the ceremony
of her appointment was regarded also, we are told, as a form of marriage. The
Mukama often took her to his bed, but she was not allowed to bear a child. A union
with a full sister was incestuous. See J. Roscoe, The Bakitara, pp. 136, 140.

It is noteworthy that the sexual relations which existed between the Kitara
Mukama and his half-sister were not permitted between the Ankole Mukama
{Mugabe) and the Munyanya Mukama, for whom see n. 117.

127. J. Roscoe, The Bakitara, pp. 285-8.

128. Ibid., pp. 41-2, 296. 'People who had no property and no power in this
world were not generally feared and no steps were taken to keep their ghosts in
good temper'; but the ghost of any one who had been wrongfully accused, or who
had committed suicide, was dangerous. Even ghosts of women were feared under
those circumstances.

46o NOTES AND REFERENCES §129

129. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 273-4.

130. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 274-5.

When we study this monograph, Canon Roscoe's application of 'priest' to the
caretaker of the temple, and of 'medium' to the mandwa who uttered the god's
word, must be remembered. He translates mandwa as 'priest' in his other publica-
tions. In this monograph his use of 'priest' is not always clear. Moreover, he does
not quote the native word which he is translating. Cp. e.g. pp. 134 and 273 f.
In the latter passage the 'chief priest' (who does not seem to be mentioned else-
where) is kabona.

There was no priestly order. The so-called priest interpreted the utterance of
the mandwa and looked after the temple estates. Some temples had more than one
(so-called) priest, but no temple had more than one mandwa.

Many clans possessed their own special Inbare, 'god', and the care of the so-called
national gods was handed over to certain clans. According to Canon Roscoe's
use of the word 'priest', the heads of those clans were ex officio 'priests'. Thus the
qualification of 'priests' seems to have been social or political, not ecclesiastical or
magical.

The dual priesthood of the Baganda may be compared with the dual priesthood
of the Tongans, but in our reports on the latter society the taula-otua, who corre-
sponds to the mandwa, is called the 'priest', and the feao, who corresponds to the
Uganda 'priest', is referred to as 'friend of the god'. These various English
equivalents are at first extremely puzzling. They illustrate the vague manner in
which common English words have been used in anthropological literature.

For the Tongan priesthood, see n. 209. Cp. also the dual character of the staff
attached to an I la ghost-grove (n. 403).

For the Ankole and Kitara mandwa, see paras. 37-8, nn. 116, 1 19.

131. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 275-6, 283. The native term for temple is
not given.

The Baganda considered that the ghost of a dead man attached itself to his
jaw-bone, and a special building was erected to receive the jaw-bone of a dead king.
A temple of this kind was called malalo. It must be distinguished from the masiro,
mausoleum, where the royal corpses lay. But there were other temples, too, e.g.
that of Kaumpuli on the Kitara border, which were different from the malalo.
The native term for them is missing. Within the malalo enclosure some of the dead
king's widows (those who had not been slaughtered at his funeral) lived, together
with his mandwa. A visit by a ruling king to the malalo of his predecessor was a
very great occasion indeed.

The word which Canon Roscoe translates 'king' is kabaka. The title was held
also by the 'queen' and the 'queen-mother'. It seems a pity that a word of such
wide application should be limited in this manner by a rendering which is only
roughly accurate. The word which Canon Roscoe translates 'queen' is lubuga:
'Any man becoming heir to another', we are told, 'took to wife lubuga, a near
female relative of the deceased. This woman was treated by all the members of the
clan as the man's wife, though he was not allowed to have marital relations with
her, because she was his sister.' I am not clear whether we are to understand
'sister' as own or as classifkatory. If the lubuga was own sister of the heir, she would
be the daughter of the deceased, for usually a man's heir was his son, but 'near
female relative' is a queer manner of referring to a daughter. If, on the other hand,
the classificatory sister is meant, why refer to a classificatory sister as 'sister' and
a classificatory daughter as 'near female relative' ? The lubuga was just as much
a 'near female relative' to the heir as to the deceased. The sense of most of the
passages seems to demand the former interpretation; e.g. if a man had no sister,

§J32 NOTES AND REFERENCES 46i

a daughter of the deceased's brother was appointed. The evidence, however is
not conclusive.

On the death of a kabaka, a lubuga was chosen for his heir, and she remained
with the heir during the period in which he mourned the dead man When he
went to live in his new palace, she lived near him, but her court was separated from
his court by a stream of running water. She was the half-sister of the new kabaka
and his 'queen', but she was neither his wife nor his sexual partner. She had
officials in her court who bore the same titles as the great chiefs of the realm and
enjoyed absolute power over her subjects and her estates. She was forbidden
however, to bear children.

See J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 83 f., 122, 125, 191, 236.

I should conjecture that the practice of lubuga among the commoners was an
imitation of the institution which the immigrant Bahima brought with them into
the country. For the two elements in Baganda society, see n. no.

The Uganda kabaka corresponds to the mukama of Kitara and the mukama
(mugabe) of Ankole, for whom see nn. 117, 126.

132. J. Roscoe, 'Immigrants and their Influence in the Lake Region of Central
Africa', Frazer Lecture (1923), p. 25 ; idem, The Baganda, p. 271. The former of
these passages represents Canon Roscoe's more mature opinion. The importance
of these four balubare was not emphasized so greatly in the latter, and earlier, book.

133. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 273, 281.

Usually when an observer reports a 'belief in' ghosts, he does not mean 'confi-
dence in the existence of but 'confidence in the power of ghosts.

Canon Roscoe says that large trees and rivers were thought to be the abode of
'spirits'. He does not give the native term for 'spirits'. My suspicion of this
animistic belief is increased when I read that some hills were sacred as the residence
of animal ghosts (op. cit., pp. 317-19). Cp. the report of some alleged 'spirit'
beliefs among the Bakitara (n. 122).

134. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 214 ft., 252, 283-8, 290 ff.
'The temple of every king from Kintu to Mutesa (i.e. thirty) is known.'
We are told that a mayembe, 'fetish', was an 'object of veneration'; but the phrase

is not helpful.

Fetishes, we read, were 'varied and numberless'. Some of them had temples
and priests. I do not know what native terms are translated as 'temple' and 'priest'
The word for temple cannot be malalo, for which see n. 131. The priest cannot
well have been the mandwa or the kabona, for which see n. 131. The problem
therefore, cannot be solved.

This consistent absence of native terms is distressing. Sometimes the same
English word is employed as the equivalent of several native words; sometimes
a native word is translated by different English words; sometimes the native
words are not quoted at all. We cannot understand native conceptions under such
1 conditions. See further para. 148.

Only the most powerful medicine-men (basazvo, n. 135) could manufacture
a mayembe, which seems to have consisted of a buffalo horn, stuffed with powerful
, herbs ; but there were many varieties of bayembe. For the mayembe of the Bakitara
1 and Banyankole, see nn. 116, 119, 123.

135. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 229, 277-8.

C. T. Wilson and R. W. Felkin, Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan, i. 198, describe
Mutesa as taking 'an intelligent interest in a wide range of subjects', and state that
he would 'discuss for hours abstruse points in theology, political economy, and
philosophy'. It is not uncommon for leading citizens in a deistic society to be
sceptical about the gods of their country. See para. 70.

462 NOTES AND REFERENCES §136

It seems possible, however, that Mutesa delivered his subjects from the clutches
of a hierarchy and then saw them fall into the embraces of the more direct magicians,
for, when Canon Roscoe was in the country, 'The priests and the mediums had
little power in comparison with the medicine-men' (The Baganda, p. 277). Yet
apparently customs were diverse. Cp. the following statements: 'It was to those
men (basawo) that the nation turned in time of trouble' (The Baganda, p. 338);
'Especially in cases of sickness did the mandwa, medium, give advice' (Frazer

Lecture (1923), P- 25).

Cp. the comparative impotence of the priests among the deistic Fijians (n. 99).
For a discussion of its significance, see para. 166.

A special clan, or society, of basawo, bakuba engato, 'leather-throwers', used
pieces of leather like dice in their divinations. They are said to have 'belonged to
the god Mwanga', who is to be identified, I presume, with the lubare Wanga, the
reputed grandfather of Mukasa. See The Baganda, pp. 3 3 8-9 •

A medicine-man could transfer sickness to an animal, which then was driven
out to some waste land and killed. If a patient could not afford an animal, the
practitioner took a bunch of grass, passed it over the sufferer and threw it away;
the sickness went with it. Occasionally a sickness could be transferred to another
human being; a moulded figure of the sick man was placed in the path and the
individual who was unfortunate enough to step over it took the illness away with
him. See The Baganda, pp. 343-4.

I should prefer to have the native terms for these processes. It seems that it
would be easy to confuse the transference of a sickness with the transference of
a ghost, and vice versa, for we often find that the natives applied the same word to
both a sickness and a ghost. It is only by noting and emphasizing the native
terminology that we can be sure of avoiding errors.

We are told that when the gods announced that the Bakitara were working magic
in order to inflict disease upon the Baganda, a man and a boy were placed on the
border, with broken limbs, and left there. The idea seems to have been that the
affliction would be passed to them. See The Baganda, p. 342. I do not know
whether this course of action was adopted on every occasion, or whether an odd
custom has been reported owing to its anthropological interest. It is, at any rate,
a noteworthy fact that Kaumpuli, god of plague, had a temple on the Kitara border.
See The Baganda, p. 309 ; Frazer Lecture (1923), p. 25.

Kaumpuli is said to have resided in a deep hole inside the temple ; the hole was
kept securely covered lest the god should escape. This is an interesting example of
magical control of a recognized deity. We must rid ourselves of any ideas of quiet
respect in regard to these deities. For instance, although a Kabaka consulted
the representatives of the gods, propitiated them with presents, and followed their
instructions, 'he would,' we are told (The Baganda, p. 273), 'if one of them annoyed
him, send and loot his temple and estate'.

136. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 98, 299; idem, 'Immigrants and their Influ-
ence in the Lake Region of Central Africa', Frazer Lecture (1923), p. 25.

137. J. Roscoe, 'Immigrants and their Influence in the Lake Region of Central
Africa', Frazer Lecture (1923), p. 25 (for Musoke); idem, The Baganda, pp. 300,
315, 3J7> 432 (for Mukasa, Musoke, Gulu, and other reports concerning rain).

In the latter and earlier work Canon Roscoe does not mention a specific rain-
god. Perhaps he was looking for a rain-making ceremony such as was regarded at
one time as a typical item of 'primitive' culture. He submits a short description of
'ceremonies to stop rain', which are reported to have been connected with the god
Kiwanuka (whom I do not find mentioned elsewhere), but these ceremonies seem
to have been impulsive actions which have been noted as the result of a diligent
search.

§138 NOTES AND REFERENCES 463

Rain-making seems to have been a recognised female occupation. A deceased
female mandwa, medium, of Musoke became the goddess Nagawonyi. Women
were specifically connected with rain-making. When there was a long period of
drought, female messengers were sent to the temple of Nagawonyi in order to
persuade her to use her influence with Musoke on their behalf. Thus Nagawonyi
appears to have occupied a celestial position analogous to that of a Christian saint.

With Nagawonyi, cp. the Lango Atida (n. 359).

138. J. Roscoe, 'Immigrants and their Influence in the Lake Region of Central
Africa', Frazer Lecture (1923), p. 25.

139. A. K. Ajisafe, The Laws and Customs of the Yoruba People, p. 57; A. B.
Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa, pp. 154,
183-4; S. and O. Johnson, The History of the Yorubas, pp. 1 14-15; P. A. Talbotj
The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, iii. 432.

Sir A. B. Ellis also remarks : 'Unbetrothed girls are allowed considerable freedom,
and virginity is hardly expected of them'; but, according to Mr. Ajisafe, a man
'who has carnal knowledge of an unbetrothed girl must pay for her and take her
to wife'. I do not know whether this apparently definite statement from a Christian
Yoruba can be accepted without question. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Talbot seem to
think that betrothals were usual in all sections of the people.

Sir A. B. Ellis says that extreme steps were not always taken in the case of an
unmarried girl who was not a virgin: 'Usually some compromise is reached.'
I do not know how far this remark would apply to conditions which prevailed
before the arrival of the white man. 'It would appear', Mr. Talbot remarks (op. cit.
iii. 430), 'that the standard of morality has been lowered since the arrival of
Europeans.' I presume that by 'standard of morality' we are to understand sexual
conduct, and, although the observation seems to apply more to post-nuptial than
to pre-nuptial conduct, I am inclined to think that the alien influence would have
been responsible for a 'compromise' in the matter of virginity which would not
have been acceptable before the advent of the white man. If they had been always
ready to compromise, the Yoruba scarcely would have continued to demand the
tokens. They are more likely to have indulged in the same kind of deception as
that practised by the Tongans (para. 47).

The exclusive sexual rights of a husband were secured to him as soon as he paid
the ijohun, 'consent-fee'. See A. K. Ajisafe, op. cit., p. 55.

Unlike other Nigerian people, the Yoruba did not place their young girls in
a fatting-house before marriage (P. A. Talbot, op. cit. ii. 394, 398).

140. P. A. Talbot, Life in Southern Nigeria, pp. 203-4, 217; idem, Peoples of
Southern Nigeria, ii. 408-9 ; P. A. Talbot, Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People,
pp. 76, 82, 86. The last two references apply only to the 'fatting-house' custom.

The first, and apparently the third also, of these publications refers exclusively
to the Eket (Ekkett) district, which was inhabited by less than one-sixth of the
people. In the second-named book Mr. Talbot deals with all the nine sub-tribes,
but he handles his subject in a very general manner, and in his description of
Ibibio 'beliefs' he makes constant reference to and comparison with Babylonian,
Egyptian, and Greek culture. The comparisons which he makes may have increased
the significance of some native customs, which thus may have received a greater
emphasis than their cultural importance warranted. Cp. para. 61.

! 141. P. A. Talbot, Life in Southern Nigeria, pp. 60-1, 127, 129.

I 142 - p- A- Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 324. Is this the abia

idiong ?

464 NOTES AND REFERENCES §143

143. P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, iii. 974- But see below
n. 150.

144. P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, iii. 718, 790; idem, Life in
Southern Nigeria, pp. 21, 60, 63, 129, 139, 177-

In the fourth of these passages Mr. Talbot reports that a ghost might haunt
a place and kill people as they passed. In that case a noted witch-doctor would
entice the ghost into a pot which he afterwards buried. Mr. Talbot does not give
the native word which he translates 'wicked ghost or devil'.

It is said that the diviners used to have a secret society of their own. Latterly
membership did not confer the power to divine; that was the result of special
training ; we are not told what the training was. In later days any one was admitted
as a member, whether he was a diviner or not.

145. See A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West
Africa, p. 35 ; S. and O. Johnson, The History of the Yorubas, p. 26 ; P. A.« Talbot,
The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 29.

Sir A. B. Ellis equates the Yoruba orisha with the Tshi bohsum (para. 100), Ga
wong, Ewe vodu (para. 99), and derives it from on, 'summit', and sha, 'select',
'choose'. Mr. Talbot suggests ri, 'see', instead of ori. For Sir J. G. Frazer's
opinion of these derivations, see para. 99.

Orisha was applied also to white men, and to any sacred object. It was used also
as an adjective, 'sacred', 'holy'.

R. E. Dennett, Nigerian Studies, p. 12, n. 1, translates orisha deified departed

one'.

146. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,
pp. 98-9; P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 34.

147. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,
PP- 35, 42, 45, 66.

148. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,
PP- 95-7, 292; P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 33 f-

A priest was olorisha, 'owner of orisha' ; a priest of Shango was onishango, 'owner
of shango'; and the man who practised medicine was olosanyin, 'owner of sanyin'.
May not ologun, then, have been 'owner of ogun, god of iron and war'? In the
reports ologun is described as an 'owner of medicine'.

For a comment on the alleged hereditary nature of a profession when a classi-
ficatory system of relationship prevails, see n. 59.

149. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,
pp. 95-6, 152-3, 155-

150. Some general remarks concerning the Southern Nigerian societies in
general, but no individual society in particular, have been passed by P. A. Talbot,
The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, iii. 949 954- Mr. Talbot says that 'many
doctors and priests are credited with the power to send rain 'or to stop it'. The
Yoruba method is not described. Mr. Talbot purports to describe the beliefs of
the Yoruba about rain and pays no attention to the method by which they tried to
secure it. Unfortunately, therefore, his Table No. 30 is useless from the anthro-
pological point of view : it raises many questions and answers few.

151. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,

pp. 79, 295. • t j ,

Sanyin has been compared to Asclepius, but these comparisons with the gods
of other societies are inadmissible unless the method of maintaining a right relation

§152 NOTES AND REFERENCES 465

with those gods was identical. Cp. my comments on the Aztec god of healing,
para. 43.

Aroni is reported to have been a 'god' or 'spirit' who lived in a forest and revealed
medical secrets to those who displayed no fear of him.

152. P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 154 f.

All the remarks in this volume are vague, such words as 'doctor', 'juju', 'medi-
cine', &c, being used freely but in no exact sense. Pp. 153-62 seem to apply to
no society in particular ; pp. 179-84 may or may not apply to the Yoruba ; apparently
not. Mr. Talbot's inexact phrases afford yet another example of the perplexities
which result when 'beliefs' are separated from the rites and described in any terms
but the native terms.

153. P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 306; A. B. Ellis, The
Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa, p. 292.

We are not told what worship was paid nor to whom it was paid.

Mr. Talbot's remarks are very general, e.g. op. cit. ii. 307 : 'The Yoruba generally
made sacrifices once a year of a he-goat, or of a cock at any time, when the help
of the ancestors was needed.' Sir A. B. Ellis (op. cit., p. 137) is a little more
explicit: 'It is usual for offerings and prayers to be made to the dead from time to
time, and sometimes the skull of the deceased is exhumed and placed in a small
temple where offerings are made to it.' Sir Arthur does not say on what principle
they decided whether the skull should be exhumed or not. 'Before taking the field
for war, offerings are made at the graves of warriors of renown and their assistance
supplicated.' Is this ancestor-cult? The information is extremely scanty. Cp. the
attention which the Dahomans paid to noli (para. 99).

154. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,
PP- 32-3.

In the eighteenth century Yoruba was a powerful kingdom, and received tribute
from Dahomey until 181 8 (R. E. Dennett, Nigerian Studies, p. 6; A. B. Ellis,
op. cit., p. 7). Thus at one time they may have displayed expansive energy.

155. H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America,
11. 242 f., 245 ; F. S. Clavigero, The History of Mexico, trans. C. Cullen, i. 329, 336 f.

It seems that boys fed with their parents but slept in the seminary (Bancroft,
I.e.), and that girls slept in large halls under the supervision of matrons (Clavigero^
I.e.). Clavigero lays great emphasis upon the rigidity of the regulations which kept
I the sexes apart, and Bancroft often mentions the extensive character of parental
power and surveillance ; but I doubt if in these matters the habits of all classes of
people were the same.

Joseph de Acosta, The Natural and Moral History of the Indies, trans. E. Grim-
ston, ed. C. R. Markham, ii. 370, makes several observations in regard to the sexual
flife of the Aztecs, but he discusses sexual behaviour rather than sexual regulations.
He seems to mean that a husband liked his bride to be a virgin, and that, if she
was not, her family was shamed, 'for that they had not kept good guard over
[her'. I do not cite him with confidence. His phrases are often so circumlocutory
as to be almost meaningless.

The passage (H. H. Bancroft, op. cit. i. 514) which R. Briffault, The Mothers,
ii. 4 n., cites, and which is included in his index under the heading 'Mexico, pre-
nuptial licence', refers exclusively to New Mexican Indians, i.e. Navaho, Comanches,
Yuman, and Apaches. It is a pity to make such a misleading entry in an index to
a collection of data the value of which depends upon the accuracy of its information.

For further comments on Mr. Briffault's methods, see nn. 112, 163, 172, 382
pi, 470.

Hh

466 NOTES AND REFERENCES §156

156. H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America,
ii. 260 f.

Concerning the Mayan natives Bancroft remarks (op. cit. ii. 661-2, 666, 673,
675) that they entrusted the more advanced education to the priests, but they were
not so strict with their children as the Nahuans. They are said to have dealt more
leniently with adulteresses, but death seems to have been the fate of a seducer.
Both sexes submitted to their parents in the choice of a spouse.

It is impossible, of course, to accept as definite evidence any statement about
'lenience' unless the sexual regulations, both post-nuptial and pre-nuptial, are
described. Otherwise the word merely denotes an opinion on the part of the writer.
Moreover, we require to be assured that (i) the judgement is made after the general
conduct of the whole society has been reviewed, (ii) the lenience was definitely the
result of unaffected native habits and not due to extenuating circumstances.

In a complicated society like the Mayan we must be especially careful that the
first requirement is satisfied. For instance, a superficial observer might be content
to state that the Romans treated an adulteress more leniently than the Teutons;
but, in the first place, the remark would lack any scientific value unless it applied
to each of the social strata into which the Romans and Teutons were organized ;
secondly, it would be misleading, for the Romans treated their adulteresses in
a different manner at different periods of their history.

We know very little of Mayan social customs. A further passage of H. H.
Bancroft (op. cit. ii. 670), however, is worth quoting: 'Among the civilized nations
of Nicaragua, the father, mother, or whoever gave away the bride, was asked in
presence of the assembled guests whether or not she came as a virgin. If the
answer was in the affirmative and the husband afterwards found that she had been
already seduced, he had the right to return her to her parents, and she was looked
upon as a bad woman; but if the parents answered that she was not a virgin, and
the man agreed to take her, the marriage was valid.' It might be possible to infer
from this passage that at one time virginity was required of a bride, and that in
later days society relaxed its demands.

Cp. the Tongans (para. 47).

157. L. Spence, The Gods of Mexico, pp. 136-7- Quetzalcoatl was also an
honorary title of the high priest of Uitzilopochtli (op. cit., p. 81). It seems possible
that he was once a mortal man. See the passage cited in n. 159.

158. Ibid., p. 34. In the conquest period Mexican religion was, Mr. Spence
considers, 'a vastly elaborated rain-cult, similar in its tendency to that still prevalent
among the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, yet broader in outlook, of
a higher complexity, and productive of a theology and an ethical system of greater
sophistication and scope' (op. cit., p. 1 1). Again, 'The rain-cult of Tlaloc resembled
perhaps that of Pueblo at the present time' (op. cit., p. 23). The comparison with
the Pueblo ceremonies is easily made, but the resemblances must not be allowed
to hide the very great differences. The Aztec gods were approached in temples
through the agency of priests; the Pueblo rites were carried out in a different
manner. The two cults may have had a common origin, but at the time when we
knew them they were of a totally different nature. For a comment on and summary
of Pueblo culture, see paras. 122-5.

When Mr. Spence remarks (op. cit., p. 20), 'All later additions of theology and
priestly invention can be viewed as mere excrescences and ornaments upon the
simple architecture of the temple of the rain-cult', he seems to suggest that a later
belief coalesced with an alleged primary rite. It is more likely, I think, that when
a temple was erected to one power or god, then similar buildings were put up in
honour of the other gods. The 'additions of theology and priestly invention' would

§159 NOTES AND REFERENCES 467

appear to be later and more considered opinions concerning the nature and character
of the powers with which a right relation was maintained in those temples.

Mr. Spence also says (op. cit., p. 9): 'At the time of the Conquest we observe
Mexican religion as a highly complex faith, with a ceremonial of a most elaborate
nature, a priesthood with nicely defined gradations in office, and a pantheon which
had obviously been formed by the collocation of the deities of provincial and
dependent tribes and peoples around a nucleus composed of the national and
departmental gods of the Aztecs.' Mr. Spence does not quote the evidence which
would justify the use of the word 'obviously'. I doubt if 'beliefs' have ever been
formed by a process of 'collocation'.

159. L. Spence, The Gods of Mexico, pp. 233, 254.

Tlaloc is mentioned also as 'the Mexican rain and water-god' by H. H. Bancroft,
The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America, ii. 305; iii. 120, 134, &c.
Bancroft describes the ritual in op. cit. iii. 324-48.

Apparently it is uncertain whether Tlaloc was one god or many. Bancroft
speaks of 'Tlalocs, gods of rains and waters' (op. cit. ii. 305), but 'they drowned
children in honour of Tlaloc' (op. cit. ii. 308). He uses the plural in op. cit. ii.
334> 337, and the singular in op. cit. ii. 584. In op. cit. iii. 118, we read of 'the
Mexican god Tlaloc' while in op. cit. iii. 343, 345, Bancroft speaks of Tlaloc as 'they'.

For a report concerning rain-makers, see n. 160.

160. H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America,
ii. 597. The references to the treatment of sickness are scanty.

Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, 'Sorcery, Medicine and Surgery in Ancient Mexico', The
Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, xiii, no. 133 (April 1902) (separate reprint),
mentions certain healers 'who sucked out illness' and certain sorcerers whose
office she compares to that of the 'rain-maker' of the Pueblo tribes. I should follow
her exposition with a greater ease if I were confident that she were not selecting
those aspects of Aztec life which could be paralleled by Pueblo data, and disre-
garding the practices which differed from Pueblo customs. Just as rationalistic
society consists of a number of social strata each occupying a different position in
the cultural scale, so in a deistic society all the people do not rely on the same
medium. The neighbour of a god-worshipper is often a wizard. But Mrs. Nuttall
mentions a 'priest who lived in strict seclusion in the temple, and fasted' ; and states
that he alone could protect the people 'from the evil sorcerers who could bewitch
a man'. The emphasis which she has placed upon the existence of Aztec sorcerers,
[ therefore, has not blinded her to the fact that there were also Aztec priests and
j temples. Yet the fact of their existence vitiates her comparison between the Aztec
and the Pueblo magicians, for after reading her paper it might be assumed that the
Aztecs relied exclusively on 'rain-makers' when they needed rain. The assumption
would be false.

161. W. Brown, New Zealand and its Aborigines, p. 35; G. F. Angas, Savage
i iLife and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, ii. 314; J. S. Polack, Manners and
i iCustoms of the New Zealanders, i. 137, 138, 145; E. Shortland, Traditions and

1 j Superstitions of the New Zealanders, i. 142; R. Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, p. 167;
: (E. Best, 'Maori Marriage Customs', T.N. Z.I. xxxvi (1903), pp. 32, 33, 35 (Tuhoe

tribe only); E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New Zealand', J.A.I, xix (1890), p. 101 ;
idem, The Maori Race, p. 284.

Taylor remarks that 'every woman was noa, or common' ; but the term noa seems

2 fto have been applied to all women who were outside the prohibited degrees. 'Not
forbidden' would be a more accurate rendering, if an attempt must be made to
translate a word which has no English equivalent.

'■ All the above passages refer explicitly to the sexual conduct of unmarried girls.

468 NOTES AND REFERENCES § 162

162. Taumou is translated as a noun, 'betrothal', by E. Best, 'Maori Marriage
Customs', T.N .Z.I. xxxvi (1903), p. 42 (who quotes the proverb on the following
page), and as a verb, 'betrothed, to be betrothed', by E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian
Comparative Dictionary, p. 490.

The restrictions which were placed on a betrothed girl are mentioned also by
W. Brown, New Zealand and its Aborigines, p. 34; G. F. Angas, Savage Life and
Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, ii. 314; E. Best, The Maori, i. 257 {Memoirs
of the Polynesian Society, vol. v). E. Tregear, The Maori, p. 285, states that 'even
when there was no betrothal the daughters of a great chief had to exhibit much
discretion'. This probably means that a man of influence and rank objected to
his daughter having relations with a man of a lower class.

According to E. Best, 'Maori Marriage Customs', T.N. Z.I. xxxvi (1903), p. 33 f.,
it was the custom among the Tuhoe tribe to make the eldest daughter of a chief
puhi. Her title as an eldest daughter was tapairu ; puhi was a social rank which was
specially conferred upon her. A puhi was not allowed to have sexual intercourse.
She was forbidden also to do certain work: 'The idea was to make her an important
person, to be treated with respect and looked up to.' We are not told whether this
was a regular or an occasional custom, nor have we any information in regard to
the girl's duties. A puhi who was detected in sexual activity was degraded and
released from the tapu. Nothing else seems to have happened and no one seems to
have taken a serious view of the matter. Apparently such falls from grace were
not uncommon.

The puhi is not mentioned by any authority except Best, who repeats his evidence
at greater length in The Maori, i. 450-1 . Both H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the
Maori Language, s.v., and E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary,
s.v., translate puhi 'betrothed woman', or 'a much-courted, unbetrothed young
woman'. These renderings contradict one another. According to E. S. Shortland,
Maori Religion and Mythology , p. 107, the puhi was a betrothed female, or a female
of rank restricted from marriage. It is unlikely, however, that the word can have
possessed such contrary meanings, and it is clear that every betrothed female was
not a puhi.

I am inclined to think that the custom which Best reports as prevailing among the
Tuhoe tribe prevailed also in other districts, and that neither Williams nor Tregear
was introduced to those details which reveal its true character. Perhaps the institu-
tion was already in desuetude. Shortland seems to refer to the same custom as
Best when he mentions 'a female of rank restricted from marriage'. His statement
that the word was applied to a 'betrothed female' may be an inference he had
drawn and not a fact he had observed. At the same time, it is remarkable that the
dictionaries make no reference to the restrictions which were placed on the girl's
sexual activities, for therein seems to have lain the difference between taumou and puhi.

The institution of the puhi as described by Best is reminiscent of the Samoan
taupo(u), but the differences between the two institutions are as significant as their
similarities. Virginity was demanded of taupo(u); a public test was made of her
obedience to the ordinance; her frailty was punished. A puhi also was supposed
to refrain from sexual intercourse, but her continence was a fiction rather than a fact.
Moreover, she was not punished if she broke the tapu. The Maori institution
seems to represent the Samoan custom in a decadent form.

For the Samoan taupo{u), see n. 163.

163. The quotations are from W. T. Pritchard, 'Notes on certain matters con-
nected with the South Sea Islanders', Memoirs of the London Anthropological
Society, i (1863-4), pp. 324-5, who repeats the account in his Polynesian Reminis-
cences, pp. 138-9. In the latter volume, however, he omits the details of the
ceremony of which, he says, 'the amenities of decorum forbid the description'.

§ i63 NOTES AND REFERENCES 469

S. Ella, 'Samoa', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892), p. 626, states that at
the marriage of a chief's children there was 'a truly heathenish custom which will
not bear description'. J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 174, who is the only writer to
quote the native name for the rite, remarks that 'the degrading details are utterly
unfit for publication'. There can be no doubt, I think, that both these writers refer
to the virginity test ; thus they may be cited as authorities for the statement which
is made more explicitly by Pritchard.

H. S. Cooper, Coral Islands, p. 213, remarks that the leading feature of the
betrothal ceremony of a lady of rank was that 'the virtue of the bride-elect was
publicly placed beyond doubt'. G. Turner, Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago and
Long Before, pp. 94-5, mentions the applause which greeted the girl who passed the
test successfully. 'The obscenity to prove her virginity which preceded this burst
of feeling', he says, 'will not bear the light of description.' He adds that the punish-
ment was 'a severe beating' and that the 'fear of disgrace' was a powerful deterrent.

All the above authorities speak as if the public test of virginity was an integral
part of the ceremony whenever a chief's daughter was married. It is true that they
do not define the word 'chief, and we cannot tell whether an alii is meant, or a
tulafale, or a mated who was neither alii nor tulafale; but it is plain that Pritchard,
Ella, Stair, Turner, and Cooper thought that every chief's daughter was compelled
to undergo the ordeal. One authority, however, states that the girl who was exposed
to the public gaze was the taupou of the village, usually the daughter of the ruling
chief. See G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 119-22. Dr. Brown's
testimony has been interpreted by R. Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 57, to mean that
there was only one virgin per village, 'that village virgin being specially chosen and
guarded for the purpose of a ceremonial marriage with a chief.

It is difficult to understand how Dr. Brown's statements can be thus understood.
He says that there were two kinds of marriages, 'those in which the whole village is
concerned, and those in which the matter is only one between the parties themselves
and their respective families'. He describes in full detail the first kind of marriage,
and then adds a few lines about elopements, which afterwards had to be regularized.
He omits to refer again to the unions which were conducted privately. He certainly
seems to think that the taupou was required to be a virgin, but I do not understand
him to mean that every girl who was required to be a virgin was a taupou. Even
if he had made this explicit statement, I should hesitate to allow his testimony to
outweigh that of the other authorities whose reports are quoted above.

I have already mentioned the inexactitude of Dr. Brown's writings on the in-
habitants of New Britain (para. 32, nn. 52-5), and I think that Mr. Briffault has
stretched the evidence unjustifiably in order to make his point.

The taupou (taupo) was a daughter of a chief who was appointed to an office of
social and diplomatic importance. She was a kind of village hostess and spokes-
woman. Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa, p. 98, states that even in modern
times the taupo is compelled to undergo the virginity test, with the same results
as in former days. She adds, 'Although this virginity- testing ceremony was
theoretically observed at weddings of people of all ranks, it was simply ignored
if the boy knew that it was an idle form.' I do not know the source of Miss Mead's
information on this important point, but I should hesitate to believe that in the
old days the boy's opinion mattered one way or the other. The ceremony was
carried out by the elders before the assembled people ; probably what the groom
said or felt was of little importance.

Christianity has put an end to the test, and instead of preventing pre-nuptial
indulgence is content to forbid it, with the inevitable result that in Samoa, as in
Fiji and elsewhere, the sexual conduct of the natives has become much more loose.
I do not think that the reports which reach us now from living Samoans concerning
the pagan customs of their forefathers have any anthropological value.

47o NOTES AND REFERENCES §163

It is noteworthy, however, that Miss Mead regards the virginity tests as having
been at one time regular and universal.

Our information concerning the taupou is not very satisfactory. According to
E. Schultz, 'The most important principles of Samoan Family Law', J.P.S. xx
(191 1 ), p. 48, only some chiefs could appoint them. I do not know if we must
conclude that every village did not possess a taupou. The use of the word 'chief
is too vague to warrant a definite opinion. A great deal of uncertainty would have
been avoided if our authorities had employed, or even mentioned, the native title,
or titles, of the man whom they describe as a 'chief.

R. BrifTault, The Mothers, ii. 11 n., 57 f., cites, inter alios, G. Turner, op. cit.,
p. 95, G. Brown, op. cit., p. 285, and S. Ella, op. cit., p. 626, in support of a claim
that pre-nuptial sexual intercourse was the rule among the Samoans. The only
passage in Turner's book which possibly could be interpreted as referring to pre-
nuptial sexual conduct is quoted in the text. BrifTault omits to mention the
virginity tests which Turner described on a preceding page, though he makes an
effort to belittle them in the second of the above-cited passages. I can find no
sentence in Ella's essay or in Brown's book which could bear the meaning which
BrifTault places on it. On the pages to which we are referred Brown describes part
of the Samoan system of government and Ella mentions the temporary unions of
certain well-born handsome youths, or beaux, manaia, who contracted alliances
with young women for the sake of the property which was always exchanged on the
occasion of a marriage ; but the manaia was no more representative of Samoan
society than the so-called 'lounge lizard' typifies modern society.

BrifTault also refers us to F. Walpole, Four Years in the Pacific, ii. 353. I hesitate
to recognize a naval officer as an anthropological authority unless he has resided
for an extended period among the people of whom he writes. His evidence in regard
to the sexual conduct of native women is, I think, particularly suspect. However,
I have checked this reference. Walpole states that when a marriage was arranged
the contracting parties were not consulted. He adds that the young men 'sowed
their wild oats' before marriage. I have read the passage carefully and am unable
to find a single word which even implies that pre-nuptial sexual freedom was

generally permitted. .

Another passage to which BrifTault refers is J. L. Brenchley, Jottings during the
Cruise of HM.S. Curacoa, p. 58. Brenchley says: 'Sexual intercourse between
the unmarried and adultery are common, if the white residents are to be believed.'
The 'white residents', I presume, were the missionaries, whose testimony I have
already recounted. Their written statements seem to contradict these alleged
verbal declarations. Moreover, Brenchley states that he does not believe what he
was told. The 'state of marital vigilance' which existed, he says, makes it difficult
to understand how adultery could be so common a practice as the 'white residents'
maintained. As for pre-nuptial conduct: 'Marriage according to tribal custom is
distinguished by a singular and, as measured by our ideas, grossly indelicate
ceremony which requires a woman to establish the fact of her virginity in public;
when the proof is not satisfactory they are brutal enough to kill the woman.'

Thus Briffault's statement that the Samoans allowed pre-nuptial sexual freedom
is made on the strength of a passage which categorically states that brides were
killed if they were not virgins. ...

BrifTault (op. cit. ii. 31) indulges in a long and possibly justifiable criticism ot
Professor Westermarck, and remarks: 'In the majority of those passages', i.e. to
which the Professor had referred, 'we read nothing of the sort, and in some we
read the exact opposite.' This devastating comment seems to apply in at least an
equal measure to his own writings.

Briffault's last reference is to C. Phillips, Samoa, Past and Present, p. 20. inis
little book is not readily accessible, but I have been at some pains to consult it in

§i64 NOTES AND REFERENCES 471

order to become acquainted with the available literature and to test as far as
possible the merit of the anthropological method which submits an argument and
then illustrates it by examples culled from any book which has been written about
any people. The volume contains ninety-six small pages, twenty of which are
devoted to a description of 'The Islands and the People' and 'Heathen Life'. The
remaining seventy-six pages contain an account of 'The Dawn of Day' and of the
evangelizing enterprise. It does not seem possible that a sober investigator could
for a single moment regard such a publication as a reliable source of information.
A man who can describe in twenty small pages both the physical features of the
Samoan islands and the social life of the inhabitants cannot be allowed to rank as
an anthropological authority. Clearly the little volume was designed for popular
and provincial consumption at home; and its contents must be received with
diffidence, especially in regard to the sexual conduct of the natives. The only
passage which can possibly refer to pre-nuptial sexual freedom is: . . immorality
and vice of every description : an extremely loose relationship between the sexes :
the marriage tie formed and broken at convenience.' Possibly such a remark in
such a book might be understood as indicating that all Samoan marriages were not
lifelong unions, but it cannot be accepted as an authoritative declaration that the
Samoans permitted free pre-nuptial intercourse. I prefer to describe it as an
irresponsible statement on the part of a superficial observer who employed his
imperfect knowledge of native customs to impress upon his readers the heinous
character of Samoan sin.

It is difficult to understand what Briffault gains by thus misrepresenting the
facts. He seems anxious to point out that in 'primitive society' marriage is 'neither
the entrance into sexual life nor even the condition of access'. Thus it is necessary
that he should prove that 'primitive' societies permitted pre-nuptial freedom.
He disregards, as I have said (n. 112), many of those so-called 'primitive' societies
(e.g. Baganda) whose sexual regulations were extremely strict; and in reference to
other societies he finds it necessary to treat the available evidence as he has treated
the evidence concerning the Samoans.

'Primitive' societies occupy many different positions in the cultural scale and
any endeavour to 'prove' by the citation of illustrations that such-and-such a
phenomenon is typical of 'primitive' society is doomed to failure, because both
the idea and the method are unsound.

For further comments on the work of R. Briffault, see nn. 112, 155, 172, 382,
: 421, 470-

164. G. Turner, Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago and Long Before, p. 95.
Turner adds that 'there were many marriages without any such ceremonies

; at all', but in that passage he is clearly referring to elopements. An elopement was
contrary to established custom and had to be regularized. Cp. Dr. Brown's state-
ment which was quoted in n. 163. Turner does not mean, as R. Briffault, The

' Mothers, ii. 57 f., endeavours to persuade us, that the demand for the tokens was
relaxed at many regular marriages.

Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa, p. 98, seems to regard the virginity
tests as having been universal throughout society. The authorities to whom I
referred in n. 163 confine their definite remarks to the public ceremonies. Perhaps
none of them was fortunate enough to witness a privately conducted wedding.

165. G. Turner, Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago and Long Before, p. 91. This is
, evidently the passage which, according to R. Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 11 n.,
, proves that the Samoans permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom. See n. 163!

Turner was a missionary, and he lived in the early nineteenth century. His remark
I on Samoan sexual life must be understood in the light of these two facts; and
it is extremely likely that, as would be conjectured from the phraseology of his

472 NOTES AND REFERENCES § 166

statement, he judged the moral character of Samoans by the tone of their conversa-
tions. Such a report has only an autobiographical value. Another opinion which
can be placed in the same category is that of Erskine who remarks that in eighteen
days no example 'of an indelicate word or action' came under his notice. See
J. L. Blenchley, Jottings during the Cruise of H. M.S. Curacoa, p. 80.

Abortion was prevalent 'to a melancholy extent' (G. Turner, op. cit., p. 29).
I do not know if the statement applies to unmarried girls. Turner mentions 'shame,
fear of punishment, lazy unwillingness to nurse, and a dread of soon being old-
looking' as some of the reasons for the practice. The two latter clearly refer to
married women. If the former apply to unmarried girls (but I am not sure, for
'shame' is an ambiguous word, and 'fear of punishment' may refer to the discovery
of an adultery), the statement is still obscure, for we are still ignorant of the reason
for the condemnation. It may have been either the pregnancy or the sexual
intercourse. If the latter, then the remark may suggest that an erstwhile rigid social
regulation had fallen into desuetude.

According to S. Ella, 'Samoa', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892), p. 621,
the women who practised abortion were mostly unmarried. In recent times, if
we may follow Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa, pp. 88 ff., sexual experi-
ence depended on individual choice. Mead (op. cit., p. 260) worked in a locality
which was inhabited by only six hundred people, and her statements cannot be
accepted as applying to the whole group of islands ; but it is clear that in the small
area to which she refers the sexual conduct of the natives is now much more lax
than it was a hundred years ago. I doubt if Ella's statements (written in 1892)
are true of pagan Samoa.

The careful guarding of young women, especially of those of high rank, by atten-
dant females, is stated in so many words by W. T. Pritchard, 'Notes on certain
matters respecting the South Sea Islanders', Memoirs of the London Anthropological
Society i (1863-4), p. 324; idem, Polynesian Reminiscences, p. 138; J. B. Stair, Old
Samoa, p. 1 10. Great precautions were taken against pre-nuptial sexual intercourse,
not merely against pre-nuptial pregnancy.

166. M. Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa, p. 98.

167. The passages occur in the same chapter. Cp. E. Westermarck, History of
Human Marriage, i. 133 and 148. Professor Westermarck repeats the first state-
ment in his The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas, ii. 423. His authority is
Mariner, for whose remark see n. 172. The second statement is made on the strength
of Sir Basil Thomson's evidence, cited in n. 168.

168. B. Thomson, The Fijians, p. 203.

169. G. Vason, An Authentic Narrative of Four Years' Residence at Tongatabu,
pp. 142, 182-3. Vason was very intimate with Tongan customs, for he lived in
the Friendly Islands as a native, and married a Tongan lady.

The long uncut hair of the maidens is mentioned also by E. E. V. Collacott,
'Marriage in Tonga', J.P.S. xxxii (1923), P- 225, who says that 'the two long locks
at the back of the head' were cut off at marriage. Cp. the Fijian tombe, for which

see para. 29 and n. 44.

According to W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, vocab.,
tahine meant 'virgin; young girl; also a term of respect to female nobles, even if
they are old and have a family'. Was virginity, then, such a regular phenomenon
that the word became a synonym for a well-born female? Or was the word tahine
originally applied to a well-born female and then by implication to a virgin ? Was
a virgin of the lower classes called tahine ?

170. E. E. V. Collacott, 'Marriage in Tonga', J.P.S. xxxii (1923), P- 224.

§ 171 NOTES AND REFERENCES 473

171. Ibid., p. 224. According to William Wilson, A Missionary Voyage in the
Southern Pacific Ocean in the Years 1796-7-8 in the Ship 'Duff, p. 275 f., the
'lower orders' were not at all restrained in their conduct. It was a common practice,
he says, with the chiefs 'in our visits to them, to offer some of their females to sleep
with us : the practice of our abandoned countrymen making them believe that this
was a favour which we could not well do without'. I readily accept his opinion
concerning the conduct of the 'lower orders', but I do not place a high value on
Wilson's testimony. The behaviour of a native man or woman towards a white
man, especially when they meet for the first time, cannot be accepted as evidence
of the behaviour of that same man or woman towards one of his or her fellows.

The presence of an elderly relative at the consummation is mentioned also by
B. Thomson, The Fijians, p. 203.

The absence of infanticide (a reputed Polynesian trait) among the inhabitants
of the Friendly Islands is attested by S. Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands,
p. 142; T. West, Ten Years in South-central Polynesia, p. 270; G. Vason, An
Authentic Narrative of Four Years' Residence at Tongatabu, p. 132 ; and Wm. Wilson,
op. cit., p. 275.

172. Sexual conduct is discussed by W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of
the Tonga Islands, ii. 147-81, under the heading 'State of Morals'. Mariner does
not state the nature of the sexual regulations. His information was compiled and
arranged by John Martin, who evidently wrote the book from Mariner's notes or
while Mariner stood by. See, e.g., op. cit., Introd., p. viii.

I feel confident that John Martin decided to broach a difficult subject in the
general and gentlemanly manner which was in accordance with the accepted
conventions of his time and type ; but the phraseology of the appropriate pages is
rarely exact. The ceremony of the nuptial mat is not mentioned ; and the sexual
conduct of the Tongans is described in the terms of early nineteenth-century
middle-class Christian theory. And by 'chastity' Martin clearly means the post-
nuptial constancy of married women. It was, he says, 'universally considered a
positive duty in any married woman to remain true to her husband' (ii. 162). A
married woman is defined as 'one who cohabits with a man and lives under his roof
and protection, holding an establishment with him'. Tongan practice, however,
seems to have differed from Tongan theory, for divorce was, we are told, easy and
common. A divorced woman was free to marry again or to take a lover (ii. 173).

In support of his statement that wives were greatly attached to their husbands,
Mariner mentions (ii. 17 1-2) the conduct of some widows who refused to remarry
in spite of splendid opportunities. Martin then writes (ii. 174) : 'As to those women
who are not actually married, they may bestow their favours upon whomsoever
they please without any opprobrium. It must not be supposed, however, that these
women are easily won.'

This is the passage to which Professor Westermarck (see n. 167) refers when he
states that 'unmarried' women were sexually free. At first sight this does not seem
out of harmony with what Martin wrote, but, whereas we should conclude from
Westermarck's citation that young girls who had not yet been married were sexually
free, it is clear from the context that Martin was thinking of widows and divorcees
who were no longer living with any man under one roof, that is, were not 'actually
married' in the sense in which Mariner uses the term. By changing the words 'not
actually married' into 'unmarried' Westermarck has introduced a meaning into
the passage which the original words and context cannot bear.

A specific and definite statement in regard to pre-nuptial conduct is not to be
found in Mariner's account as John Martin has written it. In a long note (ii. 177-8)
he mentions the 'becoming modesty' of the young girls and the athletic occupations
of the young men.

474 NOTES AND REFERENCES § 173

W. Waldegrave, 'Extracts from a Private Journal kept on board H.M.S. Seringa-
patam in the Pacific, 1830', jf.R. G. S. iii (1833), p. 194, states that 'single women
and sometimes the married women sleep in parties, in a large hut. At night the
young men visit them.' This seems to be a definite statement, and pre-nuptial
sexual freedom might be implied ; but it is curious that none of our other authorities
mentions this female dormitory. If the custom had been universal, I should have
expected both Vason and Mariner to have mentioned it, but their descriptions of
Tongan life seem to indicate that all the girls slept at home. I do not place a high
value on Waldegrave 's testimony. He does not say how long he stayed in the
Friendly Islands, nor from what area his facts were drawn. He says that no
Tongan woman would have anything to do with a white man unless she received
permission from the chief, but he does not disclose the sources of his information
in regard to the native habits.

James Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean in the Years ijj6-ij8o, i. 401,
remarks that he was compelled to revise his first impression concerning the conduct
of the Tongan women. At first he had considered that 'chastity' was held in no
great estimation (Cook usually employs the word 'chastity' in reference to post-
nuptial conduct), and declares that 'unmarried girls of the better sort' were by no
means free with their favours. Perhaps Waldegrave also would have revised his
original opinion if he had paid another visit to the Friendly Islands.

R. Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 11 n., cites three authorities for stating that the
Tongans permitted pre-nuptial sexual freedom. He first refers to the passage in
W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 174, which I
have already appraised. Briffault has imitated Professor Westermarck in' mis-
reading the words 'not actually married'. He then cites T. West, Ten Years
in South-central Polynesia, p. 270. I have studied this volume with great care.
Neither on that nor on any other page have I found any passage which can be
interpreted as even implying that pre-nuptial sexual intercourse was permitted in
Tonga. In the passage to which Briffault seems to refer, West remarks: 'The
morals of the Tongans were never so thoroughly debased as those of the Sandwich
and Society Islanders, but there was enough to show how low humanity could fall
without the restraints and sanctions of a Divine faith. Polygamy was common.'

I can only repeat what I have said in reference to Briffault 's statement in regard
to the Samoans (n. 163). In an attempt to 'prove' that 'primitive' societies permit,
or 'primitive' man permitted, free pre-nuptial sexual intercourse, Briffault has been
guilty of great eclecticism in his choice of illustrations ; he has also misinterpreted
his authorities. We cannot accept the above-quoted passage as evidence of pre-
nuptial licence among the Tongans. If the whole of West's remarks are taken into
account it is clear that he agrees with Mariner and Vason in thinking that so far as
post-nuptial conduct was concerned Tongan theory differed from Tongan practice :
'Some sentiments', he says, 'relating to connubial fidelity prevailed which may be
said to have bordered on morality, for after the parties had lived together for a
while it was considered disgraceful to separate.' If, therefore, West is used as an
authority on the sexual conduct of the Tongans, his testimony must be accepted
as corroborating the other reports. He makes no direct reference to pre-nuptial
conduct.

Briffault also refers to the passage from Waldegrave 's paper which I have already
discussed.

For further comments on Briffault's methods, see nn. 112, 155, 163, 382, 421,
470.

173. D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, Journals of Voyages and Travels, i. 378-9,
442-3 ; W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, iv. 30, 137; J- J- Jarves, History of Hawaii,
pp. 192-8.

§J74 NOTES AND REFERENCES 475

The reports which we possess concerning Hawaiian religion either come from
travellers who visited the islands before 1820, or are based on information which
was gathered from those natives who held to some vestige of the old practices
after these had been abolished by the ruling classes. Their credibility is doubtful.

174 See especially E. Best, The Maori, i. 288: 'Let it be clearly understood
that the Maori never erected anything in the form of a temple'; idem 'Maori
Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 88 f.: 'No form of temple
or sacred edifice of any kind was erected by the Maori in connexion with their
gods. I do not think that the words 'never erected' are to be literally understood
We must interpret them merely as an emphatic negative, not as a denial that the
Maori erected temples in a previous epoch. There are some indications indeed
that at one time the people whom we call the Maori did erect temples The indica-
tions are slight, and we must be careful of our translations in considering them

There was at one time a very close connexion between the Maori and the
Tahitians, and it has often been suggested that the Maori migrated from Tahiti
According to E. Best, The Maori, i. 291, the Maori knew of the stone structures'
in the Society and Sandwich Islands, and realized that they were connected with
religion. If we accept the report that the Tahitians built 'temples', then it might
seem to follow that the ancestors of the people whom we call the Maori may have
done the same thing. The so-called 'temple', marae, of the Tahitians, however
was not a temple in the sense in which the word is used in this treatise (para 7/
that is, it was not a roofed building, other than a grave-house, in which the powers'
in the universe manifested themselves and which was specially erected and main-
lined in order that a right relation might be preserved with those powers The
Tahitian building to which some writers attach the word marae was a pyramidal
stone structure which contained the dry bones of a dead chief. See para. 133 In
the Maori language marae denoted the open space in a village or in front of a house
and Best considers that a mistake may have been made by the residents of Tahiti
when they thought that the natives applied the word to the stone structure He
suggests that the Tahitians meant to indicate not the pyramid but 'the place where
it was situated, or the open space in front of it'. See E. Best, 'Maori Religion and
Mythology , N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. i74; idem, The Maori, i. 291, 373.

In the latter passage we are told that by an extension of meaning the word from
denoting open space' or 'village square' came to mean 'generous', because visitors
were entertained there; thus, zvahine marae, 'generous woman'. See also H W
Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language, s.v. marae, and E. Tregear, Maori-
Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, s.v. marae.

For further notes on marae, see nn. 196 (Samoa), 205 (Tonga), and 582 (Tahiti)
We must beware, therefore, of suggesting that at one time the Maori may have
erected temples because their ancestors may have built some of the stone pyramids
in Tahiti. We must also take care not to translate such a word as whare-kura
temple as does R. Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, pp. 174 ff. In Hawaiki, the legendary*
home of the Maori, there was a building of this name. Taylor remarks in its
connexion that 'although the natives had no places particularly devoted to religious
purposes, there are still traditions of a temple having once existed among them'
1 he whare-kura, however, seems to have been no more than a council-house where
tribal leaders met together and in which the heroic deeds of their ancestors were
recounted.

For a slight, though apparently definite, indication that the early migrants
erected temples in the sense in which the word is used in this treatise, see E
r^gear' The Maori Ra™, P. '203 : 'A very sacred spot for centuries was the temple
and courtyard, marae, at Taporapora in the Kaipura harbour. The place on which
it stood has no residential existence now, for it became covered by the sea and

476 NOTES AND REFERENCES §175

appears as a sand bank, but it exists in Maori legend. The temple and all the
sacred property therein which had been brought to New Zealand by the immigrants
in the Mahuhu canoe were swallowed up beneath the waves.'

In this passage marae clearly refers not to the building but to the courtyard.
This is its usual meaning.

I have already had reason to suggest (n. 162) that at one time the Maori may have
demanded virginity of their brides ; thus the possible existence of temples at
a previous period in their history is interesting. For the apparently inevitable
association between the erection of temples and compulsory pre-nuptial continence,
see paras. 24, 58, 152, 158, 164, 175.

175. The quotation in reference to kehua is from E. Tregear, The Maori Race,
p. 426.

According to E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Report, Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc.
(1909), p. 459, 'ancestor-worship, or rather the deification of ancestors, is essentially
a Maori cult'. In a later publication, N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, pp. 132-5, Best
says that 'so-called' Maori ancestor-worship was 'a very inferior exhibition of the
religious sentiment', and that 'ancestor-worship as practised by the Maori did not
include what we call worship'. He does not define the word 'worship'; so the
statement is not helpful. In the former of the above-quoted passages Best says that
a man 'placated' 'the spirit of his father', but he does not describe the placatory
rites. Moreover, the Maori word which he translates 'spirits of the dead' is atua,
and atua was used in a variety of contexts (nn. 178-80), so we should require a full
description of the rites before we could be sure that our conclusions had not been
vitiated by a mistranslation. Such details are not available.

Various English equivalents have been employed in an attempt to translate the
untranslatable word atua. Much confusion has been caused thereby. Moreover,
in the course of his description of Maori beliefs and practices, Best indulges in
a long criticism of certain anthropological theories, and especially of the theories
formulated by Lord Avebury and Herbert Spencer. I have noticed (n. 180) the
influence which the theories of Andrew Lang appear to have exercised over
Best's presentation of the alleged 'Cult of Io', and I suspect that his parentheses in
reference to Lord Avebury and Herbert Spencer have affected his description of the
attitude of the Maori towards the dead. I have been unable to extract from his
reports any definite facts concerning the Maori ancestral rites. If he had quoted
the native word (or words) which he was representing by 'ghost', 'spirit', 'god', &C.i
his descriptions would have been more readily understood. Perhaps, too, his
theoretical discussion would have had less influence on the manner of his report.

E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New Zealand', J.A.I, xix (1890), p. 120 f., states
that Maori ancestor-worship was 'a sop to Cerberus'. He seems to have interpreted
the slight tendance which was conducted as a propitiation of the God of the
Underworld. The idea is proved false by the fact that the rites referred to were
post-funeral.

Kehua was not the only term which was used in reference to an actively male-
volent ghost. The words koromatua, kikokiko, and kahukahu also were used.
There is a lack of definite information concerning their meaning. According to
H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language , s.v., and E. Tregear, Maori-
Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, s.v., koromatua meant 'thumb or great toe of
a chief ; but is it not possible that it was derived from koro, 'person', matua, 'parent'
or 'adult'? May not the term have been used adjectivally? There has been so
much confusion between the substantival and adjectival use of atua (n. 180) that
we may have confused the possible meanings of koromatua also, that is, we may
have confused the meaning of the word with the phenomena to which it was applied
adjectivally.

§*76 NOTES AND REFERENCES 477

Apparently the words kikokiko and kahukahu were the same (For these see
also n. 187.) The wairua, soul of the living man, became, according to one account
kehua at death. If the funeral rites were not properly carried out, the kehua seems
to have become malevolent as kahukahu. See E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New
Zealand , J.A.I, xix (1890), p. 105. This opinion conflicts with the statement that
a ghost was atua and that a malevolent ghost was kehua. I incline to the opinion
that kehua, kahukahu, and kikokiko were used in similar contexts by different
groups of people, and that they were all applied to malevolent ghosts. I also
believe that the application of atua to 'the dead' puzzled our observers because
their pre-conceived ideas in regard to 'primitive' religion had suggested to them that
atua must mean spirit or 'god'. The statement which I have just quoted was
I think, an endeavour to rationalize Maori conceptions in such a manner as to
smooth away the difficulties which had been introduced by these translations
tor another translation (or interpretation) of kahukahu, see n. 187 (7)
According to R. Taylor Te Ika a Maui, p. 216 f., 'the customs relating to the
dead (but Taylor may refer only to burial practices) 'varied in almost every part
of the island, as did also the ideas entertained of their estate after death' Thus no
custom can be regarded as universal. But it would have been more helpful if we
had possessed a simple description of some of the rites, together with details of
the place in which and the occasion on which they were carried out. The available

T IT !! IT?' ^ th°U/h S°me °f °Ur authoritie* describe in vague phrases
the alleged beliefs m regard to the dead, they seldom describe the post-funeral
rites which were conducted in honour of the dead.

I have been unable to find a description of the rites which were conducted when
an affliction was thought to be due to 'the dead' (atua?). We are continually
informed that affliction was often so caused, but the available reports are of a poor
quality, and the absence of native terms is bewildering.

In order to send the ghost away, a tuku wairu, 'soul-dispatch', was sung over the
dead man. This, we are told, prevented the soul from remaining in this world
and from annoying the relatives. See E. Best, The Maori, i. 303. Cp. the 'Go go
to thy people which is mentioned by W. Colenso, 'On the Maori Races of New
Zealand , T.N. Z.I. 1 (1869), P- 44- The song was sung by a tohunga (nn. 188 io2)
m order to prevent the spirits from returning to afflict the people or crops' ' The
tohunga repeated these karakia, incantations, 'to render innocuous the evil designs
of the watrua, soul' (E. Best, 'Maori Eschatology', T.N. Z.I. xxxviii (1905) p 187)

Sometimes the spirits of the dead were thought to haunt their old homes
(E. Best Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 464) If thev
returned to this world, a butterfly is said to have been one of their favourite forms
of reincarnation. See W. H. Goldie, 'Maori Medical Lore', T.N. Z.I. xxvii (1904)

?mZ% U?]' <Sfir^fVCrCeptS. °f the M^ri\y.P.S. ix (1909), p. 181 ; idem;
Maori Eschatology', T.N. Z.I. xxxviii (1905), p. 225; idem, The Maori, i. 299 &c
Yet I am so sceptical about the translation of atua that I confess to some doubt
about the alleged reincarnation. Is it not possible that this statement is an inference ?
May not the Maori have applied the word atua to both a dead man and a butterfly?
Have our authorities concluded that a dead man and a butterfly were identical
simply and solely because the same word was applied to them ?
Cp. my comments in paras. 120, 148.

also?n' 174 Tr6gear' 'The Ma°ri °f New Zealand'> J -A J, xix (1890), p. 118. See

DefCr^™S °f th6Se images are given hy E- Best> 'Maori Religion and
Mythology N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 157; idem, The Maori, i. 281-3 ; and E
bnortland, Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders, p 83

The usual type was 'a wooden figure, carved in grotesque imitation of the human

478 NOTES AND REFERENCES § 17K

form in its upper part, with the lower ends brought to a point'. These were
used by a tohunga (nn. 188, 192), who carried them on warlike expeditions and on
visits to the sick. The tillers of the soil, however, seem to have employed a figure
of a different pattern. There were several names for these figures, and the fact
suggests that the Maori distinguished one type from another. Best says that they
were called tiki or tiki wananga, 'temporary shrines or abiding places of the gods'.
The word which he translates 'gods' is, of course, atua (n. 180). Shortland does
not give the native term. He says that some tribes preserved in their houses small
carved images of wood, each of which was dedicated to the 'spirit of the ancestor
of the family'. Here again the Maori word would be atua. 'These images', Short-
land adds, 'are not objects of worship, nor are they held sacred as possessing in
themselves any virtue, but merely because they have been in contact with an atua:
(The word 'an' in 'an atua" seems to be an inference. 'In contact with atua" would
possibly be more correct.)

According to H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language, s.v., and
E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, s.v., tiki denoted a cenotaph,
and though Best says that the figures in the house or on a canoe were tekoteko, both
Williams and Tregear state that the word tiki also was applied to them.

In the Hawaiian language, wananga meant 'prophecy', and in Maori also,
according to Williams; but Tregear translates it as 'a holy altar, a sacred medium,
the spirit of any one who when living had learnt the incantations and spells of his
ancestors'. It seems possible, then, that the difference between a tiki and a tiki
wananga lay in the fact that offerings were laid before the latter but not before the
former. The precise significance of tiki is obscure. Clearly it was associated by
the Maori with atua. Perhaps it may be compared with the Tahitian tit, for which

see para. 133, n. 583.

According to J. S. Polack, Manners and Custoins of the New Zealanders, 1. 1 16,
118 ff., 227, the figures which were erected in honour of the dead were raoui(s).
The name is not mentioned elsewhere.

178. W. Colenso, A Maori- English Lexicon, pt. i, s.v. atua. Colenso also includes
among his translations: 'god, the one true God, the God of Christians'. As
'malevolent demons' he includes Tu, Tane, Tangaroa, Rongo, Tawhirimatea, and
Whiro, and seems to consider that the 'genii' or 'wood-spirits', patupaiarehe and
hakitaka were atua. For a comment on this opinion, see n. 180.

In order that we may exhaust as far as possible the meanings which are attached
to atua by our various authorities, I give the opinions of two other lexicographers.
Surely the bewildering variety of the translations must convince the most con-
servative scholar that there is no safe English equivalent.

H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language, s.v. atua, submits the
following: god, demon, supernatural being, ghost; object of superstitious regard;
anything malign, strange, extraordinary; stingy, unfriendly.

E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, s.v. atua, includes 'God ,
'a god', 'demon', 'supernatural being'; 'a malicious person'; 'to be wicked, surly'.

It will be noticed that the above lists contain substantives, adjectives, adverbs,

and verbs.

See further nn. 179, 180.

179. See W. Brown, New Zealand and its Aborigines, p. 79: 'White men were
addressed as divinities. Many of the natives said that they felt unwell if even
looked upon by these attuas.' This anglicized plural of a native word is most
undesirable. Dr. G. Brown has been guilty of a similar fault in reference to the
New Briton tebaran and has introduced thereby a great deal of confusion into the
study of New Briton culture. See para. 32.

According to J. S. Polack, Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders, 1. 234,

§i8o NOTES AND REFERENCES 479

a scarecrow erected by a European was termed an atua. The 'an' is an inference
quite possibly a mistaken one. A similar inference has been made by Shortland
(n. 177). Many other examples could be quoted.

The application of atua to a white man's watch is reported by E Best 'Maori
Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull, 10, p. 84, who remarks (op. cit.,
p. 156): 'The Maori word atua is one of peculiar significance, and in many cases
to translate the word "god" is to convey a totally wrong impression. It is, however,
often difficult to find a suitable word to employ. Atua is applied to the Supreme
Being of Christianity and to a virulent or loathsome disease. Europeans, fire-arms
watches, and compasses have all been alluded to as atua. Anything supernatural^
or strange, or objectionable, anything not understood or mysterious may be so
termed.' Again, still more explicitly (The Maori, i. 234) : 'The term atua is employed
to denote . . . anything believed to possess supernatural powers. It is often applied
to anything mysterious or that is believed to possess a malign influence.'

See further nn. 178, 180.

180. The Maori atua is one of the words which I have selected as an illustration
of the unacceptable character of many anthropological translations. See para. 5.
In order that there may be no doubt about the matter, I will state some of the
English equivalents which have been submitted. I have already quoted the opinions
of the lexicographers (n. 178) and of Mr. Best (n. 179). I have also noted that atua
was applied to the white man and his equipment (n. 179).

Among other renderings of the word are the following :

'gods' (W. Brown, New Zealand and its Aborigines, p. 79; Hare Hongi 'The

Gods of Maori Worship', J.P.S. xxix (1920), p. 25. The latter translates

atua also as 'the beyond') ;
'invisible spirits' (G. F. Angas, Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New

Zealand, ii. 331-2; E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New Zealand', J.A.I xix

(1890), p. 121);

'malignant demon' (W. Colenso, 'On the Maori Races of New Zealand', T.N.Z I
i (1869), p. 42; E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv Sc
(1909), p. 458);

'spirits of the dead', 'spirits of their chiefs', 'deified ancestors', &c, or the
singular of these terms (E. Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions of the New
Zealanders, p. 81 ; E. Best, 'Spiritual Concepts of the Maori', J.P.S. ix (1900),
P- 175 ; L S. Polack, Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders, i. 249) ;

'familiar spirit' (F. E. Maning, Old New Zealand, p. 119);

'idols' (T. G. Hammond, 'Atua Maori', J.P.S. viii (1899), P- 92);

'guardian spirit of the tribe' (W. E. Gudgeon, 'Maori Religion', J.P.S. xiv
(1905), P- 130);

'personifications of nature' (E. Best, 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z.
Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 85).

Is it not plain that no single one of these English equivalents is satisfactory and
that our authorities have often confused the meaning of the word with the pheno-
mena to which it was adverbially or adjectivally applied? The above list is by no
means exhaustive, and though some writers seem to have entertained some doubts
concerning the validity of their submissions, they continued to flounder in a quag-
mire of verbiage. Elsdon Best employs the word 'god' fairly confidently in 'Omens
and Superstitions of the Maori', J.P.S. vii (1898), p. 119, but in his later writings
he again criticizes the translation and condemns it as unsuitable. See, e.g., 'Maori
Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 458; 'Some Aspects of
Maori Myth and Religion', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Mon. 1, p. 18; and the passage
cited in n. 179. In one of his earliest papers ('Spiritual Concepts of the Maori',
J.P.S. ix (1900), p. 176) Best remarks: 'The term atua, commonly translated

480 NOTES AND REFERENCES §180

"god", was most comprehensive. It included malevolent demons, fairies, deified I
ancestors, natural phenomena, personifications of pain and disease, &c.' It does),
not seem to have occurred to him that the word 'included' might be a source 8
of the confusion. Let us substitute 'was applied to'. Are not the inferences!
then separated from the facts ?

There is reason to believe that the word 'fairies' may have slipped unawares I
into the above list. The Maori called these tiny creatures patupaiarehe (dangerous!
and fearful), ponaturi (mythological only), and pake-pakeha (elves in flowers andt
shrubs). See E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New Zealand', J. A.I. xix (1890), p. 121 ;
idem, The Maori Race, pp. 523, 527. Apparently they were not atna. According
to E. Shortland, Maori Religion and Mythology, p. 50, a tohanga could control!
them. Colenso (n. 178) seems to have been mistaken in regard to the Little People.

Another Maori word which has been translated 'demon', 'goblin', is tupua\
(tipua). See E. Tregear, The Maori Race, p. 537. For other translations of tupuaX
see n. 202.

The early missionaries selected atua as the word by which they could denote |
the Christian God. As Best has often remarked, it was hardly a happy choice. See, ||
e.g., his 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Anst. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 458; 'Maori L
Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mns. Bull. 10, p. 84. Best is still morel
emphatic in 'Maori Medical Lore', Jf.P.S. xiii (1904)^.216: 'To say that the Maori |
word atua = God is simply ridiculous.' Twenty years later he compared another!
Maori 'being' with the Christian Supreme Being. See (1) below.

In his later publications Elsdon Best has made an attempt to rationalize Maori
'beliefs', and has submitted an organized scheme which seems to be at variance i
with the native conceptions as they have been described in his earlier essays and |
by other observers. See his 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. I
JO, pp. 89 ff., and The Maori, i. 234 ff. As these later publications may be regarded
as standard and authoritative pronouncements by those who have not made
themselves acquainted with all the available literature, an examination of the
appropriate passages is advisable. There is another advantage, too, in making
this examination. Two of my reasons for discarding those classifications of un-
civilized culture which are based on 'beliefs' were (i) English equivalents lack
precise meaning and do not accurately represent native conceptions, (ii) an alleged '
belief cannot be described without a certain amount of subjective intrusion on the
part of the author. Best's organized scheme is an example of what I mean. He
makes a valiant attempt to present Maori beliefs as a form of organized polytheism,
and his submissions afford a good illustration of the indeterminate obscurities
which in my view are inseparable from any attempt to divorce the belief from
the rite.

Having translated atua, 'god', Best divides the Maori 'gods' into four classes:
(1) Io, Supreme Being, who is placed in a class by himself. Now no rites were
conducted in honour of Io, and it is difficult to comprehend in what his claim to
deification consists. The absence of rites is reported in two interesting passages:
(i) 'No invocations to Io are known by the Maori at the present time' (Maori
Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 451; (ii) 'No offerings
were ever made to the Supreme Being Io' ('Maori Religion and Mythology',
N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 140). In the first of these passages the words 'at the
present time' might imply that 'invocations' were made to Io at some remote
period ; but it is not clear whether this is an inference or a fact. Moreover, 'invoca-
tion' is a question-begging word, and Best's use of it is obscure. See n. 189. As
it stands, the statement has no reliable meaning, and the possibility that 'invoca-
tions' were made to Io in the past is considerably reduced when we learn from the
second passage that offerings had never been made to him at any time. We are
not told, however, the evidence on which this definite statement is based. The

§180 NOTES AND REFERENCES 481

name Io is merely said to have occurred in songs and incantations. This, indeed,
appears to be his only claim to divine rank.

In reference to the phrase 'Supreme Being' which is applied to him, compare
my observations (nn. 116, 122) in reference to ruhanga, the alleged 'Supreme
Being' of the Banyankole and the Bakitara. How did the Maori express their
conception of Io? Would a Buddhist inquirer have concluded that Io was a
'Supreme Being'? On what evidence is Io thus separated from, e.g., Tane? I am
not denying the truth of what Best has written. My point is that he has not quoted
the evidence on which he relied. Moreover, there is reason to believe that he has
not made the report with the open-mindedness which (para. 61) is one of the
1 essential qualities of a field-worker.

If we may judge from a short paper entitled 'The Cult of Io, the Concept of
a Supreme Being evolved by the Ancestors of the Polynesians' (Man, 191 3, no. 52),
and from scattered, though numerous, references which he makes to those collec-
tions of anthropological data which have served as a foundation of many theories
concerning primitive religion, it was Andrew Lang's suggestions concerning 'High
Gods' which first encouraged, or emboldened, Best to write about Io. But Andrew
Lang did not define what he meant by 'High God', nor did he state by what
criteria he adjudged the 'beings' which he included in that category (n. 4). I do
not understand, therefore, how Best decided whether Io was qualified for inclusion
in that category. Indeed, I have excluded the above-mentioned article from the
list of publications (Bibliography, No. 64) on which I have relied for my study of
Maori culture, for it seems to contain more inferences than facts. Indeed I do not
think it would have been written unless Lang had formulated the conception of
'High Gods'. Best's predilections in favour of that conception are also revealed
in many other passages.

When he promoted Io to the status of 'Supreme Being', he seems to have had
a twofold purpose :

(i) He wished to illustrate what he calls 'the mentality and psychology of the
race', i.e. that the Maori were capable of abstract thought; e.g. 'Io looks like an
abstract conception' ('Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull, jo,
p. 89). A similar observation has been made also by W. E. Gudgeon, 'Maori
Religion', jf.P.S. xiv (1905), pp. 108-9.

(ii) He wished to make a favourable comparison between Maori 'beliefs' and be-
haviour and those of the Christian priesthood. See, e.g., 'The Maori believed in
a Supreme Being called Io. We believe in one whom we call God. We say that
Io is a false God. Why?' ('Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull.
10, p. 100; and 'Some Aspects of Maori Mythology and Religion', N.Z. Dom.
Mus. Mon. 1, p. 21).

Probably a Christian theologian would experience little difficulty in answering
the question to the satisfaction of Christians, and there is no doubt that when Best
assumed the role of Maori apologist, and stated that apology at considerable length
in a serious anthropological monograph, he allowed his very great knowledge of
Maori culture to be influenced by Christian conceptions. In his discussion of Io,
he seems to be merely autobiographical, and to be making a personal declaration
of his attitude towards Christianity. He returns to the subject again and again :
.g. 'Christian priesthoods have murdered with fiendish tortures many thousands
f persons for worshipping our God in a slightly different manner. Has the Maori
avage ever descended to such a level?' A more intense subjective intrusion is
nconceivable.

Io is not the only Maori 'being' who has been identified with the Christian God.
fc. Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, preface, calls Maui 'the Creator', and J. S. Polack,
Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders, i. 233, says that Maui was 'the only
lational deity'. Such pronouncements, I submit, are merely evidence that the

I i

4g2 NOTES AND REFERENCES §180

writer spent his early childhood in a Christian environment. Do they not demon-
strate that we cannot use such words as 'god', 'supreme being , and deity as
technical terms until they have been defined ?

For comments on the reports of other Supreme Beings, see nn. 116, 122, 237,

246, 415, 451, 462, 47i, 501, 585- .

(2) Best's second class of Maori 'gods', i.e. atua, are the departmental gods ,
also called 'primal gods' ; but, as Best himself has often said, these 'beings were not
called atua by the Maori. See, e.g., the following passages: 'What may be termed
the primal or principal gods, such as Tane, Tu, Rongo, and Tangaroa are not
usually termed atua by the Maori' ('Maori Religion', Twelfth Re£ Aust. Ass
Adv Sc (1909), p. 460); 'They were not ordinary atua1 ('Maori Religion and
Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 101). How, then, is it possible to include

them in a list of atua?

The explanation seems to be this. The position of Tane, Tu, Rongo, &c, in
Maori stories, legends, songs, and charms, has suggested to Best that these beings
were 'gods' in the sense in which a number of Hellenic and Latin heroes (with no
greater accuracy of thought) have been termed 'gods'. Having decided that they
were 'gods', Best proceeded to classify them as atua since god is one of the
English equivalents of atua. Yet the Maori did not think of them in that manner;
and the result of Best's translation of atua as 'god' has produced a complete mis-
representation of the native ideas.

Although he does not confess to these mental gymnastics, Best seems to have
entertained some honest doubts in regard to his scheme. In The Maori, 1. 238 he
remarks ■ 'There is one explanation to make in regard to our departmental gods .
They were viewed as supernatural beings, and so may be termed atua, but the
Maori seemed to view them more as originating beings than as ordinary gods.
But what is a 'supernatural being' ? How does a supernatural being differ from an
'originating being'? What is an 'ordinary god'? These terms are vahd if they are
defined, but they have no value if they are not defined. Moreover by what right
does Best declare that 'they may be termed atua'l By what authority does he
apply to them a title which the Maori withheld? Only he himself could have
explained. Yet he himself tells us that a wise old native corrected him when he
applied the word atua to Tu. 'Do you mean Tu, the atua ? Best inquired. No
replied the old man, 'I mean Tu, the tuPuna.> See E. Best, 'Maon Religion and
Mvthology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 85. m

liter along discussion of these 'beings', Best remarks ('Maori Religion and
Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 108): 'Although Tane and his brethren
are tutelary beings, yet the application of the term 'god' to them may be objected
to Some authorities assert that such beings belong more to mythology than to
religion ' The confession is welcome, but what do these terms mean e g. tutelary
being', which Best uses so freely? Having stated that the Maori did not apply
the word atua to Tane, Tu, Ronga, Whiro, &c, how can he declare in his latest
publication (The Maori, i. 237, SH) that Whiro was 'the most active and pernicious

°f (3) Best's third class of 'gods' are 'tribal gods', so called 'for want of a better
term" 'These beings are in many cases personifications of natural phenomena
(The Maori, i. 238). Some of them had proper names; but the connexion of those
nlmefwith'any IL of sky-activity is not explained. Best further --arks ( Maori
Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. iiq I that he is unabk t0
agree with those who maintain that this class of atua consisted of deified ancestors
The disagreement seems to have arisen out of a confusion between the meaning
of atua and the phenomena to which it was adverbially or adjectival y applied the
Maori seem to have applied the word atua to certain dead men and to any unusual
form of sky-activity, such as comets, rainbows, thunder, and a supernormal glow

§181 NOTES AND REFERENCES 483

in the heavens. As for the connexion between proper names and these or other
forms of sky-activity, it seems possible that the occurrence of such celestial pheno-
mena was associated in the minds of the Maori, or of that group of Maori whom
Best knew so well, with the name of some dead tohunga (nn. 188, 192) who during
his life-time had exercised power over the elements.

These alleged 'tribal gods', we are told, possessed aria, visible forms of incarna-
tions: 'Such a form might be a bird, insect, lizard, dog, or some natural pheno-
menon, as a meteor or comet' (E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass.
Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 460). In some passages Best seems to think that the lizard was
a 'god' because it represented Whiro (who, it will be remembered, was not called
atua by the Maori). In other passages we are told that the 'primal gods', of whose
number Whiro is alleged to have been one, 'had no such forms of incarnation'.
Cp. N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull, 10, pp. 103, 116, with 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep.
Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 460.

I cannot explain the contradiction. It may be that the Maori applied the word
atua to certain animals, especially the lizard, as well as to certain natural pheno-
mena and dead men, and that the application of the same word to these phenomena
has caused Best to identify the phenomena themselves.

'Gods' in lizards are mentioned also by G. F. Angas, Savage Life and Scenes in
Australia and New Zealand, ii. 331 f.; J. S. Polack, Manners and Customs of the
New Zealanders, i. 241 ; and W. Colenso, 'On the Maori Races of New Zealand'
T.N.Z.I. i (1869), p. 42.

(4) The 'gods' of Best's fourth and last class are termed 'familiars', for 'god
seems to be too dignified a term for them'. For these 'familiar spirits', 'family gods',
'souls of defunct forbears', 'deified spirits of ancestors', 'malignant demons who
possessed people', 'lowest class of native gods utilized by the lowest class of
tohunga', as they are variously termed, see 'Spiritual Concepts of the Maori',
jf.P.S. ix (1900), p. 175 ; 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10,
pp. 13 1-2 ; and The Maori, i. 234, 239-40 : they were as 'the sands of the sea-shore\
and they were 'offended by any infringement of tapu\ We may merely conclude
from these translations that the Maori applied the word atua to various phenomena
under various circumstances.

In The Maori, i. 238, Best says that it was the atua of the third and fourth classes
'who were most frequently appealed to'. This is not surprising, since the first
and second classes were not atua at all. And I do not know what meaning we can
attach to the word 'appealed to', for the rites are not described.

181. E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 460;
idem, 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 137. In the
former passage Best happily compares the huaca of Spanish America.

Waka literally meant canoe, or the crew of a canoe; hence a tribe, and even
a flock of birds. Kaupapa meant floor, wise man or oracle, altar, or sacred platform.
1 See E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, ss.w.; H. W. Williams,
A Dictionary of the Maori Language, ss.w.

Cp. the Samoan taula-aitu (n. 198), Tongan taula-otua (n. 209), and Purari
imunu-vii (n. 323).

182. E. Tregear, The Maori Race, p. 218, who says also that their character
differed 'according to the nature of the person to be propitiated'. In such a passage
we must remember that the native word which is being translated 'person' is
atua, for which see nn. 178-80. It seems possible that a 'person' may not always
have been meant.

183. E. Best, 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10,
pp. 140-2. Apparently a tohunga always conducted the ceremony, which took place

484 NOTES AND REFERENCES §184

on the occasion of a lad's first kill. Human sacrifices were made when a new house
or a new canoe was built, when a young woman (virgin?) was tattooed, and at
other times. We are ignorant of their real purpose.

184. E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 462;
idem, 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10 , pp. 170-1 .

The word tuahu was applied also to the place where men's hair was cut and to
the village latrine. This use of the word is at first unintelligible, but the fact that
there was a risk of witchcraft if the severed portions of the body were not protected
(n. 187) suggests two possible explanations: (i) Body clippings and droppings may
have been placed in a ta/w-place that they might be safe from witchcraft; (ii) the
places where body clippings and droppings were deposited were made tapit by
a tohunga. The latter seems the more likely alternative, for a ta/m-place was (a) any
place which was chosen and announced by a tohunga (E. Best, The Maori, i. 288-
93) ; (b) any place where atua was manifest (E. Best, The Maori, i. 251 ; E. Tregear,
The Maori Race, p. 192; E. Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions of the New
Zealanders, p. 102; idem, Maori Religion and Mythology, p. 25, Sec).

In 'The Spiritual Concepts of the Maori', jf.P.S. ix (1900), p. 163, and other
passages in his earlier writings, Elsdon Best seems to think that a village had only
one recognized tuahu, for he speaks of 'the sacred place, tuahu, of the tribe'; but
it is clear from the above-quoted references that any place chosen by a tohunga
was a tuahu. Naturally some places would be used more than others; thus they
would become more prominent in the life of the tribe.

A native description of a tuaahu, as the word is sometimes spelt, has been pub-
lished by Tarakawa, and translated by S. Percy Smith. See jf.P.S. iii (1894),
pp. 202-207. Tarakawa says: 'There are many kinds of tuaahu; the tapatai is
one, the ahupuke another, the torino another, the ahurewa another.' The precise
character of these four varieties is obscure. According to H. W. Williams, A
Dictionary of the Maori Language, s.v. tuahu, and E. Tregear, A Maori-Polynesian
Comparative Dictionary, s.v. tuahu, tapatai meant sea-shore; ahurewa denoted an
indoor tuahu, sometimes called 'altar'. These two words, therefore, seem to refer
to the position of the tuahu rather than to its character. Torino and ahupuke were
applied to that part of the tuahu which was used in connexion with witchcraft.

These four 'classes' of tuahu are mentioned also by E. Best, 'Maori Religion and
Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, pp. 172-3, who gives examples.

Tregear (I.e.) says that tuahu meant 'to throw the soil into hillocks', and compares
the Marquesan ahu, mound. Thus Tregear seems to regard tuahu as a verb.
Williams (I.e.), on the other hand, describes a tuahu as 'a sacred place consisting of
an enclosure containing a mound, and marked by the erection of rods or poles,
which was used for the purposes of divination and other mystic rites. It differed
from the ahurewa in being out of doors.' Thus Williams distinguishes between
tuahu and ahurewa, whereas the other authorities state that the latter was a special
kind of tuahu. It is difficult, however, to see how 'an enclosure containing a mound'
could be indoors, and it seems possible that the 'erection of rods and poles' has
been confused with the place, tuahu, in which it stood. The native term for the
erection of rods or poles was perhaps tiepa, as may be inferred from other sources;
but this is not stated in the above-quoted passages. For tiepa, see n. 185.

T. W. Downes, 'Tuahu on the Wanganui River', jf.P.S. xxxvii (1928), pp. 165-8,
has given the only detailed description of a tuahu which I can find. The facts of
its history are meagre, but we are told that it was connected with atua, which
Downes translates 'guardian-spirits'. The tuahu was 'a raised mound, with sloping
sides, about eight feet square at the top, and twelve feet at the bottom, rising about
ten feet from the bottom of the trench, and four or five feet above the level of the
ground. On the top of this mound, and in the centre was a hole about two feet

§l85 NOTES AND REFERENCES 485

square. This hole was possibly used as a receptacle for such sacred things as a chief's
hair. Surrounding the mound was a trench about six feet deep and three feet wide
at the bottom.' The editors of the Journal of the Polynesian Society make the
following comment: 'The form of tuahu or tapu-place described by Mr Downes
is a highly unusual one. When we remember that such places were as a rule not
marked by anything more than one or more unworked stones, and in some cases by
nothing, and that the Maori seems to have objected to built-up altars, and to any
fashioned objects thereat, then it seems probable that the Arimatia tuahu was made
in post-European times and that the idea of such a place was the result of reading
the Scriptures.'

The probability is indeed great, but I should accept the editorial comment with
a greater readiness if there were any reason to believe that the habits of the Maori
were uniform throughout the whole of New Zealand.

Is it possible that the hole at the top of this structure was called torino or
anupuke ?

185. E. Best, The Maori, i. 288.

According to H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language, s.v. and E
Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, s.v., the word tiepa meant 'to
hang loosely', and so 'a framework of sticks on which were placed the offerings
dedicated to a god'. The word translated 'god' is atua, for which see nn. 178-80

When W E. Gudgeon, 'Maori Religion', J.P.S. xiv (1905), p. 125, translates
tuahu altar , and calls it 'a very rude affair', he may be confusing tiepa and tuahu.
bee further n. 184.

186. E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909)
p. 462; idem, 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10,
p. 174.

We are not told how and why any particular stream or pool was selected, but 'a
considerable number of religious rites were performed at such streams'. Since the
rites were performed at places where atua was manifest (n. 184), and since atua
was manifest in places where anything unusual was seen or heard, it seems possible
that ceremonies were conducted by the side of any stream which possessed any
remarkable characteristic.

R. Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, p. 174, mentions a 'sacred grove', wahi tapu. It was he
says, a sacred store of odds and ends'. Perhaps he means a store of sacred odds and
ends, for the wahi tapu to which he refers contained 'the bones of chiefs offerings
to the gods and sacrifices'. But Taylor's description might well apply also to
a tuahu (n. 184).

187. Such a sickness was thought to be due to
(1) Makutu, witchcraft, which was of two kinds:

(a) Direct. Hair, saliva, nail-clippings, &c, were carefully buried; crumbs and
table-clearings were always collected; see W. Colenso, 'On the Maori Races in
New Zealand', T.N. Z.I. i (1869), P- 43; E. Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions
oj the New Zealanders, p. 117.

Charmed material also might be buried for the victim to walk over (E Best
The Maori, i. 335).

Footprints, according to E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New Zealand', J. A.I. xix
(1890), p. 122, had no special significance, but E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth
Rep Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 460, particularly mentions magic on footprints,
rerhaps the statements refer to different areas.

The great fear of witchcraft is mentioned by E. Best, 'Omens and Superstitions
and Beliefs of the Maori', J.P.S. vii (1898), p. 119, and throughout his writings;
<or. t. Angas, Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, ii. 331;

486 NOTES AND REFERENCES §187

W. Brown, New Zealand and its Aborigines, p. 74; and J. S. Polack, Mariners and
Customs of the New Zealanders, i. 280.

According to Polack, any one could bewitch. W. H. Goldie, 'Maori Medical
Lore', T.N. Z.I. xxxvii (1904), pp. 36 ff., describes the various methods, between
which there were many interesting differences.

(b) Indirect; by the employment of a kehua, ghost, and other means. The
reports are vague. For kehua, see n. 175. W. H. Goldie, op. cit., p. 31, states that a
wizard did not always act directly by the employment of charms ; sometimes he would
send the kehua of a dead man into his enemy. F. E. Maning, Old New Zealand,
p. 122, tells how a tohunga could call up the 'soul of a dead man' to inflict injury.

According to E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New Zealand', J. A. I. xix (1890), p. 117,
the object of witchcraft was to persuade a man to break a tapu. This opinion has
been expressed also by E. Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions of the New
Zealanders, p. 177, who adds that atua was thus offended.

E. Best, 'Spiritual Concepts of the Maori', jf.P.S. ix (1900), p. 187, considers
that when a man killed another man by witchcraft he captured and destroyed the
man's wairua, soul.

Do these opinions reflect a white man's attempt to rationalize a puzzling pheno-
menon by asking direct questions and reporting the answers ? I receive them with
great reserve.

(2) Hara, 'sin', breaking a tapu. See E. Best, 'Maori Medical Lore', jf.P.S. xiii
(1904), pp. 215-16, 225, 234; W. Colenso, 'On the Maori Races of New Zealand',
T.N.Z.I. i (1869), p. 43 ; E. Shortland, op. cit., pp. 1 14-15; w- H- Goldie, op. cit.,
pp. 5-12; R. Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, p. 99, &c.

Taylor says that the 'spirits of the departed' afflicted those who approached a
burial place. Since the word which is translated 'spirits of the departed' would be
atua (nn. 178-80), Taylor may have misinterpreted the conception by a mistransla-
tion of atua. E. Best, The Maori, i. 290, says that a tohunga could approach a tapu-
place (i.e. atua-place) with impunity. Any one else fell ill.

(3) Atua; but the translations of the word are so varied that the whole subject is
extremely confused. Cp. E. Tregear, The Maori Race, p. 104; W. Colenso, 'On the
Maori Races of New Zealand', T.N. Z.I. i (1869), p. 42; W. H. Goldie, op. cit.,
pp. 12 ff.; J. S. Polack, op. cit. i. 263; E. Best, 'Maori Medical Lore', Jf -Sk
xiii (1904), pp. 216, 224. In these passages atua is variously rendered 'evil spirit',
'spirits of the dead', 'disease gods', &c. (Goldie's comparison with Asclepius is un-
scholarly), and, if we are not careful, we shall conclude that the Maori conceived of
an abundance of causes when they actually conceived of one cause, that is, atua.

For the various English equivalents of atua see nn. 178-80.

Indefinite and sometimes contradictory translations have also confused the
reports in regard to the causes of death. Cp. E. Best, 'Omens and Superstitions
and Beliefs of the Maori', jf.P.S. vii (1898), p. 119; idem, 'Maori Magic', T.N. Z.I.
xxxiv (1901), p. 169 ; idem, The Maori, ii. 32 ; W. H. Goldie, op. cit., p. 2. It will be
noticed that the lists do not agree.

Sometimes the meaning of mate, 'death', is extended to denote 'complaints'.
Thus E. Best, 'Maori Medical Lore', jf.P.S. xiii (1904), P- 224, speaks of mate
kikokiko as a term applied to 'complaints supposed to have been caused by the
kikokiko, or "evil spirits" ', which were spirits, he says, either of the dead or of the
unborn children; but according to E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative
Dictionary, s.v., kikokiko should be atua kikokiko, which was represented in current
language by kahukahu, 'ghost, the germ of a human being grown into a malignant
spirit'. Since neither H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language, s.v.,
nor W. H. Goldie, op. cit., p. 26, alludes to 'ghost', kahukahu may have meant
only the spirit of an unborn child. In view of the statements concerning 'ancestor-
worship' (n. 175), this is important.

§l88 NOTES AND REFERENCES 487

188. Usually the word tohunga is translated priest, shaman, wizard, doctor
wise man, magician, &c, but just as 'god' is not a fair rendering of atua (nn. 178-
80), so none of these words reveals the native significance of tohunga. A clever
builder, a successful gardener, or any man or woman skilled in any form of human
activity was tohunga. The word was used both as a substantive and as an adjective
Thus, tohunga tarai waka was a canoe-making expert; tohunga whakaiko, a tattoo or
carving artist; and so on. See E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Diction-
ary, s.v.; H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language, s.v. ; E Best 'Maori
Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mm. Bull. 10, p. ^3; idem, The Maori
1. 243-4; T. G. Hammond, 'The Tohunga Maori', J.P.S. xvii (1908), p. 165 &c'
See further n. 192.

189. The word karakia has been translated prayer, ritual formula, charm
invocation, spell, incantation, &c. H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori
Language, s.v., utters a warning against the modern use of the term which E
Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, s.v., probably reflects when he
says that it meant 'conduct a religious service'.

That a karakia was a mere incantation is clear from the following quotations
which might be augmented :

(i) 'The Maori did not pray to his atua, as we understand the word "pray".
His karakia, usually described as "prayers", were but incantations' (E. Best
^Spiritual Concepts of the Maori', J.P.S. ix (1900), p. 176);
(ii) 'In most cases there is no sign of entreaty, or of any request^ and the words
employed contain no reference whatever to the subject under consideration'
(E. Best, The Maori, i. 262-3);
(iii) 'The Maori did not worship his gods' (the word translated 'god' is atua
for which see nn. 178-80), 'he possessed a budget of charms, spells, incanta-
tions, invocations. None of these would be termed prayers; a small number
may be classed as invocations, but the majority do not appear to rise above
the level of incantations' (E. Best, 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass
Adv. Sc. (1909), p. 457 f.).

In the last passage Best seems to place a prayer, invocation, and incantation in
a descending scale. He does not define the words, however, and I do not know
the respective meanings which he attached to them.

Perhaps karakia has been translated 'prayer' because the word was adopted by
the missionaries: 'The word karakia; remarks R. Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, p. 181
'which we use for prayer, formerly meant a charm, spell, or incantation.' '

The complete absence of ritual is emphasized by W. Colenso, 'On the Maori
Races of New Zealand', T.N. Z.I. i (1869), p. 43 : 'They had neither doctrine nor
dogma, neither cultus nor system of worship.'

t 190. See E. Best, 'Maori Medical Lore', J.P.S. xiii (1904), pp. 225-7- idem
Maori Medical Lore', J.P.S. xiv (1905), p. 23; idem, The Maori, ii. 39-40

Magical extraction from the body is mentioned by W. Brown, New Zealand and
its Aborigines, p. 81, but this may have been an isolated case, for I can find no
other mention of such treatment. Witchcraft, according to E. Best, 'Maori Medical
Lore', J.P.S. xiv (1905), p. 3, was cured by a spell, kai ure, during the recital of
which the tohunga clasped his genital organ in his left hand. The rite is described
more fully in 'Maori Magic', T.N. Z.I. xxxiv (1901), pp. 74-9. There were many
other methods of treating a case of witchcraft, some of which Best describes in his
The Maori, 11. 42 ff. In that passage Best describes also the purificatory ceremonies
which were necessary after an infringement of tapu.

Other rites and incantations are described by W. H. Goldie, 'Maori Medical
Lore', T.N.Z.I. xxxvii (1904), pp. 82 ff.
The only case of transference which has come to my notice is mentioned by

488 NOTES AND REFERENCES §191

E. Best, 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull, ro, p. 199, where we
are told that if a stalk was sent adrift, accompanied by spells, it would bear away
the evil influences of an epidemic. I think that with so copious a supply of literature
we should require more than one mention of this method of treatment before we
concluded that it was a general custom.

The same remark applies to takutaku, which is reported by W. H. Goldie,
'Maori Medical Lore', T.N. Z.I. xxxvii (1904), P- 48> and E. Best, 'Maori Medical
Lore', J.P.S. xiii (1904), p. 230. Both these papers were published in the same
year. Goldie's paper was edited by Best.

Usually a sick man was taken down to the wai tapu, sacred stream. See E. Best,
'Maori Magic', T.N. Z.I. xxxiv (1900), pp. 78, 91; idem, 'Maori Medical Lore',
J.P.S. xiii (1904), p. 225; W. H. Goldie, op. cit., p. 39. In the second of these
passages Best reports that a ripa or parepare was sung, and seems to consider that
this charm performed the cure; but the words meant 'ward off', and, as W. H.
Goldie, op. cit., p. 44, points out, the charm was purely defensive.

For wai tapu, see n. 186.

There is an amazing passage in E. Best, The Maori, i. 303: 'A tohunga took a
bewitched person down to the local wai tapu and by means of incantations caused
the wairua of the magician to appear, when he would give the name of the warlock'.
I do not know who 'the magician' can have been. Surely he was not the same man
as 'the warlock'. Does 'he' refer to the tohunga or to 'the magician'? If, as seems
probable, tohunga, 'magician', 'he' and 'warlock' refer to two or perhaps three
different persons, what was their mutual relationship ?

191. F. E. Maning, Old New Zealand, p. 175; E. Best, 'Maori Religion and
Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. TO, p. 196.

Quaintly enough, Best continues: 'Ordinary folk employed the more common
charms only'; but since he has already declared that the efficacy lay not in the
charm but in the charmer, there can have been no 'common' charms, or 'high-class'
charms, for charms possessed no unequal power. It is Best's rationalism of Maori
'belief which leads him into these contradictions. See nn. 180, 192.

The word mana has received a wide currency as a typical native term for 'magic
power'. It is worth while, therefore, to quote the opinion of F. E. Maning, op. cit.,
p. 174 f., who complains that the word has been 'bandied about a good deal in late
years'. 'The mana of a tohunga", he says, 'is proved by the truth of his assertions
and the success of his incantations, which same incantations, performed by another
person of inferior mana, would have no effect.' Mana, he adds, is 'the accompani-
ment of power, not the power itself : 'Mind you do not translate mana as a power:
that won't do: they are two different things entirely.'

E. Tregear, The Maori Race, p. 322, happily describes a man of mana as 'the

darling of the gods'.

E. Shortland, Maori Religion and Mythology, p. 35, points out that superiority
of mana depended on the command of a more powerful atua.

Similarly E. Best, 'Maori Medical Lore', J.P.S. xiii (1904), PP- 217, 224, states
(i) 'what gives power to the charm or spell is the atua of the wizard' ; (ii) ( the atua —
the 'the', of course, is an inference — 'are always behind the manifestations of super-
natural and diabolic power'.

The intimate relationship between mana and atua, thus clarified, is important.
The power came from atua ; when it was manifested its possessor was credited with
mana. As soon as the manifestations ceased, the man was no longer mana.

With mana, cp. the Kikuyu mugu (n. 365).

192. There were many other occasions on which the presence of a tohunga
was necessary : birth, death, the felling of a tree, the building of a house, the launch-
ing of a canoe, the planting of seeds, &c. See E. Best, The Maori, i. 250. Apparently

§J92 NOTES AND REFERENCES 489

any tohunga could perform any of the ceremonies. It must be noted however
that according to E. Tregear, 'The Maori of New Zealand', J.A.I, xix (1890)'
p. 121, there was no ceremony at seed-time or at harvest

Most of our authorities confine their descriptions to a few of the tohunga activi-
ties. Thus E. Shortland Maori Religion and Mythology, p. 47, is content to say
that a tohunga was one skilled in makutu [witchcraft] and in bringing back love'
Love-charms are also mentioned by E. Best, 'Maori Marriage Customs' TNZI
xxxvi (1903) pp. 35-40, who adds that a tohunga was equally able and 'willing to
recite toko which would destroy marital affection.

A general word like 'magician' seems to be the only suitable English equivalent
of tohunga, but it is best to use the native term, for 'magician' implies that a tohunga'*
activities were always magical. This was clearly not the case among the Maori - any
skilled craftsman was tohunga. In translating the word, our authorities adopt
various English equivalents, none of which is satisfactory. W. Brown, New
Zealand and its Aborigines, p. 80, says that the tohunga united in his person 'the
offices of priest shaman, sorcerer, juggler and physician'. J. S. Polack, Manners
and Customs of the New Zealanders, i. 263, gives him the titles of 'physician apothe-
cary, soothsayer^ magician, conjurer, priest, legislator'. No one expects a scientific
accuracy from Brown and Polack, but the reports of modern ethnologists are not
more precise. I have noted some of their renderings in n. 188. I do not think that
the study of social anthropology will continue to make progress unless these various
English words are defined and the definitions rigidly adhered to. See para 9

1 he study of Maori magic has been complicated by Elsdon Best's rationalization
of tohunga activities. Just as he divided atua into four classes (n. 180) so he
attempts to divide tohunga into 'high grade' and 'low grade', with eveA more
regrettable results See and cp. (i) 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv.

4t2/-L(ll) 'Maori Religi™ and Mythology', N.Z Dom. Mus. Bull.
10, p. 166; (111) The Maori, i. 244.

Best tells us neither what he means by 'high-class' and iow-class', nor by what
criteria he appraised the practitioners. The following comments are appropriate
in. (11) and (111) tohunga ahurewa and tohunga tuahu are called 'high-class priests'
and first-grade priests'. Yet the terms themselves reveal to the most inexpert eye
that they were merely descriptive of tohunga activities at a tuahu (ta^-place) and
at the ahurewa (indoor tuahu). These classes are not mentioned in (1). For tuahu
I and ahurewa, see n. 184.

In (i) and (ii) tohunga taua is called a 'high-class priest'. But since taua literally
meant old man', tohunga taua literally meant 'skilled old man' This 'class' is
omitted from (iii).

In (i) tohunga kehua is called a 'wizard', ' tohunga of the lowest class'; in (iii) he is
a shaman . But since kehua was applied to a malevolent ghost (n. 175), I conjecture
that a man to whom the title tohunga kehua (lit. 'skilled' and 'ghost') was given
enjoyed a local reputation as a ghost-layer. I cannot understand that 'wizard' or
shaman is a fair rendering of such a word. Moreover in (ii) and (iii) the word
wizard is applied to the tohunga mukutu, and since mukutu meant 'witchcraft'
the rendering is acceptable ; but in that case we must assume that in Best's opinion
there was no difference between a tohunga kehua and a tohunga mukutu, for he
employs the same English equivalent for them. Yet the Maori were careful to
distinguish the two men.

In (i) both tohunga ruanaku and tohunga puri are called 'wizards'. Best confesses
however that the meaning of the words is 'not quite clear'. These are omitted from
(11) and (111).

I do not know why Best has chosen to complicate the subject by these contrary
reports. If we cease to translate the native terms, their meaning seems clear.

When a tohunga was possessed by atua he became urua, demented. His

49o NOTES AND REFERENCES §193

symptoms were the usual ones, viz. foaming at the mouth, twitching of the limbs,
&c. See E. Tregear, The Maori Race, p.514; E- Best, The Maori, i. 250.

Every tohunga seems to have been taught his trade or his arts, and Best often
mentions a 'school of learning'. See, e.g., 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z.
Dom. Mus. Bull. JO, pp. 166-70. In The Maori, i. 243, we are simply told that the
old men taught the young men.

193. E. Best, 'Maori Magic', T.N.Z.I. xxxiv (1901), p. 89 ; idem, 'Maori Religion
and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 197; idem, The Maori, i. 266, 336;
J. S. Polack, Manners and Customs of the New Zealandcrs, i. 248; W. Colenso, 'On
the Maori Races of New Zealand', T.N. Z.I. i (1869), p. 42.

Colenso well describes 'the old grey-haired man in his puny little vessel' who 'in
a few simple words commanded the heavy breakers to listen to his powerful
charms'. Two pages later he makes a comparison between Tawhiramatai and
Neptune. Such comparisons are more easily made than justified.

In 'Notes on Maori Mythology', J.P.S. viii (1899), P- 97, Best recounts the story
how Maui snared the sun and by an incantation caused it to move more slowly
through its course. An interference with the cosmic motion of the sun is apparently
a feat commonly credited to human heroes in oral or written legend.

194. At first sight the evidence in regard to diviners seems to be contradictory,
but a close study of the appropriate literature shows that the confusion is due to the
different meanings which our authorities have attached to the word matakite.

According to E. Best, The Maori, i. 239, 'A man might become the medium of
a defunct parent or grandparent ; the most marked advantage gained by such a
medium was the power of second sight, matakite or matatuthi'. The Maori word
which is rendered 'defunct parent' is atua (nn. 178-80) ; thus this report means that
a man divined by the power of atua, that is to say, he was tohunga (nn. 188, 192).
In 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull. 10, p. 137, however,
Best says that 'the only people who can see the spirits', i.e. atua, 'are matakite,
seers' Here matakite denotes not the power but the person in whom that power
was manifest. Moreover, it is rendered as plural. E. Shortland, Traditions and
Superstitions of the New Zealanders, pp. 125-6, also uses matakite* in reference to
the person : 'The matakite and the tohunga must both be members of the same hapu,
or tribal sub-division, to which the sick man belongs; every hapu contains at least
one matakite and several tohunga: Apparently Shortland regarded the two profes-
sions as distinct. Yet it seems clear from E. Best, 'Maori Medical Lore J.P.b.
xiii (1904), p. 226, that a seer was a tohunga. W. H. Goldie, 'Maori Medical Lore
T.N.Z.I. xxxvii (1934), P- "9, agrees, and speaks of tohunga 'with powers of
matakite, clairvoyancy'. On the whole the balance of evidence is in favour of the
view that matakite denoted the power and not the person.

It is unfortunate that in his latest monograph Best did not make an authoritative
pronouncement on such an important point. Surely he was conscious that he had
employed the word in two different senses. Unfortunately again we cannot assume
that his most recent opinion is the most reliable, for in his mature years Best
rationalized Maori conceptions in a manner which is incompatible with exact
scholarship and clear thinking. See my comments on his 'classes' of atua (n. 180)
and on his 'classes' of tohunga (n. 192).

195. The translations and interpretations of aitu are many and bewildering.
The following may be noticed : >?

(1) G Pratt, Samoan Grammar and Dictionary, s.v. aitu, spirit and god . rsur
in answer to his question, 'What is an aituV Pratt was told, 'The man that

is dead'. . ,

(2) J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 215-16, 'gods' and 'tutelary deities .

§i95 NOTES AND REFERENCES 491

(3) G. Turner, Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago and Long Before, p. 18, 'imaginary
deities' and 'gods'.

(4) S. Ella, 'Samoa', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892), p. 643, 'spirits,
aitu, superior and inferior'.

(5) According to G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 226: 'The world
was full of spiritual beings. They saw or heard an aitu or spirit everywhere.'
In this passage 'everywhere' seems to mean 'in many places'; apparently
ubiquity is not to be understood: 'There were many places which were
dreaded as the abode of some aitu and at which offerings were made.'

Similarly, the number of aitu places is limited by J. B. Stair, op. cit., pp. 228-9 :
'Various localities were haunts of aitu or spirits and thus acquired sacredness from
being a gathering place of spirits.' Cp. (2).

If, therefore, uncivilized societies are classified according to their 'beliefs', the
Samoans may be termed 'animistic' or 'polytheistic' as we prefer. For further
renderings of aitu, see n. 198.

The native use of aitu becomes plain only after the various reports have been
compared. According to G. Turner, op. cit., p. ix, the white man's ships were
aitu; and just as the Maori (para. 49) applied atua to everything which was beyond
their comprehension, so everything outside Samoan comprehension seems to have
been aitu.

The word atua was current in most Polynesian societies, and was even used by
the Samoans, sometimes in the same contexts as aitu (G. Pratt, op. cit., s.v. aitu).
When the native usage is elucidated, we find that the word was always associated
with anything unusual or beyond comprehension. This was the case among the
Maori (para. 49), Tongans (n. 207), and also the Hawaiians, who are not included
in this treatise (para. 48), but Larin Andrews, A Vocabulary of Words in the
Hawaiian Language, s.v. atua, translates, 'The Deity, God, any supernatural being,
an object of religious homage, any artificial object the nature and properties of
which the Hawaiians do not understand, such as a watch, compass, etc' Since, then,
in the Samoan language, aitu and atua were synonymous, and since among the
Maori, Tongans and Hawaiians atua was associated with the unusual and the super-
j normal, it is reasonable to suppose that aitu had the same connexion.

Atua, however, had not such a wide currency in Samoa as aitu. According to
J. B. Stair, 'Mythology and Spirit-Lore of Old Samoa', jf.P.S. v (1896), p. 34;
idem, Old Samoa, pp. 211, 214, atua was applied to 'the original gods who dwelt in
Puloke and in Le Langi, the heavens': 'The chief atua is Tangaloa.' There is no
evidence that any rites were conducted in honour of these mythological heroes and
it is difficult to understand how the word 'god' can be used in reference to them.
Cp. my comments on the Maori heroes (n. 180) whom Elsdon Best has called 'gods'.
At the same time it is remarkable that the name of Tangaloa, who figures in the
mythology of so many Polynesian societies, should be associated in the minds of
the Samoans with the word which was common to those societies but which had
fallen into disuse among the men of Samoa. Since aitu was current also among
,'e.g.) the Maori, the facts suggest that before the Polynesians reached the habita-
tions in which we found them at the end of the eighteenth century there were two
.vords in their language, atua and aitu, which possessed a somewhat similar meaning.
\fter the dispersion of the Polynesians some units may have preferred atua and
iome may have preferred aitu, the alternate word in each case remaining in the
vocabulary as an archaic survival. This conjecture is suggested by the Samoan
ipplication of atua to Tangaloa and to his mythological associates; it receives
trong support from the Maori use of aitu. W. Colenso, A Maori-English Lexicon,
)t. i, s.v., says that aitu was 'a very ancient and peculiar word', much used in
ncient karakia (incantations), rarely in colloquial language. We are not told
whether aitu was applied by the Maori to Tane, Tu, Rongo, &c, but, if this was the

492 NOTES AND REFERENCES § i95

case, the suggestion which I have made would be confirmed. At any rate the Maori
did not use the word atua in reference to them.

A. M. Hocart, in two scholarly papers, 'On the Meaning of the Rotuman word
atua', Man, 1915, no. 75, and 'Spirit Animals', Man, 1915, no. 86, suggests that
the Rotuman use of atua corresponded to the Fijian use of kalou. He thinks that
the words atua and aitu were imported into Rotuma from Samoa. If the Rotumans
used the word atua in the same sense as the Maori did (para. 49), then the word
certainly corresponded to the Fijian kalou (paras. 34, 63) in so far as both words
were applied to anything unusual or beyond comprehension ; but this is not the
point which Hocart makes. His argument is fascinating, although there is danger,
perhaps, in concentrating upon a single translation (in this case 'ghosts') of a
comprehensive term like atua. I should have greater faith in his conclusions if he
did not insist that the words were diffused 'together with the beliefs which they
imply'. No special 'belief is implied by the presence of any word in any language
or on any island, for different people place different interpretations upon the same
word. The Rotuman idea of atua may have been different from that of any other
Polynesian society.

I have, however, great sympathy with Hocart when he protests that 'writer after
writer on savage customs will accept the hasty assumptions of his predecessors and
never think of inquiring for himself.

Every Samoan aitu is said to have manifested itself in the form of an animal or
animals. For this reason some students have thought that Samoan religion was
a form of zoolatry. See, e.g., J. G. Frazer, Totemistn and Exogamy, ii. 166. But aitu
was the power to which the attention was paid. The animal was merely its manifes-
tation. If we label Samoan rites as zoolatry, we run the risk of confusing the mean-
ing of aitu with the phenomena to which it was adjeetivally or adverbially applied.

Some Samoan aitu are said to have been recognized by the whole people ; others
are called 'tutelary deities' of districts, villages or crafts; others still are termed
'household gods'. There are two reasons why such reports cannot be literally
accepted. In the first place we must beware of such words as 'household' and
'family' when we discuss the Samoans, for the Samoan 'family' was such an
extended unit that a whole settlement might consist of one family. Thus a village
aitu and a family aitu might be identical. Secondly, when we possess two reports
on the same society, our authorities do not always agree concerning the extent of
the area over which an alleged deity enjoyed divine influence. See my remarks
in reference to the 'general' and 'local' deities of the Dahomans (para. 99), and to
the lists of Tongan otua (n. 208). In regard to the status of Samoan aitu there is
only one detailed report, that of G. Turner. It seems possible that if we possessed
another equally detailed report it would differ from Turner's.

Some of Turner's classifications are as follows :

(1) These aitu are said to have enjoyed a wide reputation and to have been
recognized over a considerable area (G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 28-40, 54-8):

(a) Nafanua, a goddess of war. Her priests were the most important in the land.
See n. 198.

(b) O le Fe'e, 'cuttle-fish'. In one village a new temple was erected every year
to this aitu. All quarrels were left over for settlement on that day. See
further n. 197.

(c) Moso. He was represented in one village by a stone, in another by a bowl. To
some people he was manifest in a pet pigeon, to others in a domestic fowl, to
others still in a cuttle-fish, creeper bird, &c. Apparently he had no temple.
Plainly, I think, our information concerning this alleged 'god' is not exhaustive.

(d) Talma, lit. 'glittering black'. In one village Talma had a temple with only
one opening; there he was a war-god. Elsewhere the name Talma was given
to a goddess who had been discovered by two fishermen as she swam between

§!96 . NOTES AND REFERENCES 493

Tutuila and Upolu. 'They covered her with fine native cloth and conveyed
her to the bush, where they built a temple for her.' These men became her
priests; they also grew rich. In other places Talma was a war-goddess and
was credited with the introduction of tattooing.
0) Taigmalie, lit. 'tide gently rising', was incarnate in a bat in Upolu, in a man
and in a sea-eel in Savaii. He is said to have been a 'household god' in
various other districts.
(2) These aitu are classed as 'district war-gods' (G. Turner, op. cit., pp. 26 f
33 f„ 42-4, 4M):

(a) Faamalu, whose temple contained a sacred shell.

(b) La'ata'a, a village war-god in Savaii and a champion of wrestlers in Upolu.
His priest possessed great powers of divination.

(c) Pava, who once lived as a man in the eastern islands. After his death he
became a war-god in southern Upolu.

(d) Lesa, who, when incarnate in a lizard, was a war-god, and, when incarnate
in a centipede, was a household god.

. (e) Salevao, whose priest dwelt permanently in one of the temples in Savaii.

No reliance can be placed on the accuracy of these classifications, or even on
their validity. For other lists of the names and characters of these and other
Samoan aitu, see W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 106-28 ; J. B. Stair
'Mythology and Spirit-Lore of Old Samoa', J.P.S. v (1896), pp. 34-40; S. Ella'
'Samoa', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892), pp. 643-5 ; G. Brown, Melanesians
and Polynesians, pp. 223-31.

The report of C. Wilkes also {Narrative of U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-
1842, ii. 131 f.) differs in some details from that of Turner; but I doubt if Comman-
der Wilkes can be permitted to rank as an anthropological authority. For comments
on his work, see nn. 208, 595, 597.

Some aitu were equipped with temples, some were not. See n. 196.

196. J. B. Stair, 'O Le Fale-o-le-Fe'e', J.P.S. iii (1894), P- 240; idem, 'Mytho-
logy and Spirit-Lore of Old Samoa', J.P.S. v (1896), p. 44; idem, Old Samoa,
pp. 226-7 (with illustrations); G. Pratt, Samoan Grammar and Dictionary, s.v.

Stair seems to be confident that a temple 'of more or less dignity' was to be
found in every settlement. Invariably the war-gods, he says, were equipped in that
manner. The reports of G. Turner, Samoa, p. 19, and of W. T. Pritchard, Poly-
nesian Reminiscences, p. no, are less definite. They say that a temple was to be
found in nearly every village and that some villages possessed a sacred grove. If
there was no formal temple, the great house of the village, faletele, where the
elders were in the habit of assembling, was used.

It would be wrong, I think, to conclude that such villages had never possessed a
temple. The influence of the missionaries may have caused the inhabitants to
gather in a house which, so far as the white strangers were aware, was devoted
solely to civil purposes. Thus the natives would have been able to conduct their
ceremonies without interruption or protest.

The faletele was situated in the marae (malae), the open space or green in the
middle of the village where the public assemblies were held. See J. B. Stair, Old
Samoa, p. 84; G. Pratt, op. cit., s.v. malae; E. Tregear, Maori- Polynesian Com-
parative Dictionary, s.v. marae. The faleaitu also was in the marae.

For other notes on marae, see nn. 174 (Maori), 205 (Tonga), 582 (Tahiti).

197. See especially J. B. Stair, 'O Le Fale-o-le-Fe'e', J.P.S. iii (1894), PP- 239-
441 W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, p. 119 f.

The temple was dedicated to Fe'e, lit. 'cuttle-fish', war-god of A'ana,
Upolu. (The Samoans are said to have cut the stone in a manner similar to that
which, according to Mr. Frank Worthington, was employed by the Barotse. Mr.

494 NOTES AND REFERENCES §198

Worthington published the information in a private lecture which I was privileged
to attend.) J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 228, regards this temple as unique.

G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 226, says that he saw 'what was
probably the last heathen temple in Samoa'. Dr. Brown also mentions a small
wooden thatched house with two stones in it, which was used as a building from
which a priest announced the will of his aitu.

198. See J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 220 ff. The word is spelt taulaitu by G.
Pratt, Samoan Grammar and Dictionary, s.v., who gives these alternative render-
ings: 'priest of an aitu', 'doctor who worked by charms'.

Stair divides the Samoan priests into four classes :

(1) taula-aitu-o-aitu-tau (the repetition of aitu is puzzling), 'anchors of the war-
gods'. This title was given to the priests of Nafanua, for whom see n. 195.

(2) tausi-aitu-tau, 'keepers of the war-gods', who were in charge of the sacred
objects which represented the aitu or were used in the ceremonies. They
seem to have served the district war-gods, for whom see n. 195.

(3) taula-aitu-o-ainga, 'anchors of the family aitu\ As a rule the office was held
by the head of the family or by his sister.

(4) taula-aitu-vavalo-ma-fei, 'anchors of the spirits who helped to predict and to
curse'. Clearly these priests were diviners, but they also appear to have
assisted a man who suffered from an anti-social impulse. Cp. my comments
on wizards, para. 65.

It will be noticed that aitu is translated 'god' in (1) and (2) and 'spirits' in (4).
The whim of the author seems to be wholly responsible for these alternatives in
translation. See further n. 195.

According to J. B. Stair, 'O Le Fale-o-le-Fe'e', jf.P.S. iii (1894), P- 240, the
priests of the war-gods were vaa taua, 'warships'. Cp. the Maori waka, 'canoe',
'vessel' (n. 181), and the Purari imunu-vii, 'canoe of imunu (n. 323).

With taulaitu, cp. the Tongan taulaotua (n. 209).

199. J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 223, 226, 234.

In every village there was a specially appointed taula-aitu whose duties consisted
in making offerings to the aitu, appointing feast-days, and announcing whether the
aitu permitted or forbade a war.

We are not told how a man became a priest in a recognized temple; perhaps by
being 'possessed', for insanity and epilepsy were ascribed to possession by aitu.
See G. Turner, Samoa, p. 137; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 223.

200. G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 223.

Dr. Brown also remarks (op. cit., p. 221) that ghosts were feared. The Samoans
thought that they haunted the houses and burial places, and sometimes tried to
drive them away by shouts and noises. It seems possible that these were the
ghosts not of ordinary men but of the unburied, the fear of whom is reported by
G. Turner, Samoa, p. 150; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, p. 151;
S. Ella, 'Samoa', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892), p. 626; J. B. Stair, Old
Samoa, p. 184; G. Brown, op. cit., pp. 218-19.

201. When we are discussing Samoan 'ancestor- worship', we must always
remember that aitu has been translated both as 'ghost' and as 'god'. Thus we can
distinguish Samoan 'ancestor- worship' from Samoan 'religion' only by the place in
which the rites were conducted, for it is only in this manner that the uncertainties
arising from the translations can be dispelled.

There are two definite statements :

(i) J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 235, says that a small portion of food was offered to
the family aitu at the beginning of every meal.

(ii) G. Turner, Samoa, p. 151, reports that prayers were said at the grave of a

§202 NOTES AND REFERENCES 495

parent, brother or chief. Some people would pray for health, others for the
death of some one whom they disliked, and 'so the custom went on, but with
fluctuating belief in its efficacy'. It is impossible to tell from this description
whether the rites were do ut abeas or do ut des. The latter seems probable.

202. The word tupua was common to many Polynesian societies. The Maori
applied the term to Tane, Tu, Rongo, and other mythological heroes (n. 180). In
Samoa, according to J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 211, 215, tupua denoted 'deified
spirits of the chiefs'. G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 223, corrects this
statement and maintains that the word was applied to a stone which was reputed to
be a petrified man. G. Pratt, Samoan Grammar and Dictionary, s.v., agrees with
Brown. So does E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, s.v., who
includes 'riddle', 'a fine mat when torn', 'certain privileges', among his renderings.
In Hawaiian, Tregear says, the word was kupua, and denoted a person of extra-
ordinary powers, a magician. This is confirmed by Larin Andrews, A Vocabulary
of Words in the Hawaiian Language, s.v. In Paumotan tupua is said to have been
applied to a corpse or ghost.

A. M. Hocart, 'Chieftainship and Sister's Son in the Pacific', American Anthro-
pologist, N.s. xvii (1915), P. 633, endeavours to derive tupua from tupu, 'to grow,
originate', and thinks that it was equivalent to the Fijian vu; but, as he himself
remarks, 'the beings who in Polynesia correspond to the Fijian vu are more commonly
described as atua or aitu\ Does he suggest, then, that tupua was the equivalent of
atua ? In that case see n. 180, where I have quoted the words of an old Maori who
corrected Elsdon Best when the latter endeavoured to apply atua to Tu.
Tipua and tupuna are alternative forms of tupua.

203. G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 24-5, 44-5, 62.

I can find no detailed description of the methods which were adopted. The
ceremonies are mentioned only casually by Turner; the other authorities make no
reference to the subject.

In one village there were two oblong stones, Ponge and Toafa, which were
supposed to be the parents of Saato, 'a god who controlled the rain'. The word
translated 'god' is aitu (n. 195), and, since aitu was applied to a 'ghost', it seems
possible that Saato was once a noted Samoan magician. He was (the) aitu of
fertility; food was placed on the stones 'accompanied by prayers for fine weather'.
If a dog or a rat ate the food, it was assumed that the aitu was incarnate in them.

Stones seem to have been closely associated with rain-making in Samoa. 'Smooth
stones of the stream' were kept in a temple. 'Another stone was carefully housed in
another village as the representative of a rain-making god ; when there was over-
much rain, the stone was laid by the fire and kept heated until fine weather set in;
in time of drought the priest and his followers dressed up in fine mats, and went in
procession to the stream, dipped the stone and prayed for rain.' Probably the
details of these 'prayers' would reveal that they were mere incantations.

Turia was another aitu who could command rain and sunshine. He had a sacred
grove on one island, with a smooth stone in it. Perhaps Turia, like Saato, was a
Samoan magician who had possessed the stone when he was alive and by its aid
had successfully controlled the elements.

204. The priest of La'a-La'a (n. 195) was reputed to possess exceptional
powers of diagnosis. Sometimes the sick were carried to the temple of Salevao,
whose priest was able to restore a diseased limb by stroking it. The priests of Na-
fanua also would consent to perform a miraculous cure if they were given an
adequate fee. See G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 33-4, 40, 49.

For the Samoan priests, see n. 198.

Every disease, according to G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 140, 143, had its particular

496 NOTES AND REFERENCES §205

physician, and a man who by some lucky chance had effected a cure was regarded
as both diviner and medicine-man. The fact that the same word, taula-aitu, was ap-
plied both to the priest attached to a temple and to the medicine-man supports the
suggestion (n. 199) that a man became taula-aitu by virtue of his achievements, and
not by special training. Thus the professional standing of a taula-aitu would depend
on the character of his aitu, i.e. on whether it was one which (i) had a special temple
erected in its honour, or (ii) was manifest only in the achievements of its taula.

For taula-aitu as 'doctor' and 'priest', see W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminis-
cences, pp. 146-7; S. Ella, 'Samoa', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892), p. 639;
G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 223-8; G. Pratt, Samoan Grammar
and Dictionary, s.v.; G. Turner, op. cit., p. 141.

In general, affliction was thought to be caused by aitu. See the above-quoted
passages. Ella adds that sickness could be 'produced by an evil spirit or by the
spirit of a dead relative'. But in each case the Samoan term would be aitu. It is
strange how often our authorities create a multiplicity of causes by translating a
simple native term in many different ways.

All the above-cited authorities state that a troublesome aitu could be attacked
with a spear and expelled. Brown and Ella say that a 'relative' could effect his
deliverance. Probably the 'relative' was the so-called household taula-aitu, for
whom see n. 198.

205. Le Pere A. C, Dictionnaire toga-frangais, s.v., who is the only authority to
mention the native term.

S. Rabone, A Dictionary of the Tongan Language, s.v. falefeao, states that this
was the name of 'the house built near the god's house for the reception of the sick'.
Since the feao was the assistant who presented the suppliants to the priest (n. 209),
Rabone may have confused the falefeao with the faletapu.

The native term for temple is not mentioned by W. Mariner, An Account of the
Natives of the Tonga Islands, either in his text or in his vocabulary, though the
word lotoo, 'prayer', is included in the latter.

S. Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, p. 127, seems to confuse the falelotu,
'house of supplication', with the faitoka, 'burying place'. See further n. 208.

The Tongan word malie is translated 'temple' by W. Lawry, A Second Visit to the
Friendly and the Feejee Islands, pp. 85-6. Lawry seems to have transliterated the
native word phonetically, and almost certainly refers to the malai (malae). Malie,
as all the dictionaries agree, meant 'Well done! Bravo!' Malae, on the other hand,
is the same as marae, a. common Polynesian word which has been (wrongly) ren-
dered 'temple' in our reports concerning the Society Islands (n. 582).

In Tonga, according to Mariner (op. cit. ii. vocab.) the word denoted 'a piece of
ground, generally before a large house, a chief's grave, where public ceremonies
are principally held'. So also Le Pere A. C. (op. cit., s.v.), and S. Rabone (op. cit.,
s.v.), both of whom call it 'a grass plot, a green'. Thus the meaning of malae in
Tonga was the same as in Samoa (n. 196) and among the Maori (n. 174).

The following comment on marae has been made by R. W. Williamson, Social
and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, ii. 60, 63 : 'Broadly speaking the marae
were sacred structures, specially associated with the gods and the spirits of the
dead.' Apparently the sentence is innocent; actually it is most misleading. In
the first place, the native word for both 'gods' and 'spirits of the dead' would be
atua (otua), and we must be careful not to distinguish what the Polynesians con-
fused. Secondly, the words 'broadly speaking', undesirable in a work which makes
any claim to exactitude, in this case are positively unjustified. Mr. Williamson adds
that 'in some islands the marae was merely an open space', but he fails to cite an
authoritative example of marae meaning anything else. Moreover, it is not true
that 'the bulk of the evidence on the whole subject comes from the Society Islands'.

§2o6 NOTES AND REFERENCES 497

It may be that the Tahitian marae has been described at greater length than the
marae of any other island has been, but we shall come to a sorry pass if we rely on
quantity and not quality in appraising our evidence. As Elsdon Best has pointed
out (n. 174), it is probable that the white residents in Tahiti were mistaken when
they applied the term marae to the stone structures which the Tahitians erected
in the marae (open space). Furthermore, it is plain that Mr. Williamson has not
consulted the available literature in regard to the Samoan temples. Cp. his refer-
ences in op. cit. ii. 82, and his casual remark in op. cit. iii. 49, with my nn. 196 and
197. He makes a single perfunctory reference to the Tongan 'god-houses' (op. cit.
ii. 412) and does not quote the native word for them. In his notes on the Society
Islands he seems to have been somewhat hasty in accepting at its face value every
statement made by any writer on Tahitian culture, for which see para. 133.

W. Lawry, A Second Visit to the Friendly and the Feejee Islands, p. 86, speaks of
hufanga, 'city of refuge'. No other writer appears to have mentioned the place.

206. See W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 1 1 1 f.,
who states that some otua had five or six temples, others a lesser number.

Sir Basil Thomson, Diversions of a Prime Minister, p. 379, says that the houses
were made of grass ; and in this respect the Tongan buildings contrasted in an
interesting manner with those of the Samoans, for which see para. 51, nn. 196, 197.

According to E. E. V. Collacott, 'Notes on Tongan Religion', J.P.S. xxx (1921),
p. 155, 'sacred objects, such as war weapons, stones, pieces of wood more or less
roughly carved and often painted' were kept in the temples; several fine mats also
were indispensable : 'At times of worship these mats were spread and the priest sat
either on or beside them, while the sacred objects of the temple were displayed on
the mats.'

207. The comprehensive meaning of the Tongan otua, like that of the Maori
atua (nn. 178-80) and the Samoan aitu (n. 195), has been concealed by our
methods of translation. The word has been variously spelt otua (West), hotooa
(Mariner), odooa (Vason and Wilson), otooa (Cook and others). For the sake of
uniformity I adopt otua. Various English equivalents have been employed : god,
spirit, supernatural being, divinity, invisible being, &c. The missionaries used
the term to denote the Christian God.

I (1) Otua was applied to the soul of a dead man, i.e. ghost: 'A human soul,' says
fW. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 38, 'after its
separation from the body, was said to be hotooa' . So also W. Lawry, Missionary
Visit to the Friendly and the Feejee Islands, p. 251. We are not told, nor can I
discover, whether all ghosts were otua, or whether the term was applied only to
kthe ghosts of great men. The latter seems the more likely alternative, for, according
[to J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific in the Ship 'Duff', p. 282,
la chief when alive was esteemed odooa, "god" or "spirit" '. Unfortunately Wilson's
[use of the word 'chief is not sufficiently exact to warrant any conclusion being
drawn from his statement.

J (2) Anything unusual, or beyond Tongan comprehension, was otua. Thus,
P. West, Ten Years in South-central Polynesia, p. 256, speaking of the native gods,
remarks that any unusual natural phenomenon, such as a shark or a volcano, 'had its
jlevotees', that is, was otua.

G. Vason, An Authentic Narrative of Four Years' Residence at Tongatabu, p. 153,
,ays : 'When anything wonderful excited their attention respecting us or our goods
>r our arts, as was the case with the cuckoo-clock', they said, odooa, 'he has a spirit'.
3ut did the Tongans exclaim 'he has an odooa', or did they say 'odooa', simply?
piey meant, I think, that the strange quality odooa (otua) was manifest. See further
'ara. 63.

The application of otua to anything unusual or incomprehensible was probably

Kk

!

498 NOTES AND REFERENCES §208

the reason why, as E. E. V. Collacott remarks (op. cit., p. 155), 'almost any object'
might be adopted 'as sacred by a man and his household'. Similarly, when (as S.
Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, p. 127, reports) 'some people placed offer-
ings at the foot of a certain tree' with the idea that they were inhabited by 'spirits'
(i.e. otua), it is probable that the offerings were placed there because there was
something unusual about such a tree. The tree had an otaa-quality, or, to put the
matter in another way, otua was manifest in the tree.

According to G. Vason, An Authentic Narrative of Four Years' Residence at
Tongatabu, p. 153, odooa (otna) was also 'a particular spirit': 'everybody has one'.
In such a context some anthropologists would translate otua as 'guardian spirit' or
as 'familiar spirit'; but the translation would obscure rather than elucidate the
meaning of the word. Moreover, can 'everybody' be understood literally?

For the 'beings' who were otua, see n. 208.

208. When we are dealing with the various 'beings' to whom the Tongans
applied the word otua (n. 207), we must be careful to distinguish between otua in
whose honour temples were erected and the 'heroes' of Tongan mythology.^ Just
as in our reports concerning the Maori (n. 180) the translation of atua, 'god', and
the application of 'god' to mythological heroes, have resulted in the application of
atua to heroes who were not so regarded by the Maori, so also the word 'deities' has
been employed freely in connexion with Tongan 'heroes' who may not have been
known as otua. At any rate, they did not possess temples.

S. Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, p. 125, was conscious of a difference
between these heroes and otua to whom supplication was made. 'There were many
gods', she says, but they were 'not all objects of worship'. Similarly, E. E. V.
Collacott, 'Notes on Tongan Religion', jf.P.S. xxx (1921), p. 154*-. speaks of
Tangaloa, Maui and Hikuleo as 'gods of the Sky, Underworld and Bulutu', and
calls them 'major deities'. 'In spite of the widespread recognition of these major
deities', they were not, he says, 'resorted to'. Attention was paid rather 'to a
number of gods whose cults were in some cases nation-wide and in others confined
to different localities, or more strictly to various groups of people'.

The following notes on Heu-moana-uliuli, Tangaloa, Maui and Hikuleo are
based on W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 113, 116,
120 f.; W. Lawry, Missiotiary Visit to the Friendly and the Feejee Islands, p. 249;
J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific in the Ship 'Duff', pp. 277-8;
S. Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, p. 126; T. West, Ten years in South-
central Polynesia, p. 256.

(1) West and Lawry are the only writers who mention Heu-moana-uliuh. He

is said to have governed the sea.

(2) Tangalao is called 'god of the sky' (Wilson), 'god of carpenters' who lived in
the sky and sent the thunder (Lawry), and 'god of artificers and arts who had several
priests, most of them carpenters' (Mariner). Farmer states that no offerings were
made to him. Mariner says that he had no temple.

I should require to be told the native term for the alleged 'carpenter priests
before concluding that they were taula-otua. For taula-otua, see n. 209.

According to Farmer, Tangaloa had a threefold nature. This is not mentioned
by the earlier writers, so either the threefold character of the Christian God has
encouraged a rationalization of Tongan conceptions, or Tangaloa was associated
with different things in different districts. Lawry mentions that in the opinion of
the Tongans, Tangaloa had taught the white man how to construct his fine ships.
In the area with which Mariner was most familiar, it was Tangaloa and not Mam
(see below) who brought the Friendly Islands up out of the sea. The contrary
nature of the stories suggests that they were obtained in different areas.

(3) Maui bore the earth on his shoulders, and sometimes, in some places,

§208 NOTES AND REFERENCES 499

people (presumably during an earthquake or during a volcanic eruption) used to
beat the earth with sticks in order to induce him to lie still. He had neither temple
nor priest; no one was ever 'possessed' by him. According to Lawry, he drew the
Friendly Islands up out of the sea and had two sons, Maui Atalonga and Kijikiji.
Farmer, however, regards them as father, son and nephew. They are also said to
have been father, son and grandson.

C. Wilkes, Narrative of U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, iii. 23, relates
these stories and states that Maui was the 'oldest god'. He adds concerning Maui,
'He is not now worshipped by any tribe.' The words 'not now' seem to imply that
Maui was 'worshipped' in olden times, but there is no evidence that this was so.
I do not know what exact meaning can be attached to the phrase 'oldest god'. For
a comment on Commander Wilkes's value as an anthropological authority, see nn.
195, 595, 597-

(4) Hikuleo presided over the underworld. Mariner calls him 'a very high god',
and adds that 'he has no house, no priest, and the natives are uncertain about his
attributes'. On the other hand, Lawry says that he had 'his spirit-temple'. Accord-
ing to Farmer, the Tongans rarely made offerings to him. I doubt if Lawry's report
can be allowed to override the rest of our authorities. Farmer's 'rarely' is vague.

According to S. Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, p. 129, and T. West,
Ten Years in South-central Polynesia, p. 254, the famous inaje (inache, inachi)
ceremony was held in honour of Hikuleo. Perhaps this is why Farmer calls the
Tuitonga his 'high priest', for the inaji was the occasion when the first-fruits were
offered to the Tuitonga. The festival lasted a fortnight and was celebrated by a
display of wrestling, boxing, club fighting, &c. J. Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific
Ocean in the Years 1776-1780, i. 337 ff., describes this 'grand solemnity'. He
seems to have thought that the celebration was in honour of Tuitonga 's son. The
1 festival was abolished by Finau (Finow) 'as a great and useless expense to the people'.

Finau's abolition of the inaji ceremony is a good example of the changes which
I were occurring in Polynesia about the end of the eighteenth century (para. 48),
and was the more remarkable because, in the popular opinion, 'if this ceremony
was omitted, the vengeance of the gods would fall in a signal manner upon the
1 people'. See W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 2, 84.
Since these heroes had no temples, they do not come within the definition which
I should like to place on the word 'god' (para. 148). I doubt if they were otua.
The otua to whom supplication was made are divided by Mariner (op. cit. ii.
I 1 10-16) into six classes :

(1) 'Original gods', which must be distinguished from Collacott's 'major deities'
and Wilkes's 'oldest' gods. Nor can we justifiably call them 'district gods', for the
lists disagree, and none can be regarded as exhaustive, even for the area from
j which the information was gathered. Lists are given by the following writers:
J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific in the Ship 'Duff', pp. 276-9 ;
j J. Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean in the Years 1776-1780, i. 404; E. E. V"!
Collacott,'NotesonTonganReligion',^.P.^.xxx(i92i),p. 154 f.; W. Mariner, I.e.
Collacott's information seems to apply to Tongatabu ; Mariner was more intimate
with Vavau.

The following are included by Mariner:

(a) Tali-y-toobo — 'Wait there, toobo'. Four temples were dedicated to him, but
only the how (hau) could be his medium.

(b) Tooifooa Bolotoo— 'chief of all Bulutu'. Cp. (/). But I should have expec-
ted Hikuleo (Higooleo) to be given that title. Tooifooa Bolotoo had several
temples and three or four priests.

(c) Toobotatai — 'Toboo the mariner'. Cp. (a). Several houses were dedicated
to him. This otua was concerned in the incident of Finau's (Finow's)
daughter (n. 212).

-oo NOTES AND REFERENCES §208

(d) Alai-valoo — the meaning of the name is unknown ; this otua seems to have
specialized in healing.

(e) Alo-alo — 'to fan', god of the wind, weather, rain, harvest and vegetation. He
is reported to have had two temples; and a priest lived in each of them. See

also n. 211.
(/) Tooi bolotoo — 'chief of Bulutu'. Cp. (b).

(2) 'Souls of nobles' (egi(e)) that is, those who were kin to the Tuitonga: 'They
have the power of inspiring priests and of appearing in dreams and visions ; they
have no houses dedicated to them; the proper places to approach them are their
graves, which are considered sacred and are therefore as much respected as con-
secrated houses.' Probably the native term for 'grave' was faitoka. See Le Pere
A. C, Dictionnaire toga-frangais, s.v., S. Rabone, A Dictionary of the Tongan Lan-
guage, s.v. The 'consecrated houses' were called fale-lotu or fale-tapu (n. 205).

Mariner does not describe the rites which were conducted in honour of these otua.
Thus it is impossible to say whether the rites should be classed as do ut abeas or as
do ut des.

S. Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, p. 127, says: 'There were certain
priests and priestesses into whom the spirit' (i.e. otua) 'entered, and houses were
built from which these sacred persons might utter their oracles. When a great
blessing was desired, or a serious evil deprecated, if they wished to have children
or success, they would go to the burying ground of their great chiefs, clean them up
thoroughly, sprinkle the floor with sand and lay down their offerings. Such houses
were once numerous.'

The transition from 'houses' to 'burying ground' and then again to 'houses' is
incomprehensible unless we assume either that the houses were also burial places
or that houses were erected over the graves.

(3) 'Souls of chiefs' who ranked as matabule, that is, 'counsellors, experts in
native law, masters of arts, repositories of native customs', &c. 'They had no
power of inspiring priests and no houses were dedicated to them.'

(4) 'Primitive attendants and servants of the gods': an extremely mysterious
class 'who had no power in Tonga'. Thus they can be disregarded.

Mariner states neither on what grounds he makes the above classification nor
how he distinguished (4) from (3). Cp. the classifications of Samoan aitu (n. 195).

(5) hotooa pow {otua pau), 'mischievous gods', who plagued mankind. These
are probably the otua bauo of whom Wilkes and Lawry speak. See n. 212.

(6) Maui, for whom see above.

Temples, fale-tapu or fale-lotu, were erected only to (1), so they were the only
otua to whom I should apply the word 'god'. (2) and (3) were clearly 'ghosts'.

E. E. V. Collacott, 'Notes on Tongan Religion', jf.P.S. xxx (1921), pp. i54f->
159, speaks of 'a gradation in the divine hierarchy from gods of populous tribes
down to deities who were the private possession of a few'. He states that 'there was
nothing to prevent a man from setting up a tutelary deity of his own', and that 'the
number of the gods was liable to constant augmentation by the deification of the
illustrious and well-beloved dead'. Surely in these passages Collacott is represent-
ing Tongan conceptions in terms which no Tongan would have understood. 'God',
'tutelary deity', 'well-beloved dead', &c, are translations of otua, and we must not
distinguish what the Tongans confused. Furthermore, when does a 'ghost' become
a 'god'? What is the essential difference between them? Collacott does not define
the words. My suggestion is that we can distinguish them only by the place in
which a right relation was maintained with them.

According to W. Mariner, op. cit. ii. 106, 'the less important gods', i.e. 'ghosts',
appeared as animals. S. Farmer, op. cit., p. 126, states the same fact in another
way. She says that the 'spirits', i.e. 'ghosts', revisited the earth 'in the form of
birds and fish'. I cannot estimate the amount of inference which these reports

§2°9 NOTES AND REFERENCES 501

contain. I suspect that the word otua was applied adjectivally or adverbially to
some animals as well as to some dead men, and that the application of the same
word to different phenomena has caused our authorities to conclude that the
phenomena were identified. This seems to be a common error in social anthro-
pology.

J. E. Moulton, art. 'Tonga', Erie. Rel. Eth., ed. J. Hastings, disagrees with the
other authorities. He states that the 'supernatural beings' were fa'ahikehe, 'other
people', 'different people'. I have not been able to find the word in any other
publication. But the Rev. J. E. Moulton's object is to show the 'development of
spiritual ideas' rather than to describe Tongan practices, which he may not have
known very well (n. 211).

209. The reports, however, are not unanimous. R. W. Williamson, The Social
and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, ii. 410, states most of the evidence and
concludes that 'taula was a general name for a priest'. According to Le Pere A C
Dictionnaire toga-franpais , s.v. 'pretre', the full title was taula-otua. The same
writer mentions motuatapu. Motuatapu, however, literally meant 'sacred old
man'. Cp. the Maori tohunga taua (n. 192).

T. West, Ten Years in South-central Polynesia, p. 257, translates taula as 'shrine
of the god'. The word meant literally 'vessel' or 'container'. Cp. the Samoan
taula-aitu (n. 198), Maori waka-atua (n. 181), and Purari imunu-vii (n. 323).

Every taula, according to West, was assisted by a feao, whose duties included
the care of the temple and the introduction of the suppliants. This assistant is
mentioned also by S. Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, p. 128, who calls
him 'friend of the god'. She does not give the native term; but she calls the priest
'shrine of the god', feaa, so she may have confused the feaa and the taula. The dual
personnel of a Tongan temple may be compared with that of a Uganda temple
(n. 130) and of an Ila ghost-grove (n. 403).

W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 86, states that
a priest was called fahe-gehe, from a root which meant 'to separate from'. His idea
is that the word signified 'a man who has a peculiar or distinct sort of mind or
soul, differing from that of the generality of mankind, which disposes some god
occasionally to inspire him'. Mariner does not state in what the peculiarity of the
mind consisted, but doubtless we may conjecture the usual symptoms of 'posses-
sion' I do not find fahe-gehe mentioned elsewhere.

The word taula is not in Mariner's vocabulary, nor is it mentioned by S. Rabone,
A Vocabulary of the Tongan Language. Mariner's omission is surprising.

210. W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 80, 86,
106-9, 145 (for 'possession'), 146 (for lack of organization). E. E. V. Collacott'
'Notes on Tongan Religion', J.P.S. xxx (1921), pp. 155, 157, states that the priests
were consulted concerning hazardous undertakings and for deliverance or protec-
tion from the troubles of everyday life.

211. For Aloalo, 'god of the weather', see W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives
of the Tonga Islands, ii. 115. He had two temples and two priests. Mariner
adds that Aloalo was not a god of thunder and lightning, 'of which indeed there
is no god acknowledged among them, as this phenomenon is never recollected to
have done any mischief of consequence'.

J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific in the Ship 'Duff' p 278
calls Fenou Langi 'god of the rain', and G. Vason, An Authentic Narrative of
Four Years' Residence at Tongatabu, p. 152, says that Calla Filatonga was 'goddess
of the wind'. Is Fenou the same as Finow (Finau), the title of a Tongan 'chief?
Langi meant 'sky' or 'heavens'.

J. E. Moulton, art. 'Tonga', Enc. Rel. Eth., ed. J. Hastings, states that when

5o2 NOTES AND REFERENCES §212

the people wanted fair winds, good crops, or successful fishing, they sought the
favour of a god through prayer and sacrifice. He does not give any details. Perhaps
he did not witness any pagan practices.

The opinions of the Tongans in regard to the weather are well illustrated by the
remark of a taula-otua that the recent high winds and thunder had been occasioned
by the heated arguments of the gods. See W. Mariner, op. cit. i. 369.

212. W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, ii. 167 (for
the opinion that witchcraft was cowardly), 439 (for placing in god-houses the
articles belonging to people who were to be bewitched) ; E. E. V. Collacott, 'Notes
on Tongan Religion', J.P.S. xxx (1921), pp. 155, J58 (for disease caused by otua,
which he renders 'divine disfavour', 'maleficent sprite', &c).

W. Lawry, Missionary Visit to the Friendly and the Feejee Islands, p. 251, and
C. Wilkes, Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, iii. 22, state
that the 'mischievous gods' who caused illness were called otua bauu. This seems
to be the same as Mariner's hotooa pow (n. 207).

Sacrilege in the temples and the improper use of offerings were two of the crimes
which the gods punished by inflicting madness. See W. Lawry, I.e.

Death was due to disrespect of the gods, otua (W. Mariner, op. cit. i. 387).

According to T. West, Ten Years in South-central Polynesia, p. 258, the native
name for the ceremony of cursing was tukitalai. So great was the faith in its
efficacy that when the victim heard of its performance he lay down and died.

For the Tongan practice of going to the temple at a time of affliction, see S.
Farmer, Tonga and the Friendly Islands, pp. 127-8 ; W. Mariner, An Account of the
Natives of the Tonga Islands, i. no f.; ii. 115, 241, 245 f. Human sacrifices, we
are told, were offered sometimes, limbs amputated, and bleeding hands displayed,
in an attempt to soften the hard heart of an otua.

Human sacrifices are mentioned also by E. E. V. Collacott, 'Notes on Tongan
Religion', J.P.S. xxx (1921), p. 158, and G. Vason, An Authentic Narrative of
Four Years' Residence in Tongatabu, p. 78. Vason says that on one occasion a son
was killed when his father was dying 'in the delusive hope that his health and
strength would be communicated to his dying father'. The idea of substitution,
however, may not have been absent. It was the foundation of Finau's (Finow's)
appeal to the gods when his daughter was ill.

In ordinary cases the vital point was that the priest should be satisfied with the
value of the present, but if the suppliants did not receive a favourable answer at
the first temple to which they applied, they visited a number of temples in turn
until success attended their efforts. For instance, when Finau's (Finow's) daughter
was ill, she was first taken to the sacred precincts of Taliytaboo, where a hog was
killed each morning. This was unavailing, and she was moved to the temple of
Tooifooa Bulutu, with no better result. The party then sailed to Hoonga, where
lived the priest Toobotea who was accustomed to be inspired by Finau's 'tutelary
god', Toobotatai. But the girl became worse, and the party went to Ofoo in order
to consult Alai Valoo, the god of Finau's aunt.

In a similar manner, Finau's dying body was carried from temple to temple in the
hope that he might be brought back to life by the removal of the curse of the otua.
See W. Mariner, op. cit. i. 363-7°) 379~8i.

213. Assam is the only Indian province which has been surveyed in ethno-
graphical detail. In addition to these four Naga tribes I discuss the Garos, Mikirs,
and Khasis. See paras. 135-7.

The Naga tribes and the Khasis have been least affected by Hindu culture.
The percentage of total population in 1891 is reported to have been: among the
Nagas, Hindus 3-61, Mohammedans 0-17, Buddhists 0-29; in the Garo Hills,
Hindus 9-37, Mohammedans 4-60, Buddhists 0-32; among the Khasis, Hindus

§214 NOTES AND REFERENCES 503

2-30, Mohammedans 0-41, Buddhists o-ooi. All other societies included over
40 per cent. Hindus. See Census of India, 1891, Assam, i, pp. 85, 87, 91.

The large proportion of Hindus among the Meithis or Manipuris makes it
impossible for me to include them in my survey. They have been subject to
Hindu influence since the beginning of the eighteenth century, perhaps since
the middle of the fifteenth century. See T. C. Hodson, The Meithis, pp. 5, 7, 47,
95-7. Professor Hodson has described the culture of other societies of the Mani-
pur State in his The Naga Tribes of Manipur (London, 191 1), but the limit of a
single volume has not permitted the full treatment which is necessary for a detailed
study.

Reluctantly I have passed over Col. J. Shakespear's Lushei Kuki Clans (London,
1912) on account of the external influences which have affected their culture.

214. J. P. Mills, The Ao Nagas, pp. 212, 270, 272 f.

Before the white man administered the province, infanticide and abortion were
usual among unmarried girls. A fatherless child could not be a member of any clan
and therefore was stigmatized. Nowadays the man who is responsible for the
pregnancy of an unmarried girl usually marries her. Ibid., pp. 212, 266-7.

In pagan times the father of a pre-nuptial child seems to have incurred no blame
or responsibility.

215. The quotations are from J. H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas, pp. 183-4.

A betrothed girl wore a plaited band of red cane and yellow orchid stem on her
head. This suggests that she was marked down as the sexual property of her
fiance. We are not told whether he had access to her or not.

It is interesting to note that, whereas the head of a Sema girl was shaved until
she was marriageable, the Angami girl did not let her hair grow until she was
actually married. See J. H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas, p. 184; idem, The Angami
Nagas, p. 172. This seems to suggest that the betrothal was regarded as of more
consequence among the Semas than among the Angamis.

The use of the word 'adultery' to denote pre-nuptial sexual intercourse is con-
fusing. The word is needed to denote illicit post-nuptial intercourse. Cp. n. 303.

216. J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, p. 169.

Throughout this monograph Dr. Hutton has described sexual conduct rather
than sexual regulations, and beliefs rather than rites; e.g. 'Accurate information
as to the precise degree of chastity observed by Angami girls is very difficult to
obtain. When asked about it . . .' But a report concerning the sexual conduct of
natives cannot be reliable if it is merely based on the answers given to the white
man's questions.

Among the Angamis, neither the father nor the mother of a pre-nuptial child
seems to have been stigmatized. Usually such a child was killed at birth. Abortion
was common. But customs seem to have varied, for though in some places a woman
was forbidden to rear the child, in other places the child was allowed to live.
Sometimes the father of the child seems to have acknowledged its parentage ; he
does not seem to have been compelled to marry the child's mother. The reports,
however, are vague.

Perhaps the hitherto customary infanticide has ceased in some districts as the
result of white influence.

217. J. P. Mills, The Lhota Nagas, p. 19, merely says that 'the state of morals
varies in a curious way from village to village'. He seems to refer to post-nuptial
conduct. But 'the state of morals' is a matter of opinion, not of fact. I have been
unable to find any statement concerning pre-nuptial intercourse, pre-nuptial
children, or pre-nuptial pregnancy.

5o4 NOTES AND REFERENCES §218

Cp. the following passages: (i) concerning the Lhotas, 'There is no ceremony
connected with divorce as there is among the Aos'; (ii) concerning the Aos, 'There
is no ceremony connected with divorce'. See J. P. Mills, The Lhota Nagas, p. 156 ;
idem, The Ao Nagas, p. 276.

Perhaps we are to understand that among the Lhotas there was no intricate
division of the property such as was a prominent feature of an Ao separation ; but
it is only after a long and careful study of both the above-cited volumes that this
possibly incorrect conjecture suggests itself. If the apparent contradiction is not
to be explained in this manner, I am at a loss to understand it. The difficulty is
that it is only in the latter work, in which we are told that there was no ceremony
connected with divorce, that this 'ceremony' is described. Mr. Mills does not
notice the contrary nature of his statements.

218. The quotations are from J. P. Mills, The Ao Nagas, p. 215; idem, The
Lhota Nagas, p. 113 ; J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, p. 241 ; idem, The Sema
Nagas, p. 213.

219. See J. P. Mills, The Ao Nagas, passim, and esp. pp. 125-218.

The word tsungrem has been variously rendered by 'deities', 'spirits', or by the
singular of those words: 'They are everywhere — in the villages, in the fields, in
the jungle, in trees and in huge boulders. . . . There is hardly a conspicuous boulder
which escapes attention.' Yet if only conspicuous boulders were tsungrem, it may
have been only conspicuous trees, &c, which were tsungrem, that is, tsungrem may
have been manifest only in any supernormal natural feature. Thus the ubiquity
implied in the word 'everywhere' may be a false inference, due to a knowledge of
the animistic theory. See further para. 148.

It is interesting to note that in Dr. Button's opinion (in J. P. Mills, op. cit.,
p. 216, n. 1) the word tsungrem may have been applied 'originally' to the 'spirits
of the dead'. In the light of this possibility the tsungrem mung ceremony (ibid.,
pp. 219-20) assumes a somewhat different significance from that which he attaches
to it. The meaning of the word 'originally' is obscure.

In some contexts, tsungrem was qualified according to the place of manifestation;
thus, kimung tsungrem, house-tsungrem, anting tsungrem, sky-tsutigrem, Sec.

I am unable to separate inference from fact in the descriptions of lichaba. The
identity of 'the priest and his assistant' who led the lichaba ceremonies is not dis-
closed; no details are available concerning the participants. Is Ningtangu com-
parable to, e.g., the Tongan Maui? For Maui, see n. 208.

220. The Angami terhoma, which has been translated 'god', 'spirit', 'deities', &c,
is one of the words which I have selected (para. 5) as an illustration of the claim
that until the words 'god' and 'spirit' have been defined they cannot be used as
the basis of a scientific classification.

In answer to a question, Dr. Hutton has been kind enough to write to me as
follows (Pte. Com., 30/12/20): 'Terho-ma is either singular or plural as required
by the context. It would be perfectly correct to say terho-ma puo, "a spirit", and
equally so to say terho-ma peteko vimwe, "all spirits are bad". The termination
-ma, "man", "men", takes no plural inflexion though pete, "all", "whole", is
given one.'

The fact that the termination -ma meant 'man' is significant. It would be
interesting to know if the Ao tsungrem and the Sema teghami can be so derived,
and if there is an alternative interpretation of -ma.

Professor T. C. Hodson doubts if there is any satisfactory English equivalent
of terhoma. He informs me {Pte. Com., 29/11/20) that the suffixes which indicate
plurality in Tibeto-Burman dialects are used to mean 'crowd', 'mass', 'heap', and
says 'probably a purist might regard them as a mode of classification'. A heap or

§221 NOTES AND REFERENCES 505

mass of terhoma is certainly a different thing from many terhoma, and since Dr
Hutton himself states (The Angami Nagas, p. 178) that 'all terhoma are clothed
with a hazy cloak of unity', we may say that to the natives terhoma was a unity and
that the plurality has been created by our translations.

We are told that 'to terhoma generally most natural phenomena are ascribed',
but would it not be equally, and possibly more, accurate to say that in many
phenomena terhoma was manifest? Was the causation definitely in the native
mind? As it stands, the report seems to have been coloured by the Tylorian
theory of 'personified causes'. See further para. 148. The sun, we read, was
perhaps a terhoma'. Are we to understand that some men applied the word
terhoma to the sun? 'Perhaps' is a curious word in that context

Before attempting to understand the following 'spirits' I should require to know
the full native context, to be told the area over which they were recognized and
to have an analysis of the words: maweno, 'spirit of fruitfulness'; talepfu 'mis-
chievous sprite'; ayepi, a 'fairy' who brought good luck, &c.

At first I was puzzled concerning the relation between kepenopfu and upekenopfu,
but Dr. Hutton has been kind enough to inform me (Pte. Com., 30/12/29) that they
were the same. The word, he says, was employed for a short time by the mis-
sionaries as the Naga equivalent of 'God the Father'. He adds that now the children
seem to be taught to use 'Jehovah', which had been adopted by the first missionaries
to the Naga Hills.

221 See J. H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas, pp. 191-2, 230, 392, &c.
In addition to teghami there was

(i) kungumi. Usually the word is spelt with a capital K and translated 'sky-
spint', but sometimes the lower case is employed (e.g. ibid., p. 331); 'fairy'
is then the English equivalent. See further n. 223.
(ii) alhou or timilhou, 'a usually beneficent but somewhat remote creator'. But
I accept this 'belief with reservations. On the rare occasions when alhou
was maleficent, were there any rites in his honour?

\ u222* See J- P' MiIls> The Lhota Nagas, pp. 79, 1 13-17, &c. We are told that
the nearest equivalent to gods is an order of beings called Potso\ but surely if
we must study uncivilized beliefs apart from the rites, it would be more profitable
to inquire into the native opinion than to search native thought for some similarity
to our thought.

Throughout his book Mr. Mills speaks of 'Potsos'. The capital P and the
anglicized plural are most undesirable.

J. H. Hutton, in J. P. Mills, op. cit., pp. 113, n. 1, 115, n. 1, compares potso with
the Sema kungumi (n. 221) and states that potso 'is commonly used as a form of
address to highly respected persons such as sahibs'. Was potso, then, applied to
anything supernormal?

A capital S is given to Sityingo, but sityingo seems to have been a power rather
than a being; thus, okisityingo, house-sityingo, &c. We are told thatngazo, 'ajungle-
spint' is 'practically identical with sityingo'; was the native term ngazosityingo ?

More information is required concerning tsandramo, which may correspond to
the Ao tsungrem (n. 219). Possibly the suffix -mo may bear the same significance
as -ma in terhoma (n. 221). A similar suggestion might be made concerning nang-
kamo.

223. J. H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas, pp. 195, 210, and 210, n. 1.

Sometimes Dr. Hutton queries his own translation 'ghost', but repeats it with
confidence in other passages. He does not think that the Semas separated 'soul'
and 'ghost' 'by any discrimination of thought and classification leading to the use
of different names'. How, then, can the separate translations be justified?

r06 NOTES AND REFERENCES §224

Dr. Hutton translates kitimi, 'dead men', 'spirits of the dead', and 'ghost', and
speaks of 'the Kitimi' as well as of kitimi, 'a dead man'. He does not say in what
other contexts the natives used the term.

224. J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, p. 185. The Angami word for ghost
seems to have been tend, which may be compared with the Sema kitimi (n. 223).

225. See J. H. Hutton, 'The Carved Monoliths at Jumuguri, Assam', J.R.A.I.
liii (1923), pp. 150-9. The comparisons which Dr. Hutton makes with certain
customs referred to by Sir J. G. Frazer, in The Golden Bough, would have been
happier if Dr. Hutton had consulted the authorities to which that author referred
and had inquired into the meaning of the native terms which were being translated
'spirits of the dead', 'corn-spirit', &c.

Vague statements by J. P. Mills, The Ao Nagas, pp. 109 ('There is hardly a cere-
mony in Ao religion which does not have its bearing on the crops; spirits of the
earth, dead ancestors, human heads, luck stones, all play their part'), 121 ('It is
by favour of the dead that the crops are good') are not strengthened by the citation
of definite facts ; nor are the native terms for 'spirits of the earth', 'dead ancestors',
'the dead', quoted.

J. P. Mills, op. cit., p. 288, has written a single paragraph significantly entitled
'The Worship of the Dead'; these comments are appropriate to it:

(1) 'A description has already been given', Mr. Mills says (referring to op. cit.;
pp. 175-6) 'of the way in which presents were sent through a medicine-man to the
departed.' From the context we should expect that the presents were an act of
'worship' to secure benefits; but this is far from being the case. The Aos thought
that a quarrel brought bad luck ; it was the duty of the younger to initiate a recon-
ciliation. Sometimes the elder party died before this was done, and then a medicine-
man was requested to meet the dead man in a dream ; at the same time small presents
were placed on the corpse platform. Thus the desired reconciliation took place.
Such an action cannot be termed 'worship of the dead'.

(2) Mr. Mills proceeds: 'Occasionally the Chongli would go further, and a whole
village would perform a ceremony to gain the favour of some great man.' The
ceremony to which he refers took place 'one year when the crops were bad'. It is
dismissed in four lines. We are not told whether it was an isolated incident or
not. There is no other mention of it.

(3) So far as I can judge from a study of the small incidents which have been
scraped together in this short paragraph, some of the Aos may have carried out
a few rites of an indefinite character at harvest-time, but these rites have not been
described in a manner which would warrant any definite conclusion concerning
their character. The practices at the corpse platforms, apparently irregular, do
not appear to have been tendance; but no definite conclusion can be drawn until
the native terms have been quoted, and the native usage of these terms elucidated.

For the need of these things, see paras. 61, 65, 90, 102, 144.

(4) Dr Hutton, not Mr. Mills, is responsible for the statements which appear
in pp. 81, n. 2, in, n. 1, 205, n. 1, 225, n. 2, and 257, n. 1. These notes must
be studied in the light of the theories propounded by him after his visit to Jumuguri.

226. See J. P. Mills, The Lhota Nagas, p. 130: 'The rainfall in the Naga Hills

is usually adequate.' .

The reported rain-compelling ceremonies seem to have been isolated incidents;
their connexion with potso (n. 222) is obscure. Likewise the ceremony which the
Sema lapu (n. 228) carried out with the head of a huluk ape seems to have been
a rare occurrence, not a regular practice. See J. H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas
pp. 214-15. We are not told who the 'rain-makers' were or whence they received
their power.

§227 NOTES AND REFERENCES 507

Among the Angamis, we are told, rain-compelling ceremonies 'could never
conceivably be needed'. See J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, pp. 236, 238. If
there was a drought, a ceremony was performed at which, we are told, no stranger
could be present; and the ceremonies to stop the rain, Dr. Hutton says, may not
have been 'fully revealed'. A certain sub-clan of a special clan seemed to have
conducted some rites which were peculiar to themselves. The story of the origin
of the private rite which is said to have been performed at a graveside suggests
that it was the imitation of an impulsive action which once had been successful.

Among the Aos there were no professional rain-makers ; and the descriptions of
the rain-making ceremonies are not complete. See J. P. Mills, The Ao Nagas,
pp. 13 1-2. An old man of the sun-clan seems to have claimed the power to control
the sun; it is not clear whether this was his own peculiar fancy or not. Dr. Hutton
seems to think that he acted as a member of the sun-clan, but does not say if the
clan appointed him or how he was selected. Nor do we know if any other member
of the sun-clan, or any member of any other clan, possessed the same sun-con-
trolling power.

227. See J. P. Mills, The Ao Nagas, pp. 243-5, 247.

The man whom Mr. Mills calls 'priest' seems to have been an elder, putik,
whose qualifications were 'age, experience, and freedom from serious deformity'!
He was not a magician and performed no cure. The native term for 'medicine-
! man' is said to have been arasentsur, 'extractor of dirt'.

J. H. Hutton, in J. P. Mills, op. cit., p. 244, n. 1, compares the Sema thumomi
(n. 228). May we conclude, then, that the man was also a wizard?

With arasentsur, compare the Lhota ratsen (n. 230).

Concerning the source of magic power we read : 'The first sign that a person is
endowed with the powers of a medicine-man is a tendency for him or her to talk
incoherently and converse with spirits.5 For tsungrem, 'spirits', see n. 219. When
we are told that the man 'conversed' with tsungrem, are we to understand that he
possessed or was possessed by tsungrem, or merely that he was tsungrem (adv.)
because he spoke strangely? See further para. 148.

Most medicine-men in the Naga Hills seem to have had a 'familiar'. The
subject is discussed by J. H. Hutton, 'The Leopard-Men of the Naga Hills',
JJR..A.I. 1 (1920), pp. 41-51. See also Col. J. Shakespear's appended note to that
paper.

Usually sickness was considered to be due to tsungrem, but few of the natives,
if any, had thought the matter out as clearly as Mr. Mills, who confesses that they
were puzzled by his questions. See The Ao Nagas, pp. 244, n. 2, 231 ff. Some of
the causes of sickness which Mr. Mills reports seem to represent individual con-
jectures made in an attempt to answer those questions.

For comment on the danger of direct questioning, see para. 4.

228. J. H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas, pp. 213 f., 230-2, 247, translates thumomi
;as 'seer' and as 'witch'. He or she was also a medicine-man, 'a private practitioner,
self-appointed, and independent', practising many different forms of magic cures
and inventing new ones ad hoc. Since at times a thumomi seems to have become
possessed', and then to have dreamt dreams, perhaps we may conclude that this
possession was due to teghami; but Dr. Hutton states (op. cit., p. 199) that 'it
seems to be the aghau which gives gifts of prophecy, cure, and witchcraft'. The
ighau is called 'the ancestral familiar spirit' (ibid., p. 64), and 'personal familiar'
'ibid., p. 193); but it is included also as teghami, and is said to have caused a man
'to run amok; so the native significance of the term may not have been known.

Some curative ceremonies seem to have been conducted by the lapu, the official
buner of the dead (ibid., pp. 217-18). We are not told on what occasions he
)fficiated.

SoS NOTES AND REFERENCES §229

229. See J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, p. 242, n. 1 : ' Themuma are persons
who are recognized more or less on the strength of their own assertions as possessed
by a god, Terhoma* For terhoma, see para. 5, n. 220. The man seems to have acted
as wizard, medicine-man, and diviner.

Usually sickness was considered to be due to either terhoma or witchcraft. There
was also a particular kind of pebble which, if thrown at a man, caused him to
become ill. It need not hit him. See J. H. Hutton, op. cit., p. 242. For further
causes of sickness, see n. 230.

Possibly the magical rites reported in op. cit., pp. 98-100, 233-5, were invented
ad hoc.

230. It is interesting to observe that among the Lhota and Ao Nagas, of whom
Mr. Mills has written, some illnesses are said to have been due to 'capture of the
soul' by tsandramo or tsungrem; this belief is not reported as having existed among
the Angamis and Sema Nagas whose culture has been described by Dr. Hutton.
On the other hand, 'possession' by terhoma or teghami is said to have necessitated
a ceremony of transference or exorcism among the latter tribes ; no such method of
treatment is mentioned by Mr. Mills. It is a curious coincidence that the areas
over which the 'beliefs' prevailed should have corresponded so exactly to the areas
in which the two authors worked. See J. P. Mills, The Lhota Nagas, pp. 15, 79,
133 ; idem, The Ao Nagas, pp. 227, 232; J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, p. 179;
idem, The Sema Nagas, pp. 197, n. 3, 262, 412.

When J. P. Mills, The Lhota Nagas, p. 79, states that the medicine-man was
called in 'to extract from the body the bit of earth or wood or hair which the spirit
has put there', I suspect that the ratsen went through the extraction rite, and that
the cause of the illness was tsandramo. I doubt if the Nagas identified tsandramo
and the foreign body which the ratsen claimed to remove. See further para. 148,
where I discuss the so-called intrusive theory of sickness.

Mr. Mills states that 'potsos hold converse with the village seer' (op. cit., pp. 113—
14). He made a similar remark concerning the Ao magician and tsungrem (n. 227).
I conclude that the man acted by potso power. Potsos, of course, is an anglicized
plural. See n. 222.

A ceremony named potsokam seems to connect potso with affliction, but unfor-
tunately details are lacking. See op. cit., p. 131.

I am not clear whether the pnthi (putik, n. 227) was ratsen, but I presume he
was not. For puthi, see op. cit., pp. 12 1-2.

231. The people are called 'palaeo- Asiatics' by L. Steinberg, 'The Turano-
Ganowanian System and Nations of N.E. Asia', International Congress of Ameri-
canists (1922), pp. 319 fT. The term 'Palaeo-Siberians' is employed by M. A.
Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia, p. 16: 'Under the heading Palaeo-Siberians will be
understood the unclassified tribes to the extreme N.E. of Asia, who differ in various
respects from one another and differ still more from the other peoples of
Siberia.'

According to W. Bogoras, 'The Folk-Lore of N.E. Asia, as compared with that
of N.W. America', American Anthropologist, n.s. iv (1902), pp. 577-683, 'Com-
parison of the folk-lore of N.E. Asia and N.W. America shows that the folk-lore
of the Kamchadal, Chukchee and Koryak has little relationship in conception or
expression with that of the interior of Siberia but possesses affinities east along the
Bering Sea to N.W. America. . . . While Chukchee folk-lore is closely related
to the folk-lore of both the Eskimo and the Indians that of the West Bering tribes
shows much greater similarity with the Indian than with the Eskimo tradition.'

The investigation into the problem of the relationship between the inhabitants
of NE. Siberia and NW. America was one of the chief objects of the Jesup North
Pacific Expedition.

§232 NOTES AND REFERENCES 509

232. J. G. Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, ii. 353.

233. W. Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 24; M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia,
p. 261. I have added some references to the latter work because it is the more
readily accessible, but I rely exclusively on the former monograph. Miss Czaplicka
consulted other authorities in addition to Jochelson, but the value of her compila-
tion is reduced by a failure to assess the value of the statements she read.

234. W. Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 591, 734-5, 739-40; M. A. Czaplicka,
Aboriginal Siberia, p. 80 f. For a comment on the value of the latter book, see
n. 233.

W. Jochelson, op. cit., p. 736, emphasizes the fact that no illegitimate child was
found among the Koryak during the census operations, but I am not sure that we
can accept the fact as proof that no illegitimate child existed. I am ready to believe
that in answer to Mr. Jochelson 's questions a Koryak man or woman would deny
that a child was born out of wedlock, but the peculiar attitude towards sexual
intercourse which is part of the inherited tradition of the modern white man would
not encourage the Siberians to speak to him on the subject with absolute frankness.
Tact and politeness are outstanding characteristics of uncivilized peoples, and no
'savage' wittingly offends a white man's susceptibilities. Cp. my remarks in para. 4.

Mr. Jochelson adds that the 'chastity' of the Koryak girls was confirmed not
only by the tales and assertions of the Koryak themselves and by the impressions
which he himself gained in their homes, but also by the testimony of such 'experts
in love affairs' as the Gishiya Cossacks. The same comments apply also to that
statement. Many uncivilized peoples object to their women having intercourse
with white men. Moreover, we cannot admit tales, assertions, and impressions as
evidence. Sexual conduct is one thing, sexual regulations another. No expression
of opinion concerning the former has any anthropological (i.e. scientific) value.

235. W. Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 571-2; M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal
Siberia, p. 70. I rely exclusively on the former monograph. Miss Czaplicka con-
sulted other authorities also, but she found that their descriptions of Chukchee
social regulations were similar to, but not so exact as, those of Bogoras. For a com-
ment on the value of her work, see n. 233.

236. W. Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirised Tungus, pp. 62-8.
Mr. Jochelson considers that the 'co-existence of chastity and licence' had its
origin 'in the dual nature of man'. The opinion has a high romantic interest, and

f illustrates Mr. Jochelson's vague phraseology. He does not define 'chastity', but
'considers that 'the idea of chastity does not include the conception of virginity'.
5 He does not say what it does include ; perhaps merely post-nuptial constancy.

237. W. Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 23-4, 26, 59 f. ; M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal
Siberia, p. 261. Mr. Jochelson considers that 'some names of this deity, translated
into civilised language, suggest abstract ideas', but I should require irrefragable
evidence before I could be convinced that the ideas existed except in the translation.
When Mr. Jochelson speaks of the 'invisible, organizing and destructive forces',
I suspect that he is speaking in a manner which the Koryak would not have
understood.

Miss Czaplicka aims this gentle shaft at those classifications which are based
i on 'beliefs': 'In contrast to the Chukchee, who have whole classes of Supreme
Beings, vairgit, the Koryak, as Jochelson thinks, have a tendency to monotheism.'
'Whole classes of Supreme Beings' is a superb piece of irony, but the shaft is, I
fear, too gentle to penetrate the thick wall of jargon by which the classifications
according to 'beliefs' are surrounded.
For vairgit (sing, vairgin), see n. 240.

5I0 NOTES AND REFERENCES §238

The manner in which crude biblicalities can be intertwined with native legends
may be seen in the adjustment of the Big Raven myth to the new situation which
was caused by the arrival of the Old Man in Koryak consciousness. See W. Jochel-

son, op. cit., pp. 24, 28.

For some comments on other 'Supreme Beings', see nn. 116, 122, 180, 246,

415, 45i, 462, 471, 501, 585-

238. The fact that people are afraid of a corpse is no evidence of 'ancestor-
worship'; yet this appears to be the opinion of W. Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 103,
112, 114, and, following him, of M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia, p. 151.

The meals which our authorities call 'annual sacrifices' were not tendance or
cult. The placing of antlers on the spot where a body had been burnt seems to
have been an impulsive act, due to a fond memory of the dead man.

Mr. Jochelson states that after a successful hunt a dog was sometimes killed and
placed before a kamak; this was gratitude, not propitiation, for, by the power
inherent in the charms which had been sung over the kamak, the Koryak attracted
the animals which constituted their food-supply. By the same power they warded
off kala (pi. kalau). These so-called 'evil spirits' are interesting, for sometimes the
plural form of the word was used. I should accept the descriptions of their activities
with a greater readiness if the whole matter had not become so confused with the
Old Man.

A kamak (kalak) was merely a wooden figure over which a charm had been
recited. Other authorities would call it an 'amulet' or 'fetish'. See W. Jochelson,
op. cit., pp. 30, 32 f., 36 ff., 47, 59- A wrong impression of this report is given
by M. A. Czaplicka, op. cit., p. 267, who makes an extremely unhappy quotation.

With the offerings before a kamak, cp. the offerings before a wakan-stone by
a Dakota Indian (n. 522).

The Koryak kala is clearly equivalent to the Chukchee kele. The latter was
confused by the Chukchee with vairgin; was kala confused with one of the
Koryak words which were applied to the Old Man ? For the Chukchee kele, and
also for other Koryak conceptions, see nn. 241, 246.

The fame of the professional magicians seems to have depended upon the results
which they achieved; but apparently shamans were scarce, for Mr. Jochelson was
acquainted with two only. Perhaps the man or woman who is called the 'family
shaman' was merely the member of the family who had charge of the family kamak.
The external symptoms of his or her power were the usual paroxysms ; the power
itself is said to have come from 'spirits'. The native term is not given. It may have
been enen.

For shamans, see W. Jochelson, op. cit., pp. 49, 52-4; M. A. Czaplicka, op. cit.,
pp. 172, 179, 192, 208, 228. The latter passages should be read consecutively, or
a wrong impression may be received. The Koryak shamans seem to have been
'magicians' in the popular as well as the anthropological sense of the word.

239. The word etin (n. 241) was used also by the Koryak.

240. W. Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 303, but cp. op. cit., p. 290, where the word
'being' is offered as the English equivalent.

The Chukchee vairgin seems to be a conception of a similar character to the
Tlingit yek, for which see paras. 5, 103. W. Bogoras, op. cit., compares vairgin
to the Algonquian manitou and the Omaha wakanda, for which see paras. 113 and
118 respectively. For W. Jochelson's interpretation of vairgin, see n. 246.

For the relation between the Palaeo- Siberians and the inhabitants of NW.
America, see n. 231.

241. W. Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 285 f. (for etin, pi. etinvit), 290 ff. (for kele).
I am not sure whether kele were distinguished from vairgin or not. When

42 NOTES AND REFERENCES 511

Mr. Bogoras says that an 'accurate speaker' would distinguish them, I suspect
that most Chukchee confused them, and that the distinction was encouraged by
the dichotomy into 'good' and 'evil' which was apparently present in the mind of
the observer. Mr. Bogoras mentions the confusion and then describes the con-
ceptions as if they were distinct. Perhaps he was puzzled by the confusion; on
the other hand the terms may have been current in different areas. Unfortunately
we are not told the areas from which the information was collected. No fewer
than four separate Chukchee words (etin, vairgin, enen, kele) have been translated
'spirit' ; and since in the text the native term is seldom quoted it is difficult to read
the reports with intelligent understanding.

I notice that W. Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirised Tungus, p. 152,
confuses kola and kele. It seems possible that the Koryak kola (= Chukchee kele)
may have been confused by them with another Koryak word which is not quoted
in the reports. Cp. n. 238.

According to Bogoras, etin was also kele, although he translates them by different
English words. Since kele was also vairgin, what was the difference between the
three conceptions? The word etin is reported to have been used also by the
Koryak; did they confuse it with kalal Cp. n. 244.

An alternative word for etin, 'master', 'owner', seems to have been aunralin,
pi. aunralit. This is the form of the word according to M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal
Siberia, p. 353, and if we judge by vairgin, pi. vairgit, she is right. Bogoras writes
aunralit, pi. aunralin.

242. W. Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 300, 414, 470 ff. The word, which is
translated 'spirits', was applied by the natives to the Christian God, the crucifix,
the images of the saints, and other paraphernalia.

For a description of the Chukchee reception of the Russian priests, see W.
Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirised Tungus, p. 240.

The enen of a shaman is said to have been derived from the enen of material
! objects and/or of animals, e.g. a wolf, reindeer, whale, plant, iceberg, household
utensil, urine, excrement, &c. Some of these phenomena would be termed
'guardian spirits' by some anthropologists, but that term would not represent
accurately the Chukchee idea of enen, the reports concerning which are confused.

L

243. See W. Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 277; and n. 241 above.

244. See W. Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 516 ff., whose statements conflict.
In former days a corpse was cut up and pieces of it were eaten by the surviving

j relatives ; latterly, the relatives were content to take pieces of the clothing and to
hang them on their amulet strings. Apparently the spasmodic funeral rites were

: conducted as a protection against malevolence. The Chukchee did not conduct

I post-funeral rites of any kind.

The dead, it seems, were kele. Since kele was also vairgin (n. 241), were the dead
also vairgin} For vairgin, see n. 240.

245. For Christian influence, see W. Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yuka-
ghirised Tungus, pp. 79, no, 135.

246. W. Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirised Tungus, pp. 140 f., 150-1
(for pogil), 140, 235-6 (for pon).

The word pon seems to have meant 'something', and to have been used under
those circumstances in which we use the word 'it'. When evening came, the
Yukaghir said, pontulec, 'something got dark'; ponemidec, lit. 'something got
black', i.e. 'night has come', 'it is night' ; pontiboi, 'it rains', &c. On such evidence
Mr. Jochelson calls pon 'Supreme Deity', 'creative principle, scarcely personified'.

512

NOTES AND REFERENCES

§247

He states (op. cit., p. 138) that he is a convert to Andrew Lang's theory of Ili^h
Gods, so he may have been influenced by this vague conception.

In op. cit., p. 234, Mr. Jochelson submits a rationalized Comparative Table of
Supernatural Agents, as conceived by the Palaeo-Siberians. Some of his sub-
missions are as follows :

Supreme Being and Creator
Supernatural Ancestor
Masters and Owners
Shaman's Spirits
Malevolent Spirits

Yukaghir.
port
quil
pogil
eiji
kukul

Koryak.
yaqhicnan
kutqu
etin
enen
kala

Chukchee.

vairgin

kurkil

etin

enen

kele

The following comments, which might be extended, are appropriate:

(1) The Chukchee vairgin (nn. 240-1) is said to have meant 'substance', and had
a qualitative significance. Mr. Jochelson stretches its meaning to 'something
existing', then to 'creative deity', thus introducing the very personal element
absent from the Chukchee use of the word. Moreover, he compares the Yakut
ayi, and then says, 'ayi is not a personal name'.

Among the Reindeer Koryak the equivalent of yaqhicnan was vahiynin, 'sub-
stance', the equivalent of vairgin. It is legitimate to suppose that a similar mental
process is responsible for the personal element which has been introduced into
that word.

For pon, see above.

(2) The inquiring student will search the literature in vain for any fact which
would justify the application of 'Supernatural Ancestor' to quil, kutqu, and kurkil.
Moreover, what is a 'Supernatural Ancestor' ? I can find no definition of the term
in Mr. Jochelson 's monograph.

(3) I have already noted (n. 241) that vairgin, kele, and etin were confused by
the Chukchee. How then can Mr. Jochelson submit the above table without point-
ing out the fact ? Was he aware of it ?

There seems to be a complete lack of objective evidence to justify these transla-
tions and classifications.

247. W. Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirised Tungus, pp. 155, 162,
192, 221 (for shamans), 152 (for kukul and yuoye). If kukul was the equivalent of
the Chukchee kele and the Koryak kala, was it confused with some other concep-
tion? Cp. nn. 241, 246.

If a word had a plural, Mr. Jochelson usually quotes it; thus, kukul, pi. kukube
(op. cit., p. 152); moye, pi. moyepul (op. cit., p. 236). Thus we may conclude that
yuoye was employed only in the singular. But sometimes a prefix was added denot-
ing the place of manifestation: thus, neryuoye, 'yuoye in the clothing', &c.

The reported personifications are not acceptable, for they may exist only in our
translations. Alternatively Christian influence (n. 243) may have been responsible.
May not nanul bon yuoye, 'one who leads into sin', be Satan?

Of moye and pejul the reports are so vague as to be meaningless.

248. Cp. the following passages from P. A. Talbot, Life in Southern Nigeria,
pp. 20-2, 46 :

(1) 'Ndemm are male and female': 'Ndemm is uncreated, eternal'.

(2) Mbiam 'are perhaps the most feared': mbiam 'represents the Ahriman of
Zoroaster; by his aid vengeance, swift and sure, may be wrought upon an
enemy' : 'through his priests alone may Mbiam be approached'.

In The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 117, Mr. Talbot says: 'The cult of Mbiam
holds an important place among all the Ibibio sub-tribes. By some they are

§249 NOTES AND REFERENCES 513

considered powerful in bringing fertility to women, but they are chiefly used as
a court of appeal in criminal cases and serious disputes.'
The remarks are not helpful.

For obumo as 'First Cause', and ete abassi as 'Mother of God', see P. A. Talbot,
Life in Southern Nigeria, pp. 7, 13. Yet in The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii.
61-3, ete abassi is not 'true head of the Ibibio pantheon' but 'mother-god', simply,
while obumo is said to have been identical with obassi (abassi) which, according to
C. Partridge, Cross River Natives, p. 281, was a common form of address to any
human being.

For the Ibibio, see also para. 42.

249. See nn. 116-37.

250. E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, ii. 108. The same statement appears in
ii. 184, and is foreshadowed in i. 427. Tylor's idea was that man first reflected on
himself and concluded that he had a soul. He then considered the world, and
concluded that everything in it had a soul.

251. J. G. Frazer, The Worship of Nature, p. 9.

252. E. Hadfield, Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, pp. 143, 159 et
saepe; S. H. Ray, 'The People and Language of Lifu, Loyalty Islands', J.R.A.I.
xlvii (1917), P. 295 ; W. Gray, 'Notes on the Tannese', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv.
Sc. (1892), p. 664. See also paras. 30, 31.

253. G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 196, 198-9. See also para. 32.

254. W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands, pp. 181, 199-207,
485, n. 2. See also para. 33.

255. For kalou as 'spirits', see W. Deane, Fijian Society, pp. 31, 36-7, 65;
I P. Rougier, 'Maladies et medicins a Fiji, autrefois et aujourd'hui', Anthropos,

ii (1907), p. 70 et saepe ; T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, p. 202.

For kalou as something unusual or supernormal, see A. M. Hocart, 'On the
meaning of kalou', J.R.A.I. xlii (1912), pp. 437~49J D. Hazlewood, A Feejeean and
English Dictionary, s.v.; T. Williams, op. cit., p. 183.

256. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,
p. 35 ; S. and O. Johnson, The History of the Yorubas, p. 26.

257. See paras. 5, 49.
I 258. See n. 195.

259. See n. 207.

260. S. H. Ray, 'The People and Language of Lifu, Loyalty Islands', J.R.A.I.
xlvii (1917), p. 295 ; W. Gray, 'Notes on the Tannese', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv.
Sc. (1892), p. 664.

261. See paras. 32-4.

262. R. E. Dennett, Nigerian Studies, p. 12, n. 1.

263. See paras. 49-51.

264. See para. 33, nn. 77, 79, 83, 86.

265. See paras. 34, 49-51.
1 266. See paras. 30-2.

Ll

5I4 NOTES AND REFERENCES §267

267. See para. 33.

268. See para. 34.

269. A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa,
PP. 95-6-

270. See n. 192 (for tohunga), para. 50 (for taula-aitu), and para. 51 (for taula-

otua).

271. J. G. Frazer, G.B., The Magic Art, i. 420 f.

272. Professor Lucien Levy-Bruhl has published his opinions in three separate
volumes: (1) La Mentalite primitive (Paris, 1922), English translation by L. A.
Clare Primitive Mentality (London, 1923); (2) Les fonctions mentales dans les
societes inferieures (Paris, 1922), English translation by L. A. Clare, How Natives
Think (London, 1926); (3) UAme primitive (Paris, 1927), English translation by
L. A. Clare, The 'SouU of the Primitive (London, 1928).

The references in the text are to How Natives Think, pp. 78, 361.

Professor Levy-Bruhl's suggestions are vitiated by two fallacies: (1) he classes
all uncivilized societies as 'primitive'; (2) he claims to have 'proved' a personal
and individual theory by the citation of examples which he has lifted from their
context and culled at random from the extant literature.

These criticisms apply to many other publications in comparative anthropology.

273. B. Malinowski, 'Baloma, or the Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand
Islands', J.R.A.I. xlvi (1916), p. 418, n. 1.

274. E. Hadfield, Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, p. 29.

275. A. I. Hopkins, In the Isles of King Solomon, p. 26.

276. G. Elliot Smith, Human History, p. 128.

277. C. E. C. Lefroy, 'Australian Aborigines, a noble-hearted Race', Contem-
porary Review, cxxxv (1929), pp. 222-3.

278. H. A. Junod, Life of a South African Tribe, i. 20 f. M. Junod's astonish-
ment at the lack of traditions is natural, but if we examine those tribes which, at
some time or other, have reduced the sexual opportunity of their members, we
find that they possessed traditions. See, e.g., Dr. Codrington's remark in reference
to the men of Sa'a, which I have quoted at the end of para. 33. A research on these
lines might lead to illuminating results.

279. C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia,
pp. 129, 132.

280. Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 10. In quoting this remarkable passage,
I have taken the liberty of correcting some grammatical errors.

281. Peter Jones, History of the Ojibway Indians, p. 191.

282. W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 92, 94.

283. E. Best, The Maori, i. 14-15 (Memoirs of the Polynesian Society, vol. v).

284. B. Thomson, The Fijians, Introd., p. xiv.

285. C. T. Wilson and R. W. Felkin, Uganda and the Egyptian Sudan, i. 198;
and n. 135 above.

286. W. Mariner, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, i. 380-7.

287. G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, ii. 115.

§288 NOTES AND REFERENCES 515

288. J. G. Frazer, The Worship of Nature, p. 14.

289. H. J. Rose, Primitive Culture in Greece, p. 2.

290. W. MacDougall, The Group Mind, p. 75 f.

291. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 223 (for pre-nuptial freedom),
229, 236, n. 2 (for pre-nuptial children); W. H. R. Rivers, Hist. Mel. Soc. i. 39.

Sexual intercourse was forbidden between sogoi, which Dr. Codrington trans-
lates as 'kindred', but the reports as to sogoi are confused. Cp. R. H. Codrington,
op. cit., pp. 25, 26, n. 1 ; W. H. R. Rivers, op. cit. i. 20, 23, 28; R. H. Codrington
and J. Palmer, A Dictionary of the Mota Language, s.v. veve. Society is said to
have been divided into two exogamous moieties, each called veve, and also into
a number of smaller units, which also were called veve. Veve also meant 'mother,
mother's sister, female sogoi of the same generation'. Thus the meaning of sogoi
depends on the unit to which the classificatory terms of relationship were applied,
i.e. whether they were applied to the members of the large or small veve. On this
point Dr. Codrington and Dr. Rivers disagree.

If we examine such passages as W. H. R. Rivers, op. cit. i. 22, 24, 28; ii. 38, 43,
47, and R. H. Codrington, op. cit., pp. 36, 40, I think that we must conclude that
the exogamy of the large veve is a false inference, for Dr. Rivers says that a man
could transfer from one large veve to the other by simply crossing to the other end
of the gamal. Would this have been possible if the large veve had been a strictly
exogamous unit?

The idea that the large veve was exogamous may have arisen out of a confusion
between tavala ima, 'of the other side of the house', and sogoi. Sexual intercourse
between sogoi was condemned only by members of the other (large or small?)
veve; the sogoi, i.e. members of the same veve, do not appear to have objected.
The explanation may be that certain small veve used to obtain their wives from
one another, and the members of one intermarrying unit objected to a course of
action which might deprive them of a wife. We are told that such interchange
was usual. If this was so, the small veve was exogamous, members of the same
small veve being sogoi; but the large veve was not exogamous, the members of the
other large veve being merely tavala ima. There seems to be some doubt whether
a large veve was divided exhaustively into small veve or not.

Dr. Rivers states that the alleged exogamic regulations were not the only restric-
tions which were placed on sexual intercourse.

That there is something wrong with the reports seems to be corroborated by the
fact that vevegae, 'father's sister', is said to have been 'not really veve* (R. H.
Codrington and J. Palmer, op. cit., s.v.). Since she was definitely called veve, it
seems probable that our ideas concerning what was 'really veve' are mistaken.

292. R. H. Codrington and J. Palmer, A Dictionary of the Mota Language,
ss.w. gai, lama, vui; R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, pp. 123 f., 142, 152.

Dr. Codrington's actual words in the first passage are ' . . . the presence of some
haunting vui* ; in the second passage the native cry is alluded to as 'a vui made it'.
I have taken the liberty of separating the inference from the fact.

The extent of the inferential evidence can be judged from the rendering of me
vui gai in the sentence which follows the quotation in Dr. Codrington's book.
Instead of 'You exceeding fellow', the phrase is said to have meant 'He is a vui
to be sure'. Cp. para. 5.

Having concluded that vui must be an entity and not a quality, Dr. Codrington
seems to have tried to discover its character. The answers which the natives gave
'after considerable reflection', reveal the nature of his inquiries. I cannot be
persuaded that a Banks Islander made the following declarations unassisted by
promptings: 'A vui lives, thinks, has more intelligence than a man; knows things

5I6 NOTES AND REFERENCES §293

which are secret without seeing; is supernaturally powerful with rnana; has no
form to be seen; has no soul, because itself is like a soul' ; 'Men have declared that
they have seen something indistinct, with no definite outline, grey like dust,
vanishing as soon as it was looked at, near a stone, and this must have been a spirit,
vui.' See R. H. Codrington, op. cit., pp. 123, 151. We are not told what percentage
of the population subscribed to this conception. Is it not possible that the sentence
was written after the native or natives had given their answers to such questions
as 'Have you ever seen a vuiV 'How did it look?' I cannot believe that their
imaginations had not been stirred by the author's insistence.

I am not concerned with the conjectures of W. H. R. Rivers in Hist. Mel. Soc.
ii. 415, 417-18, but I notice that he found the attention to vui 'less easy to fit in'
with his scheme. 'When we pass to the cult of the vui or spirits,' he says, 'the
matter becomes more difficult.' His suggestion that 'the belief in vui might have
arisen through an animistic interpretation by the Kava-people' is grotesque. The
'animistic interpretation' is demonstrably false. How, then, can we discuss any
hypothesis concerning the manner of its introduction ?

A. M. Hocart, 'Chieftainship and Sister's Son in the Pacific', American Anthro-
pologist, N.S. xvii (1915), pp. 632-5, tries to show that vui denoted the 'divine
ancestors' to whom he wishes to attribute the fundamentals of Oceanic culture.
The word vui, he maintains, was 'the exact philological equivalent of the Fijian
vu\ He refers to R. H. Codrington and J. Palmer, A Dictionary of the Mota
Language, p. xiv, who say that 'the terminations -i, -iu, or -ui show that the nouns
to which they are suffixed were without dependence, in thought or grammar, upon
things or persons'. How, then, can vui have any relation to any person or ancestor?
Far from supporting Mr. Hocart's hypothesis the passage proves that vui was not
a conception of the kind which he hypothesizes.

Mr. Hocart himself has shown ('On the meaning of kalou\ J.R.A.I. xlii (1912),
pp 437-49) that the Fijians applied the word kalou to anything unusual. Dr.
Codrington explicitly states that the Banks Islanders employed the term vui
under similar circumstances. If, then, we wish to compare a Fijian word with
a Banks Islands word, surely the equation must be kalou = vui.

The equation vu = vui has caused W. J. Perry, The Children of the Sun, p. 298,
to make certain suggestions which not only misrepresent but actually conflict with
the facts as they can be learnt in the available literature.

The Banks Islands vui was one of the examples which I selected to support my
contention that many native terms cannot be translated into a civilized language.

See para. 5. j
That Dr. Codrington, after carefully inquiring into its native meaning, should
have translated the word as 'spiritual being' shows how strong are the preconceived
ideas with which the study of uncivilized 'beliefs' has been approached.
See further n. 622.

293. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, pp. 140, 181.

After the words 'something unusual' in the first passage, I have omitted the
words 'and therefore connected with a spirit'. The phrase is an inference, not a fact.

The magic power of a stone was due to its unusual shape: e.g. 'If a man came
upon a large stone with a number of small ones beneath it, lying like a sow among
her litter, he was sure that to offer money upon it would bring him pigs' : 'A stone
with little discs upon it was good to bring in money.' The presence of any unusual
mark upon any stone, in fact, would result in credit being given to the stone for the
possession of the power suggested by a fanciful interpretation of the mark. See
R. H. Codrington, op. cit., pp. 181-2.

294. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, pp. 140, 143.

'Offering' is not a happy rendering of oloolo. The word was used to denote,

§295 NOTES AND REFERENCES 517

inter alia, the sum which changed hands in return for a charm, incantation, or any
other display of magic power. W. H. R. Rivers, Hist. Mel. Soc. ii. 417, says:
'The nature of the offerings in connexion with a vui gives no indication of a belief
that the offerer comes into relation with a higher power, or even of a belief that
the man to whom the offering is made comes into such relation. The whole pro-
ceeding seems to resemble that which is followed when a man pays the owner of
a spell or other magical instrument.' In other passages (e.g. op. cit. i. 156, 159-60)
Dr. Rivers states that oloolo was 'the name for the rites by which a magical effect
was produced', and that when the members of a parmal or magical fraternity drank
the milk of a coco-nut together, they called this action oloolo.

I have already commented (n. 86) on Dr. Codrington's vague use of the word
'sacrifice' ; thus the strict meaning of oloolo is important. Dr. Codrington himself
says (op. cit., p. 140, n. 1) : 'A man is said to oloolo with the money to the man who
knows the stone ; the latter is said to oloolo on the stone on behalf of the former,
the former to oloolo to the latter in regard to the stone ; neither is said to oloolo to
the vui.' For an apparent contradiction of this statement, due to his uncertain use
of the word 'sacrifice', see his note on 'sacrifice' (op. cit., p. 144).

In the SE. Solomon Islands, oloolo meant 'to put or place', and was used in
reference to placing coco-nuts in a canoe. See W. G. Ivens, A Dictionary of the
Language of Sa'a and Ulawa, South-East Solomon Islands, s.v.

I suppose that marana was the tapu area, and that the tano-oloolo was the parti-
cular spot where the money was placed. The latter could exist without the former,
but not the former without the latter.

295. R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 198 f. ; W. H. R. Rivers, Hist.
Mel. Soc. ii. 406, 416.

There is no definite report concerning the manner in which a man became
gismana. It seems that a man was so known if he inherited a marana or a z;«z-stone.
Sickness was due to

(1) Witchcraft. This was performed on clippings or refuse (garatai, lit. 'frag-
ment') or by inducing an enemy to step over a buried bundle (talamatai, lit. 'a
bundle of things tied together'). There was a particular recipe for killing an adopted
child who wanted to return to its real father. An epidemic was caused by a dis-
appointed lover because his offer of marriage had been refused.

See F. Coombe, Islands of Enchantment, pp. 64, 88; W. H. R. Rivers, op. cit. i.
158; R. H. Codrington and J. Palmer, A Dictionary of the Mota Language, ss.w.

(2) Trespass on rongo ground. See n. 296.

(3) vui. This is probably equivalent to (2).

(4) tamate, 'ghost'. See R. H. Codrington, op. cit., p. 198; W. H. R. Rivers,
op. cit. i. 164-6.

I doubt if the more literal interpretations which have been placed upon the
alleged capture of the atai, 'soul', can be accepted without reservations. According
to R. H. Codrington and J. Palmer, A Dictionary of the Mota Language, s.v., atai
meant 'something distinct from a man with which he thought himself peculiarly
connected, in which his personality was reflected; it might be a snake or a stone'.
Thus, to translate atai 'soul', and then to interpret the rites in its connexion as
if the word 'soul' were being used in the sense which we attach to it, is likely to
lead to confusion and misunderstanding.

The gismana treated all forms of affliction. The word mana is usually translated
'magic power', but it must be steadily borne in mind that a man whose vui-stone
had proved to be efficacious possessed mana. Mana was applied to a man or stone
manifesting power, not to the power itself. See also F. E. Maning's dictum quoted
in n. 191.

296. Since a tamate, 'ghost', which was afflicting a sick man, could be extracted

5i8 NOTES AND REFERENCES §297

and driven away by the gismana (n. 295), we may conclude that the living could
control the dead by magic.

R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 139 f., et saepe, insists that the Banks
Islanders paid attention to 'spirits' rather than to ghosts: 'It is true', he adds, 'that
fragments of food are thrown for the ghosts of the lately deceased, but not with the
notion of a sacrifice.' But what is a 'sacrifice' ? For a comment on Dr. Codrington's
use of the word, see nn. 86, 294.

A certain form of words, tataro, is said to have been addressed only to the dead
(R. H. Codrington, op. cit., pp. 146-7). According to R. H. Codrington and
J. Palmer, A Dictionary of the Mota Language, s.v., tataro meant 'to pay for what is
done with a form of words or spell; thus, tataro pei, to pay a person for magic
medicine'. This seems to be identical with the meaning of oloolo (n. 294); but
other facts suggest that tataro had another significance. Thus a man who became
sick as the result of trespassing on a rongo place would ask its owner to tataro for
him. Similarly, if a man who was on his way to oloolo on his stone encountered
a rat or a lizard or some other animal, he would scatter money before it and say
a tataro. In such contexts the word seems to refer rather to the incantation than
to the payment which was made for it. Moreover, tataro was addressed to many
things other than ghosts.

In the second above-quoted instance I suspect that the incantation was sung if
the animal was vui; and I incline to think that oloolo was the payment, and tataro
the formula.

Having stated that tataro was 'strictly an invocation of the dead', Dr. Codrington
attempts to derive the word from the same root as ataro, which meant 'ghost' in
San Cristoval ; but, in the first place, the same word need not have a similar signifi-
cance in the two areas ; secondly, since ataro was equivalent to the akalo of Ulawa
and Sa'a, it was probably used in reference to many things besides ghosts. Further-
more, Dr. Codrington was plainly puzzled by the connexion which he hypothesized
between tataro and ghosts, for, though he is always careful to distinguish between
'spirits' and ghosts, he remarks that a tataro was 'a form of words which worked
by the supernatural power residing in the words and in the name of the spirits
mentioned'.

W. H. R. Rivers, Hist. Mel. Soc. ii. 413 f., calls tataro a 'true prayer', whatever
that may be ; but he is not an impartial witness, for he confesses that it is 'of special
importance in relation to the scheme of his book' that tataro should be an appeal to
the dead. There is, however, no certain evidence that this was the case. Indeed,
Dr. Rivers's enthusiasm for his 'scheme' causes him to make a false reference to
Dr. Codrington in op. cit. ii. 414. He quotes Dr. Codrington as his authority for
saying that 'even when a man has been making an offering in connexion with a vuq
he does not pray to the vui, but to the ghosts of his ancestors'. What Dr. Codrington
says is: 'He may pray to the ghosts of his predecessors in this particular mystery',
that is, he may mention in his incantation the name of the man who had possessed
the vui stone or the rongo place in the past. By substituting 'ancestors' for 'pre-
decessors' Dr. Rivers has loaded the dice in his own favour.

With tataro, cp. the Tahitian tarotaro (n. 590).

297. F. Coombe, Islands of Enchantment, p. 64. Rain-making is mentioned by
W. H. R. Rivers, Hist. Mel. Soc. i. 156, but the rain-making rites are not described.

298. B. Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, p. 73.

Professor Malinowski adopts Sir James Frazer's terminology, and remarks:
'Frazer's definition suits the Kiriwinian facts much better than any other one.
Although I started my field work convinced that the theories of religion and magic
expounded in the "Golden Bough" are inadequate, I was forced by all my observa-
tions in New Guinea to come over to Frazer's position.' Professor Malinowski

§299 NOTES AND REFERENCES 519

declares his discipleship also in 'Myth in Primitive Psychology', Psyche General
Miniatures , no. 6.

Some notes on the Trobriand Islanders are to be found in C. G. Seligman,
The Melanesians of British New Guinea, pp. 660-735.

299. B. Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, pp. 73, 427. Similar
pronouncements have been made by the same author in e.g. Sexual Life of Savages,
p. 35; 'Baloma, or the Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands', J. R.A.I.
xlvi (1916), pp. 388, 400.

300. B. Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, pp. 102, 124 ff., 202-5,
345-9, 366-71. Professor Malinowski has described fishing magic in Man, 1918,'
no. 53, and war magic in Man, 1920, no. 5. Other names for particular forms of
magic were wawoyla, love-magic, vilam alya, sung at harvest-time and over food
stores, &c. The name of the kula magic was mwasila.

301. B. Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, pp. 395 (for balubwalata) ,
73-6 (for bwaga'u). The latter was the generic term for a magician, one bwaga'u
being employed to counteract the magic of another bwaga'u.

The opinions which the natives held in regard to mulukwaisi were varied and
confused. This (or these) was held responsible for rapid and violent diseases and
for sudden events such as storms at sea. The word is translated 'flying witches',
'malignant witches', and also by the singular of these terms. A witch (or female
bwaga'u) was yoyova; mulukwaisi was a manifestation of a yoyova' s power, or her
second self, or her double, or the projection of herself, or her disembodied self.
Another word also, kapuwana, which literally meant a small coco-nut, was used in
this connexion. The kapuwana, we are told, 'was believed to be the something
which in the nightly flights leaves the body of the yoyova and assumes the various
forms in which the mulukwaisi appears'. There was 'no exact definition in the mind
of the native', and, as Professor Malinowski says, we must not introduce into the
conceptions a precision which was absent from the native mind. See Argonauts
of the Western Pacific, pp. 76, 236-48; Sexual Life of Savages, p. 379; 'Baloma, or
the Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands', J. R.A.I, xlvi (1916), pp. 351,
356 and n. 2.

With the Trobriand mulukwaisi, cp. the Mailu karaveni (para. 78, n. 336),
Ronga baloti (para. 93, n. 411), and the Suto baloi (n. 423).

I am not clear about tauva'u and tokway. Tauva'u is translated both singular
and plural ; 'he' or 'they' came from the south and caused epidemics ; a woman who
had a 'familiar' tauva'u was a dangerous witch. See Argonauts of the Western
Pacific, pp. 77, 393 ; Sexual Life of Savages, pp. 40, 360. Tokway is said to have
been a dangerous wood-sprite, which caused spasmodic pains and minor ailments ;
but the full significance of the term may not have been disclosed. See Argonauts
of the Western Pacific, pp. 77, 126-8, 293 ; Sexual Life of Savages, p. 293.

These islanders do not seem to have been afraid of witchcraft on body refuse
or clippings. See Sexual Life of Savages, pp. 375-7.

There was a pernicious influence called bwaulo (ibid., p. 128) which exuded from
a corpse. No details are available.

302. The word baloma is translated as 'soul' and as 'spirits of the dead'. The
term was applied also to the cause of a pre-nuptial child. Is it possible that it
was used adjectivally and /or adverbially as well as substantially ? Was it applied
to anything unusual or inexplicable ?

A precarious existence seems to have been enjoyed by a dead man's soul near
his old haunts; it was then called kos or kosi. See B. Malinowski, 'Baloma, or the
Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands', J.R.A .1. xlvi (1916), pp. 353-5, &c.

The exact meanings of baloma and kos are obscure.

520 NOTES AND REFERENCES § 303

At harvest-time, mila-mila, a festival took place. Platforms were erected on
which food was placed for baloma. The celebrations were held at different moons
in different districts. After a period of general rejoicing, dancing, and feasting,
baloma was (or were) driven away, either with or without ceremony. Ibid., pp.
370-80. This is not tendance. The rites imply a magical control of baloma.

303. B. Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, pp. 53~4; idem, Sexual
Life of Savages in N.W. Melanesia, pp. 44-64 et saepe.

There were three terms for sexual intercourse :

(1) kayta, copulation, which was allowed only in the bush, never at home;

(2) imisiya, cohabitation, a more or less permanent pre-nuptial attachment, also
used to denote the union between husband and wife ;

(3) kaylasi, implying an illicit element. See Sexual Life of Savages, pp. 48, 58.
But surely 'adultery' is preferable to 'fornication' as the English equivalent
of kaylasi. Cp. n. 215.

304. B. Malinowski, Sexual Life of Savages in N.W. Melanesia, pp. 65-80 (for
patrilocal marriages), 166-77; idem, 'Baloma, or the Spirits of the Dead in the
Trobriand Islands', J. R.A.I, xlvi (1916), pp. 406 ff.

305. The point is made throughout Argonauts of the Western Pacific, esp.
pp. 105 ff. Professor Malinowski also makes some general observations on the
subject in Science, Religion and Reality, ed. J. Needham, pp. 28 ff.

306. B. Malinowski, 'The Psychology of Sex and the Foundations of Kinship
in Primitive Societies', Psyche, iv (Oct. 1923), p. 118.

307. G. Landtman, The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea, pp. 243-4;
E. B. Riley, Among Papuan Head-hunters, pp. 48-9 (for arrangement of marriages
only).

Dr. Landtman says (op. cit., p. 229) that 'women who did not want a child' took
steps to prevent conception or to procure abortion. The statement, however, may
apply only to young married women. The context is not clear.

In op. cit., p. 283, we read: 'In Kiwai, so it is said, an unmarried girl once bore
a child . . .' Was pre-nuptial pregnancy, then, a strange and rare occurrence?

308. G. Landtman, The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea, p. 298.
There were numerous intricate ceremonies of initiation into manhood and

womanhood which played a prominent part in Kiwai life. They are not evidence
of cultural condition in the sense in which I use the term, and do not come within
the scope of this treatise, but a large collection of such data might enable us to
make plausible conjectures in regard to the past history of some of the Papuans.
Cp. n. 329.

In studying Kiwai culture we must take care to distinguish between the so-called
'mythical beings' and the so-called 'spirits'. Cp. nn. 310, 317.

309. Ibid., p. 304. Dr. Landtman considers that this suggests 'an animistic cause',
and speaks of 'the ebihare\ The inference, however, is unjustified. The application
of ebihare to 'anything mysterious' cannot suggest an animistic cause in the sense
in which the word 'animistic' is usually understood, for 'animistic' implies ubiquity.
It is the transition from 'something unusual' to 'spiritual beings' and 'personified
causes' which renders 'animism' an unacceptable hypothesis. See paras. 62, 112,
148.

Dr. Landtman's excellent book contains many inferences which are due to the
animistic theory: thus, instead of saying that 'any inexplicable noise is ebihare' he
states, 'Any inexplicable noise on land may also be attributed to the ebihare.' Such
inferences are not uncommon in post-Tylorian monographs.

§ 3io NOTES AND REFERENCES 521

310. Ibid., pp. 65, 306 ff.

That Dr. Landtman may have confused the 'beings' in Kiwai tales with the
'spirits' whose existence is due to his method of translating ebihare, etengena, &c.
(n. 309), is suggested by the fact that he entitles this chapter 'Mythical Beings'
instead of the more usual 'Spiritual Beings'. Cp. n. 317.

Etengena was a Masingle word. The Kiwai people, Dr. Landtman says, 'had
only a vague notion' of it.

Other 'classes of beings' were mamagarena, suguma, poo-poo, utumu, aromo-rubi
(who are said to have caused rain, but see the passages cited in n. 314), hiwai-abere,
&c. We are told that spiritual ideas varied from group to group and even from
individual to individual, so we may not conclude that every individual Kiwai
conceived of all these things. Some of the words may have had a different connota-
tion in different areas and to different people. In view of Dr. Landtman 's inference
in regard to ebihare (n. 309) we cannot accept 'beings' as a fair translation of the words.

In op. cit., p. 65, etengena is rendered 'a group of sylvan beings', but in op. cit.,
p. 306, we are told that they only 'live in large trees'. Thus an unjustified inference
may have slipped unawares into the former passage, the words 'a group of sylvan
beings' implying a ubiquity as to trees which was not part of the native conception.

In the same way that Elsdon Best has applied the Maori word atua to heroes
who were not called atua by the Maori (n. 180), so when Dr. Landtman (op. cit.,
pp. 301-4) speaks of 'one of the etengena', I am uncertain whether or not the
creature was a mythical hero to whom he has applied the word 'being', and so
also the word etengena, or a personified Kiwai term which would have been re-
ported differently if etengena had not been rendered 'being'.

Perhaps some of the names were those of recently deceased men.

311. Ibid., p. 298.

312. Ibid., pp. 64-166, esp. p. 142.

313. G. Landtman, The Kiwai Papuans of New Guinea, pp. 257 (for urio as
'ghost'), 299 ff. (for urio as 'soul'), 280 (for oboro and markai); E. B. Riley, Among
Papuan Head-hunters, p. 290 (for urio). Riley mentions another word, uriona,
but the report is scant.

314. If the ghost of a newly deceased man hovered round the house and revealed
its presence by a tapping or scraping, the natives cast aside a little food, saying,
'You go back; you no come ; you belong dead'. Such words as 'You no come back
this place ; what road belong you, you go' were sufficient to send any ghost away.
Some people placed small sticks in the ground across the path along which the
ghost was supposed to have gone away, in order to prevent its return.

The methods of weather magic or fishing magic were revealed in dreams by
men who had been skilled in those occupations when they were alive. The man
who wanted advice from his dead parents might dig up their skulls and sleep with
one under each arm : 'Not infrequently he will provide himself with a stick and
threaten to break the skulls if the parents do not appear promptly.' See G. Landt-
man, The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea, pp. 160, 281 f., 295-7.

All these practices show that the natives thought they could control the dead by
magic. In their opinion tendance was unnecessary.

[ 315. Ibid., p. 283. Cases were known also of temporary possession by ghosts,
and of ghosts becoming 'familiars'. Ibid., pp. 293-4.

; The attention to sibara-adiri was remarkable because as a rule the dead were
placed on platforms supported by four poles. When only the bones remained,
they were carried away and buried in a garden. 'No objects were placed in the
grave nor on the ground above.' Ibid., p. 253.

522 NOTES AND REFERENCES §316

316. Ibid., pp. 220-5. It would be interesting to know the native terms trans-
lated 'malevolent spirits' on pp. 270-1.

For sorcerers, see esp. pp. 32I~6.

317. Ibid., pp. 50, 53, 61, 298. Here also Dr. Landtman seems to have confused
the content of mythical tales with actual practices. Cp. nn. 308, 310.

318. A. C. Haddon, in R. W. Williamson, The Mafulu, Mountain People of
British New Guinea, Introd., p. xxiii.

319. R. W. Williamson, The Mafulu, pp. 170, 172, 175.

320. Ibid., pp. 272 (for residence of spirit), 244, 246, 266, 270 (for treatment of

ghosts).

In regard to the 'mysterious individual named tsidibe', who was associated with
'extraordinarily shaped stones and rocks', and with the white man's equipment,
can it be that we have inferred from the paucity of Mafulu speech that 'he' was an
individual ? What was the native word for the strange quality in anything unusual ?
Tsidibe? If so, tsidibe may have been comparable to the terms discussed in para. 146.

A chief's ghost seems to have been laid with more ceremony, if Mr. Williamson
has interpreted correctly the object of the Great Feast. See op. cit., p. 125.

321. Ibid., pp. 187 f., 193 f. (for hunting and fishing magic), 240-1, 282 (for
magical treatment of sickness), 276 (for magic power from 'spirits'). The Mafulu
did not consider that witchcraft on body refuse would be successful except in the
case of a small child.

322. Ibid., p. 279.

323. F. E. Williams, The Natives of the Purari Delta, pp. 243-5.

The word kaieimunu (lit. sky-imunu or thunder-mn/«u) was applied to a number
of 'portentous wicker-work figures, with hollow semi-tubular bodies and widely
extended jaws', which were kept in the ravi-oru, the secret rear-compartment of
the ravi, or men's house. Mr. Williams insists (op. cit., p. 136) that kaieimunu
were plural, but in other passages (e.g. op. cit., p. 152) he speaks of 'its displeasure
... it is the guardian ... it can control', &c. Is it not possible that the word was
singular, and possibly adverbial, and seemed to be plural only because it was
applied to a number of wicker figures, each of which was kaieimunu}

The association of kaieimunu and imunu-vii, 'canoe of imunu , is obscure. Both
are said to have been associated with rivers. I do not understand how 'canoe of
kaieimunu" can be a fair rendering of imunu-vii. I suspect that a thing which was
kaieimunu was also imunu-vii, i.e. that the latter was a descriptive term applied to
anything which possessed or manifested imunu. Cp. the Maori waka atua (n. 181),
Samoan taula-aitu (n. 198), and Tongan taula-otua (n. 209).

Kaieimunu was regarded as an oracle and the rocking of a special canoe foretold
good luck; kaieimunu was credited also with the power both of carrying disease
and of revealing the method of its cure.

The wicker figures, kaieimunu, are said to have been kept well supplied with
food, but since any food which was brought into the ravi was regarded as an
offering for kaieimunu, whether it was placed near a wicker figure or not, it is
possible that the association of the food with kaieimunu was a convenient method of
inciting the lazy stay-at-home to bring food into the ravi.

Each social group, larava, possessed its kaieimunu, and though in some cases
there is said to have been a close relation between kaieimunu and ancestors, 'this
was not a common idea'. Ibid., pp. 131-53.

A bull roarer, upura imunu, possessed the imunu quality in the highest degree.
'The older the specimen the greater would appear to be its magic power.' Ibid.,
p. 166.

§324 NOTES AND REFERENCES 523

A hunting charm, ke'upura, worn round the neck, was also heavily charged with
imunu (op. cit., p. 239). Another compound of imunu was aiaimunu. The term
was applied to some highly decorated masks suspected from the roof. The meaning
of aia is uncertain. See op. cit., pp. 191-204; cp. the Mailu aiaigave (n. 335).

The classification of phenomena into imua, dead, passive, and dokoa, living,
active, which at first sight seems important, is said to have been neither definite nor
consistent. See op. cit., p. 232.

324. Ibid., pp. 228-41.

325. Ibid., pp. 220-3. The Koriki funeral obsequies were more elaborate than
those of the other tribes. The Koriki were also the only tribe which carried out
the 'very mysterious' gopi ceremony, which was associated with head-hunting.
See op. cit., pp. 171-81, 223.

326. Ibid., pp. 148-9, 234-8, 244.

327. Ibid., pp. 22, 237.

328. Ibid., pp. 52-4, 56, 62, 212.

329. C. G. Seligman, The Melanesians of British New Guinea, pp. 76, 134.
, I rely exclusively on Professor Seligman's testimony.

No Koita man might have connexion with the sister of his henamo (ibid., p. 70).
There were no initiation ceremonies among the Koita. Cp. n. 308.

330. Ibid., pp. 164, 173, 189, 193.

A corpse was exposed on a bisa, death-chair, and then interred ; a light was kept
burning round the grave for four days ; six months later the ita feast was held ;
after that no more attention was paid to the dead man. During those six months
a member of the dead man's clan who had had a successful hunt or harvest would
bring a part of his food to the bisa, and hang it there. Any one was entitled to
consume it on the spot. See op. cit., pp. 159 ff.

The custom is not tendance, but it is reminiscent of the offerings which were
made to the exhumed skulls among the Koriki (Purari, para. 76).

As a rule, Professor Seligman translates sua, 'soul'. In op. cit., p. 173, however,
sua is 'spirits of the dead'.

331. Ibid., pp. 131, 183-6 (for tabu), 175-81 (for magic charms and stones).
Magic stones were simply picked up anywhere. They were selected for one of

1 these reasons : (a) because their shape was similar to that of the object to be influ-
enced (cp. Banks Islanders, para. 72, n. 293), (b) because they were of an uncom-
mon type, (c) because though of a common type they had an unusual shape. See

pp. cit., pp. 172-3.

f 332. Ibid., pp. 85, 133, 167-9, 185.

The term for a wizard may have been vata.

The treatment of a sickness was by no means rational. Thus, a sickness which
was thought to be due to the presence of foreign bodies might be cured either by
the extraction of these bodies or by an incantation which purported to restore the
sick man's sua. Such contradictions as these are typical of undeveloped minds, but
they may exist only in our reports. See para. 148.

333. B. Malinowski, 'The Natives of Mailu', Trans. R. Soc. South Aust. xxxix
(1915), pp. 559-63 ; W. J. V. Savile, In Unknown New Guinea, pp. 77-8.

A favourite abortifacient was a plant Derris elliptica, which was known and used
also in the Malay States. The details of the contraceptive recipe are unknown.
Professor C. G. Seligman was puzzled by the small number of births which

524 NOTES AND REFERENCES §334

followed the pre-nuptial licence. See his The Melanesians of British New Guinea,
p. 500 and n. 2.

Professor Malinowski spells vivi as vi'vi. Cp. boi (bo'i), uura (u'ura), &c.

334. B. Malinowski, 'The Natives of Mailu', Trans. R. Soc. South Aust. xxxix
(1915), PP- 5°4 (for rain)> 580-8 (for gora and tora), 636, 655-63 (for white magic);
W. J. V. Savile, In Unknown New Guinea, pp. 158-9, 169, 273, 295 (for white
magic), 266 (for the 'unknown'), 276-80 (for gora and sora). The taboo which
applied to individuals is called tora by Professor Malinowski and sora by Mr.
Savile. On this subject Mr. Savile's report is the more extensive.

335. See B. Malinowski, 'The Natives of Mailu', Trans. R. Soc. South Aust.
xxxix (1915), pp. 651, 653; W. J. V. Savile, In Unknown New Guinea, pp. 269,
284-7.

According to Professor Malinowski, aiaigave was the soul or vital principle.
Mr. Savile writes iau. Perhaps the difference lies in the italianized and anglicized
transliterations of the vowel-values. Mr. Savile also translates iau 'ghost'.

With aiaigave, cp. the Purari aiaimunu (n. 323).

Can igave be the Mailu equivalent of Purari imunu ?

Boi is rendered 'ghosts' and 'the spirit in the preserved skull' (Malinowski).
Mr. Savile speaks of bois, 'spirits of the dead'. The anglicized plural is misleading.
For the burial feasts, see B. Malinowski, op. cit., pp. 691-6.

336. B. Malinowski, 'The Natives of Mailu', Trans. R. Soc. South Aust. xxxix
(1915), PP- 648, 653, 654 f.; W. J. V. Savile, In Unknown New Guinea, pp. 267-75.

With karaveni, cp. the Trobriand mulukwaisi (n. 301) and other words mentioned
in that note.

Those individuals who had the power to visit the nether world are called
bauegene by Professor Malinowski and wavesa by Mr. Savile.

337. See F. E. Williams, Orakaiva Magic, pp. 7-8, 148 (for baigona-cult) , 9 ff.
(for taro-cult), 57-9, 207 (for baigona men and sovai); idem, Orakaiva Society,
pp. 292-3, 303 (for baigona men), 265-79 (for sovai).

For the other statements, see Orakaiva Magic, pp. 86, 106-7.

The baigona-cult is mentioned by E. W. C. Chinnery and A. C. Haddon in
'Five New Religious Cults in British New Guinea', Hibbert Journal, xv (1917),
pp. 448-63.

338. F. E. Williams, Orakaiva Society, pp. 211-14, 280.

339. F. E. Williams, Orakaiva Society, pp. 279 (for peni), 271, 285 (for harau).
I assume that the platforms which are mentioned on p. 285 were harau. The

native term is not given.

The 'act of placation' is said to have been 'constantly performed', but the cir-
cumstances are not described. The 'means of placation' are said to have been
'peculiarly off-hand'. Details are not given.

The words 'in the main' are vague. They may mean either that this is 'on the
whole' Mr. Williams's personal conclusion, or that the opinion was held by a
majority of the people. Contrarily, some people may have thought that other dead
men in addition to 'the more recently deceased' frequented their old homes.

A few sovai are said to have been remembered by name. The reference may be
to such mythological figures as Totoima, Moraralau, and Kokowaio. On the other
hand, Mr. Williams may mean that a few men who had lived within living memory
were remembered by name. He does not record the facts on which his conclusions
are based.

§34o NOTES AND REFERENCES 525

340. For weather magic, see F. E. Williams, Orakaiva Magic, pp. 62-4, 133,
177, 201. Weather control is said to have been 'an old-time institution which the
taro-men have adapted to their purpose'.

For garden magic, &c, see op. cit., pp. 146-50, 203-9, 216, 282.

White magic was sivo or kore, black magic kai, inja, or saruka ; the latter words
were the names of a vine and a bark respectively. An anti-social magician was
kaiembo or injambo. These words, clearly compounds of kai and inja, seem to
have been descriptive terms, denning a man's methods, not differentiating titles.

The word sivo was applied to any substance which had a 'mysterious potency
for good', to the 'medicine' which was placed in a taro garden, to the treatment
which was applied to a sick man, and to the 'medicine' used by a magician to render
his methods effective. A female practitioner took sivo before treating a 'natural'
sickness in a 'natural' manner. See F. E. Williams, Orakaiva Society, pp. 296, 300.

The following passage is noteworthy: 'The phenomena of nature are largely
taken for granted and when things are going well the native is content to ask no
questions. But in the face of calamity or sickness, or any hitch in the course of
nature, he may cast about for a cause, some one or something on which to fix the
responsibility' (ibid., p. 287). Such statements militate strongly against the Tylorian
theory of 'primitive' thought.

341. F. E. Williams, Orakaiva Society, pp. 283, 288-307.

It is difficult to separate the inferences from the facts in these passages.

The reports are not always clear; e.g. the placation of sovai is described as an
'eleventh hour' inspiration, but witchcraft, we are told, was 'the native's exegetical
last card', and 'the stock explanation of a hopeless case'.

When sovai was placated, a set of feathers or ornaments was handed to the
'doctor', who hung them outside his house. Such an act may have been directed
towards sovai as a vaguely conceived power or towards the particular sovai of a
recently deceased relative. It depends on the native meaning of sovai; and that is
I obscure. The native term for such a 'doctor' is not given. Was he usually a baigona
man?

342. F. E. Williams, Orakaiva Society, pp. 134, 192, 322.

343. I have the most sincere admiration for the learning, industry, and care
which has been bestowed upon the compilation, but I have little sympathy with
the definitions which have been adopted by H. Spencer in Descriptive Sociology,
Div. I, Part 2 a, No. 4, which, after being originally edited by Professor David
Duncan in 1875, has recently (November 1930) been republished. In spite of
disagreements with the technique and translations, however, I consider this

, enormous encyclopaedia of much value. Our thanks are due to the editor, the late
[Mr. E. Torday, for his great labour.

! 344. See J. G. Frazer, G.B., The Dying God, pp. 17-26, 198, 204 ; idem, Adonis,
Attis, and Osiris, ii. 16 1-7.

In studying these passages, I am sometimes at a loss to understand the native
terms which Sir James is rendering 'spirit of the dead king', 'divine spirit', &c.
If the native terms are substituted for these phrases, the sense of the passages is
not always the same as it is in Sir James's musical prose.

345. D. Westermann, The Shilluk People, pp. xxxix-xl, xliv-xlv, 260-1.

Professor Westermann translates adwogo as 'witch-doctor or sorcerer', and jalyat
las 'man of medicine, bad wizard'. The plural form of jwok was jwuk. The Oyler
MS. ii. 1 distinguishes between the 'good medicine-man', adjawgo (pi. adjwuk), and
the 'witch-doctor', adjwok (pi. adjwuk); but I am reluctant to accept the existence
of two separate words which had a common plural. I have adopted ajwogo as the

526 NOTES AND REFERENCES §346

term for a magician, as a compromise between the various transliterative forms.
See further n. 358. Dr. Oyler calls the jalyat 'evil medicine-man'.
With ajzvogo cp. the Lango ajoka (n. 358).

For the firm belief in witchcraft and further references to the magical profession,
see D. S. Oyler, 'The Shilluk's Belief in the Evil Eye; the Evil Medicine Man',
S.N.R. ii (1919), Pp. 122 f., 137; idem, 'The Shilluk's Belief in the Good Medicine
Man', S.N.R. iii (1920), pp. 113, 116. In the last passage Dr. Oyler emphasizes
that the Shilluk were 'dominated by medicine men'. The five classes into which
he divided the magical profession are repeated in the Oyler MS. ii. 1, but I suspect
that the nice distinctions did not exist in the mind of the Shilluk.

Professor Westermann obtained much of his information from Dr. Oyler ; this
must be remembered in comparing their reports. As the Editor of Sudan Notes
and Records points out, if Dr. Oyler's report differs from that of Professor Wester-
mann, it is probable that Dr. Oyler's description is to be preferred.

346. C. G. Seligman, 'The Cult of Nyakang', Fourth Report, Wellcome
Laboratory, vol. B, p. 231; idem, art. 'Shilluk', Enc. Rel. Eth., ed. J. Hastings,
xi. 462. Professor Seligman calls jwok a 'High God', but is 'high god' an accept-
able cultural classification? Cp. n. 4.

For ajwogo Professor Seligman writes ajuago.

347. See C. G. Seligman, 'The Cult of Nyakang', Fourth Report, Wellcome
Laboratory, vol. B, p. 225; idem, art. 'Shilluk', Enc. Rel. Eth. xi. 489, n. 3, 461;
D. Westermann, The Shilluk People, p. xlii.

Although Professor Seligman uses the word as singular and plural, the plural
form seems to have been ror. I have not hesitated, however, to retain the singular
form in all contexts, in the hope that though less scholarly it may be more lucid.

Dead ret are said to have been manifest in certain animals. Should a bird in
which a dead ret appeared alight on a tree, that tree was then sacred to that ret.
I accept the report with reserve. I believe that more animals were called jwok,
some 'kings' also, but I doubt the reincarnation unless I am assured that the identity
of the bird and the ret has not been inferred by the application to them of the
same adjective or adverb.

The name of the Shilluk hero is variously spelt Nyakang, Nyikang, Nikawng.

348. See the passages cited in n. 347, and D. S. Oyler, 'Nikawg's Place in the
Shilluk Religion', S.N.R. i (1918), pp. 287-8.

There was a particularly fine kengo at Fenikang, with painted walls. The en-
closure contained five huts.

The contents of kengo varied. Few details are given.

349. See C. G. Seligman, 'The Cult of Nyakang', Fourth Report, Wellcome
Laboratory, vol. B, pp. 225-7; D. S. Oyler, 'Nikawg's Place in the Shilluk Religion',
S.N.R. i (1918), pp. 286-91.

Professor Seligman speaks merely of 'certain men and old women' whom he
calls barit baeng. The bang ret is mentioned in the Oyler MS. ii, A 2, B 2, as bang
rit, rit being another and more unusual form of ret.

For ajwogo, see n. 345.

350. D. S. Oyler, 'Nikawg's Place in the Shilluk Religion', S.N.R. i (1918),
pp. 281, 286; C. G. Seligman, 'The Cult of Nyakang', Fourth Report, Wellcome
Laboratory, vol. B, pp. 226-8.

Professor Seligman speaks as if the rain-ceremony was held whether the rain
was late or whether it came as usual. This is not Dr. Oyler's view; he says that
a sheep was sacrificed in times of drought. The Oyler MS. iii. 1-3 states that the
people in some districts relied on Dinka rain-makers. There is no mention of

/

§35i NOTES AND REFERENCES 527

sacrifices to Nyakang in the answers to that section of the questionnaire which
referred to rain-ceremonies.

351. The quotations are from the Oyler MS. iv. 5, 6.

According to D. Westermann, The Shilluk People, p. xlv, the part of a man which
was seen or had experiences in dreams was tipo : 'the spirit of a deceased person
was aneko: No other authority mentions aneko, which meant 'one who kills'.

With tipo, cp. the Dinka atiep (para. 85) and the Lango tipo (para. 86).

352. Oyler MS. i. 1. I can find no detailed report upon the subject in the
published literature.

353. E. Torday (editor), H. Spencer, Descriptive Sociology, no. 4, p. 241,
quoting W. Hoffmayr, Die Schilluk, p. 297 f. See also other passages quoted on
the same page.

354. For the whole subject see C. G. Seligman, art. 'Dinka', Enc. Rel. Eth.,
ed. J. Hastings, iv. 704-12.

In one passage I have taken the liberty of altering 'the jok are' into 'jok is'. Jok
was a singular word, the plural form of which was jwuk (Shilluk) and jogi (Lango).
But Professor Seligman continually speaks of 'the jok know', 'the jok hear', &c.

Sometimes Professor Seligman uses the word 'spirit' as the equivalent of jok ;
thus, '. . . animal who is the spirit, jok, of the clan'. It is only when we substitute
jok for 'spirit' and 'god' that his report can be intelligently understood.

The Tain word for 'ancestors' seems to have been kwar.

Capt. S. L. Cummins, 'Sub-Tribes of the Bahr-el-Ghazel Dinkas', J. A J. xxxiv
(1904), pp. 157-60, describes some of the religious ideas of the Nok- Dinka. We
should have been better able to assess the value of his remarks on witchcraft if
he had quoted the native words which he translated.

A monograph on the Dinka is sadly needed. They are of great anthropological
importance.

With tiet, cp. Lango atyet (n. 358).

355. Capt. S. L. Cummins, 'Sub-Tribes of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Dinkas', J. A.I.
xxxiv (1904), p. 151; H. O'Sullivan, 'Dinka Laws and Customs', J. R.A.I, xl
(1910), p. 179.

356. J. H. Driberg, The Lango, pp. 218-25, 361 (for atin ajok).

It is difficult to summarize Mr. Driberg's masterly monograph. A less pene-
trating scholar might have reported the Lango as believing in a vast number of
powerful spirits, the worship of those spirits as being the foundation of all Lango
practices. Adongo might well have been reported as being the spirit of trees,
Lango as the spirit of disease, Orongo as the soul or spirit of a man, and Atida as
the spirit of hunting. Furthermore these spirits might have been reported as being
everywhere, in every natural feature, on every hill, and in every pool, in fact, in
every nook and corner, lying in wait to heap misfortune and tribulation upon the
helpless people.

It is clear that this erroneous description fits some of the facts. Its absurdity is
due (1) to the translation of jok as 'spirit', (2) to the omission of those other contexts
in which the word was used, (3) to the false inference that jok was everywhere
because it was manifest in the unusual or in any other place upon which an ajoka
might decide.

Upon such errors and upon such reports the hypothesis of 'animism' was
founded. See further para. 148.

The following incident will illustrate the method of divination: a man's goats
were sick; he was told to erect an abila to jok which was manifest in a reed on the

528 NOTES AND REFERENCES §357

river bank; the reeds around the jok-reed were stationary whilst the^'o^-reed was
waving to and fro (ibid., p. 232). Would Professor Levy-Bruhl call this a 'pre- |
logical' proceeding? For a comment on his suggestions, see para. 70.

An abila was also called ot j ok, jo k-house, house oi jok. Cp. the ot abani of the
diviner (n. 358).

Jok was manifest in fig-trees (ibid., p. 219). The same has been said about the
Kikuyu ngai (n. 362), Kamba ngai or mulungu (para. 86), Ila mizhimo (n. 403), and
Yao mulungu (n. 437). Cp. the 'mystery' (i.e. wakan) tree of the Dakota Indians I
(n. 522) and the manido (munedoo, manitou) trees of the Ojibwa (para. 113).

357. J. H. Driberg, The Lango, pp. 168 f., 228-33.

With tipo, cp. the Dinka atiep (para. 83) and the Shilluk tipo (n. 351).

Certain large animals possessed tipo ; a man who killed a ///>o-animal had to take
steps to protect himself against its malevolence; whatever else the ajoka advised,
'a black ram must be sacrificed at the door of the slayer's house'.

The tipo of twins were especially dangerous, ior jok was manifest in the abnormal
character of their birth.

A tipo was so closely associated with jok that Mr. Driberg speaks of it as 'an
atom of jok\

The laying of the ghost by inveigling it into a pot was practised also by the
Bakitara. See para. 38.

358. J. H. Driberg, The Lango, pp. 56-8, 233-43.

An ajok was either ading, who bewitched a person by acting upon body refuse
or excrement, or achudang, who possessed the evil eye, killed a man by looking at
him, and disturbed the dead. In spite of the activities of the ading, no attempt
was made to conceal body-clippings.

Rare alternative names for the ajoka were ajwaga, ajwoga. Cp. the Shilluk
ajwogo (n. 345). The word atyet also (tyeto, 'to divine') was applied to ajoka (e.g.
op. cit., pp. 57, 234). In his vocabulary Mr. Driberg gives datyet as an alternative
form of atyet. Cp. the Dinka tiet (para. 83).

An ajoka who had suffered a trance was called abanzva, the 'possession' being
credited to jok nam. The word abanzva (pi. abani) seems to have indicated the
powers which the 'possession' afforded, for bano meant 'prophecy', and bane, 'in
a trance, possessed'. If jok nam demanded a special house, ot abani, it had to be
built. It was larger than an ot jok {abila), and stood about four and a half feet high,
but no offerings were made in it. It was used mostly for seances, as it were, and
was empty except for a spear {tong jok). See op. cit., pp. 237-8.

Mr. Driberg is of the opinion that jok nam was an importation. With abanzva
he compares the Bakitara kubandzva, 'to be possessed, to prophesy'. With abanzva,
therefore, cp. the Bantu mandzva (paras. 38-9, nn. 123, 130).

Every June there wTas a magical ceremony to drive away disease. Sickness could
be washed away by ceremonially washing dirt from a spear ; it could also be trans-
ferred to a goat. If all other methods failed with a sick child, they put it under
a granary and pulled it out from the other side. Apparently the method was
successful on one occasion; it might succeed again. Cp. the Kitara custom of
drawing the sufferer through a hole made in an ant-hill (n. 126).

359. The observances varied; and Mr. Driberg considers that some of them
were 'of extraneous origin'. See his 'Rain-making among the Lango', J.R.A.I.
xlix (1919), pp. 52-73 ; and The Lango, pp. 243-62.

An aged woman named Angwech enjoyed a considerable reputation as a rain-
consultant. Apparently she deserved her fame. Is it not possible that Atida who
is called 'a manifestation of jok' was once a successful ajoka? Angwech is said to
have been her 'priestess'. Cp. Atida with the Dinka Deng-dit. The attention to

§360 NOTES AND REFERENCES 529

the latter was more elaborate, but fundamentally the two appear to have been
institutions of a similar character. Cp. also the Uganda Nagawonyi (n. 137).

360. J. H. Driberg, The Lango, pp. 155, n. 2, 160-1, 212. A non-sexual rela-
tionship with an unmarried woman was chodo. If illicit intercourse took place out
of doors, jok was manifest in the spot where coitus had occurred.

361. W. S. and K. Routledge, With a Prehistoric People, p. 126 f.

The report of C. Dundas, 'The Organisation and Laws of some Bantu Tribes,
J. R.A.I, xlv (191 5), pp. 273-4, must be read with care. Tn Kikuyu', Mr. Dundas
says, 'no such indulgence [as free love] is permitted to any class of persons : the
fact is that young men and girls may go to any extreme of intimacy short of actual
sexual connection, and such intimacy (ngwiko) is generally practised.' It is possible
that in this passage inference has coloured the fact. Mr. Dundas emphasizes the
exaction of the fine for causing pre-nuptial pregnancy in a manner which suggests
that he has inferred the illicit character of sexual intercourse from this fact alone.
He says that 'sexual offences were very leniently dealt with'.

The meaning of ngwiko is obscure. May we compare it to the Zulu hlobonga
(para. 94) ?

Mr. Dundas seems to think that Kikuyu sexual regulations were at one time
more stringent, but does not state the evidence on which the opinion is based.

362. W. S. and K. Routledge, With a Prehistoric People, pp. 226, 229, n. 2,
240-3; P. Cayzac, 'La Religion des Kikuyu', Anthropos, v (1910), p. 309; H. R.
Tate, 'Further Notes on the Kikuyu Tribe', J. A.I. xxxiv (1904), p. 263.

For a comment on the reports concerning 'black' ngai and 'white' ngai, see
nn. 377, 383.

Mr. Tate divides ngai into three parts, 'two good, one bad'. The report is
inferential. The Akikuyu may have divided the phenomena in which ngai was
manifest into those which were dangerous and those which were ultimately
beneficial, but it is not apparent that the Akikuyu made any moral judgements
concerning them. The word ngai was of Masai origin (cp. n. 369), and in later days
became much confused in the native mind with the Christian God. See, e.g., W. S.
and K. Routledge, op. cit., p. 226.

According to P. Cayzac, mulungu was an alternative term for ngai. P. Cayzac
may be referring to the opinions of those Akikuyu who had adopted Kamba words ;
the two tribes converged in some places (n. 368). G. Lindblom, The Akamba,
p. 247 f., also states that the Akikuyu used the words ngai and mulungu as alterna-
tives; this supports the suggestion that P. Cayzac's remarks apply to the Akikuyu
who had been influenced by the Akamba, for Mr. Lindblom, living among the
Akamba, is likely to have come into contact only with those Akikuyu who lived
near by.

Mr. Lindblom states that makai was 'a collective form of ngai* and that makai
'must be understood as synonymous with ngoma, their usual word for spirits'.
I do not understand how a power like ngai can have had a 'collective form', for
to the natives ngai seems to have been a quality which was shared by many things ;
was makai used in similar contexts ?

The confusion between ngai and ngoma, which is apparent in the above-quoted
passage from Mr. Lindblom 's monograph, is a common feature of the reports on
!the Akikuyu. After describing the sacrifices to ngoma, Mr. Routledge remarks:
Whether all these last forms of sacrifice to ngoma are definitely connected in the
native mind with the ghosts of the dead I am unable to say.' Again, ngoma are said
to have been 'like ngai\ Ngai was manifest in fig-trees, mugumu; so were ngoma
[W. S. and K. Routledge, li ce). Ngai was in the fire (W. S. and K. Routledge,
op. cit., p. 242 f.); so were ngoma (H. R. Tate, op. cit., p 258). Is it not a pity,

M m

530 NOTES AND REFERENCES §363

then, that ngoma should have been translated 'spirits of the dead'? Dr. Leakey
asserts that ngai and ngoma were distinguished, yet there is an abundance of evi-
dence that some people confused them.

Fig-trees were also a resort of the Lango jok (n. 356), Kamba ngai or mulungu
(para. 86), Ila mizhimo (n. 403), and Yao mulungu (n. 437). Cp. the wakan-Xvzzs
of the Dakota Indians (n. 522).

When P. Cayzac, op. cit., p. 310, and W. S. and K. Routledge, op. cit., pp. 239-
43 state that ngoma 'wandered about', it is probable that they are making an
inference from the fact that ngoma were in many places. There is no evidence that
the ngoma in different places were identified.

C. W. Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic, pp. 4°"53, has described many forms
of Kikuyu sacrifices. For ngai he writes Engai, for which see n. 383. I should
accept Mr. Hobley's valuable data with a greater readiness if (1) he had used such
words as 'worship', 'sacrifice', 'invoke', &c, in a less indefinite manner, (2) he had
explained how he distinguished a 'sacrifice' to Engai from a 'sacrifice' to ngoma.

363. See W. S. and K. Routledge, With a Prehistoric People, pp. 229-32;
P Cayzac, 'La Religion des Kikuyu', Anthropos, v (1910), p. 309; C. Dundas,
'The Organisation and Laws of some Bantu Tribes', J.R.A.I. xlv (1915), PP- 234-
306 ; C. W. Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic, pp. 40 f., 47, 7° ff-

The 'snake-worship' reported by the Routledges (op. cit., pp. 237-8) is mentioned
also by Mr. Dundas (op. cit., p. 255) and Mr. Hobley (op. cit., p. 93)- Cp. J. G.
Frazer, G.B., The Magic Art, ii. 150. No doubt the Aitwika was extensive, but
I am reluctant to accept the festival as a rain-making ceremony without further
evidence. 'Worship' is a strange word to apply to the rites.

364. R. Crawshay, 'Kikuyu: Notes on the Country, Fauna and Flora', Geo-
graphical Journal, xx (1902), p. 37, states that 'they do not bury or mourn their
dead . . . neither have they any great fear of the dead'. Later writers confirm the
report Mr. Tate says that a dead man was either thrown outside or left in the
house, which was allowed to fall down; Mr. Routledge states that only the old and
the rich were buried; according to Mr. Hobley, the honour of burial was paid to
'every elder who had circumcised children', and to 'married women with five or
six children'. A man who belonged to the 'Masai circumcision guild', Mr. Hobley
says might or might not be buried; the elders decided. See W. S. and K. Rout-
ledge With a Prehistoric People, pp. 168 ff. ; C. W. Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic,
pp. 98-101; H. R. Tate, 'Further Notes on the Kikuyu', J.A.I, xxxiv (1904),
p. 256.

C W Hobley, op. cit., p. 50, says: 'An elder son usually sacrifices a ram every
three months or so at the grave of his father' ; but in view of the rarity of burial we
must conclude that the rite was less common than the report leads us to believe.
The same criticism applies to a report concerning the rites in connexion with the
malignancy of a father's ghost which has been made by C. Dundas, 'The Organisa-
tion and Laws of some Bantu Tribes', J.R.A .1. xlv (1915), P- 277 f-

365. For mundu mugu, see W. S. and K. Routledge, With a Prehistoric People,

pp. 227, 249, n. 1, 256, 263, 361.

A mugumu tree, where ngai was manifest, was muti mugu. Dr. R. R. Marett, who
adds a note to the Routledge volume, considers that ?nugu 'has much the same
sense as the Polynesian mana\ For mana, see para. 147, n. 191 .

For murogi, see W. S. and K. Routledge, op. cit., p. 272 f.; P. Cayzac, La
Religion des Kikuyu', Anthropos, v (1910), p. 313; C. Dundas, 'The Organisation
and Laws of some Bantu Tribes', J.R.A.I. xlv (1915), P- 277 f-

H. R. Tate, 'Further Notes on the Kikuyu', J.A.I, xxxiv (1904), PP- 262-3, trans-
lates mundu mugu, 'priest', and murogi, 'medicine-man'; but apparently he uses

§366 NOTES AND REFERENCES 53 T

'priest' and 'medicine-man' as alternatives, for he adds that 'there are other
medicme-men who do cure sick people', and that these 'other men' were mundu mugu.

The statements in regard to the causation of disease, and especially in regard to
those diseases which are said to have been caused by 'spirits of the dead' and
'espnts', are complicated by the fact that our authorities distinguish what the
Kikuyu are said to have confused, ngai and ngoma. For this confusion, see n. 362.
In the reports on the causes of sickness the native terms are not always quoted

For thahu, which was the equivalent of the Akamba thahu or makwa (n. 372) see
C. W. Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic, pp. 103 ff.; W. S. and K. Routledge,
op. cit., pp. 256-9. Mr. Hobley gives sixty-eight examples of this defilement'
which seems to have been incurred by any violation of social tapu: e.g. a man who
married a blood relation was thahu.

366. I can find no adequate report concerning rain-making. The eight lines
which are devoted to the subject by C. W. Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic p 60
raise more questions than they answer. The sun, moon, lightning, thunder and
ram were ngai (W. S. and K. Routledge, With a Prehistoric People, p. 226).

^36T**GD ^ndblom, The Akamba, pp. 38-9, 157-8; C. Dundas, 'History of
Kitui ,J.R.AJ. xlm (1913), P. 494 f«; idem, 'The Organisation and Laws of some
Bantu Tribes', J.R.A.L xlv (1915), p. 273. The fine is variously reported as being
of one goat (Lindblom) and of a bull and a goat (Dundas).

368. G. Lindblom, The Akamba, p. 210, n. 1.

, In op. cit., p. 106, Mr. Lindblom refers to a woman's ghost as km. This is the
only reference to kiu as 'ghost' that I have found. See further n. 371.

For the convergence of the Akikuyu and Akamba, see C. Dundas, 'Historv of
> Kitui', J. R. A. I. xliii(i9i3), p. 483.

369. See G. Lindblom, The Akamba, pp. 247, 277, 466.

Those who sympathize with the classification of uncivilized societies according
to their 'beliefs', and those who consider that we can describe those beliefs in terms
of our own philosophy, are recommended to study and compare the following
passages: C. W. Hobley, Ethnology of Akamba and other East African Tribes
pp. 85-9; idem, Bantu Beliefs and Magic, p. 62 f.; C. Dundas, 'History of Kitui''
J.R.A.I. xliii (1913), p. 535; G. Lindblom, The Akamba, pp. 243-51. The sub-
jective intrusion is intense: e.g.

(i) 'The Akamba will tell you that they have two gods, Engai or Mulungu
and Aiimu' (Hobley).

(ii) 'The Mkamba uses three words to denote God, muungu, ngai, and mulungu
When asked what God is the Mkamba begins to speak of aiimu, spirits'
(Dundas).

(iii) 'Kamba religion contains the conception of a high god' (Hobley).

Such declarations reveal the uncertainty, inaccuracy, and confusion which arise
as soon as native terms are translated; furthermore, they lead the student to assume
that the Akamba were a complicated people, whereas if we substitute the native
terms, Akamba philosophy becomes simple. To speak of 'the plurality of the
spiritual world' (Dundas) is bad scholarship; to translate a native term by 'the
Absolute' (Lindblom) is a profanation of Hegel as well as a misrepresentation of
Akamba beliefs. Admittedly Mr. Lindblom hesitates 'to ascribe to them too great
a power of abstract thought' ; he tells us also that 'to analyse an idea philosophically
and make distinctions is beyond their capacity' ; but he adds, 'At most a few realise
that mulungu is the Absolute, as we use the word, who is superior to all natural and
supernatural powers.' What does such a sentence mean?

Incredible though it may appear, a number of hypotheses have been submitted
concerning the 'origin' of these conceptions which through our translations have

532 NOTES AND REFERENCES §370

been credited to the Akamba. We are invited to believe that these conceptions
developed either from an 'original monotheism' and/or from 'nature-spirits' and/or
from 'ancestor-spirits', so greatly have our authorities been misled by the ideas
which they associate with their various English equivalents of mulungu and aimu.
It is therefore not surprising that the inferential reports should contradict one
another: e.g. Mr. Hobley (I.e.) speaks of 'certain evil spirits which are the dis-
embodied relics of people who have killed their neighbours by the help of black
magic'; Mr. Lindblom (op. cit., p. 229) replies that he did not find 'a native or
a missionary who knew anything about this sort of spirit'.

The word ngai was not common to all Akamba and was of Masai origin. See
G. Lindblom, op. cit., pp. 247-8. Cp. n. 362.

370. See C. W. Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic, pp. 62-3 (for ngai in high
mountains and the sun, and in trees as the result of a dream of a prophetess);
G. Lindblom, The Akamba, p. 218 (for ngai as ghost of caravan leader), 263 (for
ngai as 'spirit' of diviner), 243, n. 3 (for mulungu as 'luck'), 209 ff. (for mulungu =
'aimu in mountains and solitary places').

The ubiquity mentioned by C. Dundas, 'History of Kitui', J. R.A.I . xliii (191 3),
p. 538, seems to be an inference from the fact that mulungu or aimu was manifest
in many places.

371. For ithembo (fig-trees, mumbo, or any other place where ngai was manifest),
see C. W. Hobley, Akamba and other East African Tribes, pp. 57, 86; idem, Bantu
Beliefs and Magic, pp. 61-6. The following powers also were manifest in fig-trees,
Lango jok (n. 356), Kikuyu ngai (n. 362), Ila mizhimo (n. 403), and Yao mulungu

^ There was 'an abundance of ithembo', according to G. Lindblom, The Akamba,^
p. 219, who says that 'the grave of some medicine-man or other prominent person'
might be ithembo.

The large number of ithembo also impressed C. Dundas, 'History of Kitui',
J. R.A.I, xliii (191 3), p. 537- 'How they originated', he says, 'is more than I can
say.' He adds: 'It seems that an ithembo is simply a place which, from its nature,
is held to be an abode of the spirits as also a place which from a particular circum-
stance has become so.' Since 'spirits' must be a translation of ngai, this statement
means that an ithembo was a place where ngai was manifest. How, then, is it
difficult to understand how an ithembo 'originated'?

The descriptions of the alleged public and private 'sacrifices' by G. Lindblom,
The Akamba, passim, are confused. Mr. Lindblom seems to have decided that the
Akamba practices revealed 'a developed worship of their ancestors' (op. cit.,
p. 209), but he neither defines what he means by 'developed' nor adduces any
evidence in support of the opinion. Cp. the following statements :

(1) 'Mulungu is not worshipped at all, or at least extremely seldom, by offering
of sacrifices, nor in any other way' (op. cit., p. 244).

(2) 'A beer party is held with its accompanying sacrifices to mulungu, i.e. aimu,
the ancestral spirits' (op. cit., p. 466).

(3) 'Mulungu, i.e. aimu' (op. cit., p. 277). t

(4) When an initiation hut was being built beer was poured on the ground as
an offering to mulungu' (op. cit., p. 46).

Under the conditions reported in (2) and (3), how can we say that any particular
offering was made to mulungu or to aimu ?

In his description of the 'family offerings' to the 'ancestral spirits' Mr. Lindblom
says (op. cit., pp. 217-18) that the offerings consisted of 'a little food and drink
placed on the floor of the hut'. I can see no difference between this sacrifice to
'ancestors' and (4). How did Mr. Lindblom decide that in the one case mulungu
and in the other case aimu was the recipient ?

§372 NOTES AND REFERENCES 533

Mr. Lindblom states :

(a) 'When passing a place of sacrifice they usually throw a little food there' ;

(b) 'any one undertaking a long journey offers several sacrifices on the way.'
Since 'a place of sacrifice' was ithembo, a ngai-place, an 'unusual' place, we may

conclude that the offerings mentioned in (b) were made at ithembo which the
traveller passed on his journey. Indeed, all such statements as (a) and (b) seem to
be rhetorical paraphrases of the following statement : 'At the sight of or on meeting
anything unusual the Akamba offer sacrifices' (op. cit., p. 224).

In Akamba and other East African Tribes, p. 85, Mr. Hobley seems to consider
that each individual man possessed several aimu, for he says 'When a person dies
his aimu go and live in a wild fig-tree'; but in Bantu Beliefs and Magic , pp. 30-1,
he speaks of the imu (sing.) of a man as if no man possessed more than one. On
the other hand, G. Lindblom, The Akamba, p. 209, speaks of the 'soul', aimu
(sing.), of a dead man. In that passage Mr. Lindblom says that the soul of a living
man was kiu, but in op. cit., p. 106, we are told that kiu was applied exclusively
to the 'ghost' of a dead woman.

Mr. Hobley's statement that 'aimu go and live in a wild fig-tree' seems to be
an inference, and possibly a false one, from the fact that ngai and /or aimu was
applied to fig-trees.

When we read that certain rites were conducted at the grave of a medicine-man
'or other prominent person', we must not conclude that the graves of other people
were neglected. Ordinary people had no graves. Medicine-men were the only
persons who were buried; the bodies of other people were thrown into the bush
to be devoured by wild beasts. See C. W. Hobley, Akamba and other East African
Tribes, p. 66; C. Dundas, 'History of Kitui', J.R.AJ. xliii (1913), p. 521 ; idem,
'The Organisation and Laws of some Bantu Tribes', J.R.AJ. xlv (1915), p. 241,
n. 3; G. Lindblom, The Akamba, pp. 107, 209.

I cannot explain the apparent contradictions in these last passages. They may
be due to the fact that the practices varied in different areas. This may also be
the explanation of the contradictory character of the passage in C. W. Hobley,
Bantu Beliefs and Magic, p. 10 1 .

372. For mundu mwoi, see G. Lindblom, The Akamba, pp. 176, 254, 279, n. 2,
280-3 ; C. W. Hobley, Akamba and other East African Tribes, p. 93. Mr. Lindblom
corrects Mr. Hobley's muoiion (muoii) to mundu mwoi.

For mundu mue, and the source of his power, see G. Lindblom, op. cit., pp. 254,
256, 258, 279 ; C. W. Hobley, op. cit., p. 85 ; C. Dundas, 'History of Kitui', J.R.AJ .
xliii (1913), p. 532.

For care of personal clippings, see C. W. Hobley, op. cit., p. 101 ; idem, Bantu
Beliefs and Magic, p. 62.

According to C. Dundas, 'The Organisation and Laws of other Bantu Tribes',
J.R.AJ. xlv (1915), p. 277, those who practised witchcraft habitually were usually
women.

Any one who broke a tapu was thabu or makwa, 'accursed', 'unclean'. The con-
dition also resulted from unwitting contact with ngai (mulungu) . The victim had to be
purified. See C. W. Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic, pp. 127 ff. ; G. Lindblom,
op. cit., pp. 298 ff. ; C. Dundas, op. cit., p. 242. Cp. the Kikuyu thahu (n. 365).

373. Cp. the following statements:

(1) 'The Kamba have no medicine-men who specialize in rain-making, and in
times of drought they pray and sacrifice at the ithembo.'

'They are emphatic in stating that ngai and not the aimu brings the rain' (C. W.
Hobley, Bantu Beliefs and Magic, pp. 63, 192).

(2) 'The author has neither seen nor heard any mention of a medicine-man
using sympathetic magic to produce rain.'

534 NOTES AND REFERENCES §374

'These prayers', i.e. at the ithembo, 'are really addressed to the aimu, even though
they sometimes seem to be addressed to mulungu-ngaV (G. Lindblom, The Akamba,
pp. 245, 276).

For the confusion between ngai (mulungu) and aimu, see n. 371.

I am not sure whether ngai was applied (adverbially?) to rain in general or only
to some rains. One thing is certain : the word did not mean 'rain', for such a trans-
lation would confuse the meaning of the word with the phenomena to which it
was applied. This confusion seems to detract from the value of the arguments
which are advanced by Dr. R. R. Marett in W. S. and K. Routledge, With a Pre-
historic People, pp. 360-1.

A Kamba word which is said to have meant 'rain' was mbua, but apparently the
word was used infrequently. G. Lindblom, op. cit., p. 248, says that 'sometimes
for certain reasons the rain may not be mentioned by its ordinary name'. I can
find no other reference to mbua.

Rain-magic, we are told, was 'of a purely negative character and consisted in the
avoidance of certain acts during the hour of rain or when rain was expected'. If
a drought threatened to ruin the harvest, the women assembled and sang sexual
songs in order to make the rain fall. Individual men took such steps to secure rain
as they considered advisable and adequate: e.g. a man might place an inverted
jar in a field. Certain charms were credited with the power of dispersing a rain-
cloud. See G. Lindblom, op. cit., pp. 181, 275-6, 288.

374. The relation between sexual opportunity and human behaviour is so close
that it would be possible to test the conclusions of this treatise. For example, if
the questions tabulated in para. 23 could be answered by a perusal of the literature
to which Mr. E. Torday has referred in H. Spencer, Descriptive Sociology, Div. I,
Part 2 a, No. 4, pp. 43-4, the general pattern of Turkana, Didinga, and Dodotho
behaviour could be predicted, and the accuracy of the prediction checked, from
a description of the cultural details as and when they became known.

375. A. C. Hollis, The Nandi, pp. 40- 1 I c- Eliot> in A- C- Hollis> °P- cit;>
Introd., pp. xix, xxi; G. W. B. Huntingford, 'Notes on some names for God',
Man, 1928, no. 138.

The word asista seems to have been derived from asis, 'sun', with the article

suffix.

According to G. W. B. Huntingford, 'Miscellaneous Records relating to the
Nandi and Kony Tribes', jf. R.A.I, lvii (1927), P- 418, 'a distinction is often made
between asis meaning god and asista meaning the sun'. This distinction is not
made by Sir Claud Hollis, who in such contexts spells the word 'god' with a
capital G.

376. A. C. Hollis, The Nandi, pp. 22, 30, 35, 42, 65, 122 f. The cry to the sun
is on p. 42, the cry to the moon on p. 122 f.; the 'protect us' cries are on p. 65.

377. Cp. A. C. Hollis, The Masai, p. 274, and idem, The Nandi, pp. 35, 65.
The sun asis is reported to have been the totem of the kipasiso clan (The Nandi,

pp. 5, 11). Hair was thrown to the rising sun (ibid., pp. 3°> 5J> 53, 62, 65); also
teeth (ibid., p. 30); some people used to spit to the east (ibid., pp. 42, 46, 56, 60,
78). It would be interesting to know which, if any, of these actions were performed
exclusively by the kipasiso clan.

We are told (ibid., p. 41) that there were 'two other superhuman beings, iletnemie
and iletneya\ The word ilet meant 'thunder'. I suspect that the terms were de-
scriptive of sky-activity. Cp. the black and red ngai of the Masai (n. 383). Cp. also
the inferential and contradictory reports concerning 'black' ngai and 'white' ngai
which are made by P. Cayzac, 'La Religion des Kikuyu', Anthropos, v (1910),
p. 309, and W. S. and K. Routledge, With a Prehistoric People, p. 226.

§378 NOTES AND REFERENCES 535

378. An ordinary Nandi corpse was taken out at nightfall, to be devoured by the
hyenas. Perhaps this is the reason why hyenas were respected and feared. 'In
the case of a very old man or woman or very young children, the body is buried
in the dung-heap near the cattle-kraal'. See A. C. Hollis, The Nandi, pp. 7 (for
fear of hyenas), 70, 72.

For oiik (sing, oiindet), and the attention which was paid to them, see A. C. Hollis,
op. cit., pp. 41, 46, 70, 100; G. W. B. Huntingford, 'Miscellaneous Records relating
to the Nandi and Kony Tribes', J.R.A.I. lvii (1927), pp. 418-19. Mr. Huntingford
calls oiik 'good spirits'; Sir Claud Hollis calls them 'devils'. Mr. Huntingford
calls musamhwamindet (pi. ?nusambwanik) 'bad spirits'; these are not mentioned by
Sir Claud Hollis.

According to Mr. Huntingford, 'a person when collecting firewood by the river
may hear a noise like a dry stick being broken and will know that it is a spirit, to
which they say % ooindennyo, "you are my spirit" '. Was the 'spirit' that of the person
who heard the noise? If so, the custom could not have been 'ancestor-cult' as it
is reported to have been. If it was not the spirit of that person, what does the
report mean ? Again, if a person fell or tripped up, he was thought to have been
caught by 'spirits' : 'If this happens more than once, he knows that a spirit is angry,
and offers milk to some ancestral spirit'. I do not know if this 'ancestral spirit' was
supposed to be the 'spirit' who caused the man to fall. Apparently ghosts were
pleased if corn was thrown into the fire. If, after dreaming of a 'spirit', a woman
poured some milk on the floor of the hut, and said iro cho cheko, 'look at this milk',
she would obtain the child which she desired.

379. See A. C. Hollis, The Nandi, pp. 49-51, 69 f.; G. W. B. Huntingford,
'Miscellaneous Records relating to the Nandi and Kony Tribes', J.R.A.I. lvii
(1927), pp. 421-2.

Witchcraft was one of the ordinary risks of life ; great care was taken of body-
I clippings.

If an illness was due to a ghost, a brother or near relation discovered its identity
by a process of elimination carried out by means of stalks. The practitioner then
cried, kakosichin orkoiyo, 'I have got thee, O medicine-man', and enticed the ghost
away by offers of food. Must we conclude that the ghost of an orkoiyot was the only
ghost which could cause sickness ?

The orkoiyot (pi. orkoiik) acted as wizard, medicine-man, and diviner. Mr.
Huntingford says that all orkoiik were members of the talai clan, but Sir Claud
disagrees. Though the kipsakeiyot was always a talai man, he says, the kipungut
was not. The latter were strangers; if they were killed, no blood-money was pay-
able. They are called 'lesser medicine-men'. We are not told the reason. Apparently
the comparison implied by 'lesser' has been made by the white man, and was not
1 recognized by the Nandi.

380. See A. C. Hollis, The Nandi, pp. 48, 49, 52; G. W. B. Huntingford, 'Mis-
cellaneous Records relating to the Nandi and Kony Tribes', J.R.A.I. lvii (1927),
p. 422.

381. A. C. Hollis, The Nandi, pp. 16-17, 68, 76.

J. G. Frazer, G.B., The Magic Art, ii. 112, quotes the prohibition of looking
into a granary as an example of the opinions of uncivilized men concerning the
blighting influence of sexual crime. The Nandi girl, however, was punished not
for her sexual intercourse but for her pregnancy. The illustration is therefore
(inappropriate to Sir James's submissions.

Of the seventeen clans which are mentioned by A. C. Hollis, op. cit., pp. 8 ff.,
the members of five were forbidden to marry a girl who had conceived ; the members
of three were not allowed to take such a girl as a first wife. The toiyoi clan seem to

536 NOTES AND REFERENCES §3*2

have been irregular in all their habits. Concerning the kipsirgo clan the reports arc-
contradictory.

382. The most detailed description of Masai pre-nuptial sexual regulations has
been given by L. S. B. Leakey, 'Some Notes on the Masai of Kenya Colony',

J.R.A.I. lx (1930), PP- 192-4, 197-8.

The organized fornication of the girls and the warriors has been reported also
by S. L. and H. Hinde, The Last of the Masai, pp. 72-4 ; by A. C. Hollis, The Masai,
pp. 122, 310-11 ; and by J. Thomson, Through Masai-land, p. 431.

None of these authorities mentions the imposition of a fine on the father of a
pre-nuptial child. The Hindes state that a warrior had the option of marrying a girl
whom he had caused to conceive. Sir Claud Hollis says that he usually married
her. He also says that a warrior who wanted a certain woman to be his wife 'pur-
posely seduced her'. That is a queer phrase to use in reference to the Masai.

Dr. Leakey reports that the girls used to abstain from intercourse during and
just after a menstrual period. Apparently the Masai were of the opinion that it was
during the few days directly following the menstrual period that conception was
most likely to occur. The abortifacient of the Masai was crude.

R. Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 25, remarks that among the Masai pre-nuptial
children are so strictly debarred that a girl incurs the severest punishment, and
even death, if she brings up a pre-nuptial child. He cites A. C. Hollis, The Masai,
p. 261, as his authority, but neither on that nor on any other page of Sir Claud
Hollis's book can I find any passage which can be so interpreted. The statement
is contradicted by the above quotations. For further comments on the work of
R. Briffault, see nn. 112, 155, 163, 172, 421, and 470.

383. S. L. and H. Hinde, The Last of the Masai, p. 99; J. Thomson, Through
Masai-land, p. 445.

Both the Hindes and Thomson translate ngai as 'god', with either a small or a
capital G. A. C. Hollis, The Masai, passim, writes engai for ngai. His translations
are eclectic, and usually, but not invariably, he employs a capital G for 'god'. The
following references are to his The Masai:

(a) On p. 254 he renders engai as 'the heaven' and 'the rain', purely from context.

(b) The word 'god' is given a capital G on pp. 290, 349, a small g on p. 270 ; 'the
God' is the rendering of engai on p. 346; on p. 249 the phrase na-ai is trans-
lated 'O-the-God'.

(c) On p. 264, ngai is given in a plural form, ngaitin, thus: Enneikuna ngaitin.
Etii ngaitin are: etii engai narok, netii: ennanyokye, 'The story of the gods.
There are two gods, a black god, and a red god.'

In (a) Sir Claud seems to have confused the meaning of the word with the
phenomena to which it was applied. This is also the case in Transactions of the
Third Congress of the History of Religio?is (Oxford, 1908), i. 88. In that passage
Sir Claud calls engai 'the Masai rain-god'.

The plural form ngaitin in (c) seems to indicate that the word 'god' as a transla-
tion of engai cannot be spelt with the capital G. The so-called 'gods' in (c) have
been described also by S. L. and H. Hinde, op. cit., p. 99 f., who mention a black
ngai which was very good, a white ngai which was good, a blue ngai which was
neither good nor bad, and a red ngai which was bad. Since black ngai was associated
with rain (A. C. Hollis, The Masai, p. 204; Sir Charles Eliot, in A. C. Hollis, op.
cit., Introd., p. xix) the so-called 'gods' appear to have been descriptive terms for
various forms of sky-activity.

Sir Charles Eliot, in A. C. Hollis, op. cit., Introd., p. xviii, considers that the
form of the word ngai which Sir Claud Hollis adopted, engai, was the word at with
the feminine article prefixed. Sir Charles Eliot thinks that ngai was used by the
Masai 'indefinitely and impersonally of remarkable natural phenomena'.

§3^4 NOTES AND REFERENCES 537

When we consider, in the light of the above inconsistencies and inaccuracies, the
lack of scholarship which Sir Claud Hollis displays in his discussion of Nandi
culture (para. 87), it is surprising to find him correcting other observers. In support
of certain submissions which he made concerning the nature of religious concep-
tions, Dr. R. R. Marett, Threshold of Religion2, p. 12, quoted the passage from
Thomson to which I have referred. Sir Claud Hollis protested; Dr. Marett then
wrote: 'The statement about engai derived from Joseph Thomson appears to be
incorrect. Mr. Hollis informs me that ngai is a thoroughly anthropomorphic god,
of much the same character as was the sky-god Zeus for the ancient world. Thom-
son, he thinks, must have misunderstood the Masai. They would never have
alluded to his lamp, or to himself, as engai. It is possible that they said e'nga-ai or
endoki e'ngai, "It is of God, it is something supernatural".'

Concerning this protest by Sir Claud Hollis, the following comments are
appropriate :

(1) If Sir Claud denies that the Masai called Thomson's lamp ngai, does he deny
also the Hindes' report that the Masai called a railway-engine ngai} If so, we must
consider whether the joint testimony of the Hindes and Thomson is greater or less
than his. If he does not deny the Hindes' report, then wherein lies the difficulty

; in believing Thomson's statement?

(2) If the phrase 'of God' is equivalent to 'something supernatural', wherein lies
I Sir Claud's difference with Thomson? The word 'supernatural', of course, must

be interpreted as being relative to the mind of the Masai.

(3) To maintain that ngai was 'of much the same character as was the sky-god
Zeus for the ancient world' is to make a meaningless, dangerous, and unscholarly
comparison. In the first place, the Athenians had no settled conception of Zeus;

\ sometimes and by some people Zeus was conceived as a thunderbolt-hurling
creature in the sky; Phidias represented Zeus as a majestic, contemplative divinity.
If, then, ngai is compared with Zeus, the reader will select his own conception of
Zeus and thus gain his own opinion of ngai. Secondly, the differences between

, Zeus and ngai are so great that a comparison can be made only by calling them both
'gods'. Zeus was honoured by temples ; ngai was not. Zeus was at the head of a great

; pantheon, all of whom had temples; ngai was manifest only in those things which
appeared supernatural to the Masai.

On the whole, there seems to be no reason for disallowing Thomson's report.
Sir Claud Hollis 's protest lacks point.

j 384. 'With the exception of the medicine-men and rich people, who are buried
in shallow trenches, burial is unknown among the Masai' (A. C. Hollis, The Masai,
1 p. 246).

I 'Only an old man or a woman past child-bearing is allowed to die in the village'
! (L. S. B. Leakey, 'Some Notes on the Masai of Kenya Colony', J. R.A.I, lx (1930)
p. 205).

J. Thomson, Through Masai-land, pp. 440, 444, says that to bury a corpse would
be to poison the soil. The skulls of the dead were denuded of flesh by hyenas and
f vultures, the survivors kicking them from their path when they encountered them.
S. L. and H. Hinde, The Last of the Masai, p. 51, confirm the lack of burial. For
1 other reports, see H. H. Johnston, The Uganda Protectorate, ii. 828.

According to S. L. and H. Hinde, op. cit., p. 99, death was regarded as complete
' annihilation. The same report is made by A. C. Hollis, op. cit., p. 307. J. Thomson,
op. cit., p. 438, says that the men who died in battle were 'commemorated by
a dance and then forgotten'. For some reason which he does not relate, Dr. Leakey
(op. cit., p. 206) is not satisfied concerning this lack of belief in a 'spirit' life.

For menengai, 'corpses' or 'ghosts', see G. W. B. Huntingford, 'Miscellaneous
Records relating to the Nandi and Kony Tribes', J. R.A.I, lvii (1927), p. 243.

53g NOTES AND REFERENCES § 385

A. C. Hollis, The Masai, pp. 306-7, states that 'whenever anybody passes the
spot [burial place], he throws a stone on the heap and this is done for all time'.
This stone-throwing may be compared to a similar action on the part of the Mafulu,
who threw things when they passed a 'spirit' place, i.e. an 'unusual' place. See

para. 75. .

The Masai are said to have believed that the souls of medicine-men and rich
men (i.e. those who were buried) passed into snakes. Is this report an inference
from the fact that the word ngai was applied both to outstanding men and to some
snakes? Has the meaning of ngai been confused with the phenomena to which it
was applied?

385. See (1) S. L. and H. Hinde, The Last of the Masai, p. 31: 'Lenana's
[a noted magician] knowledge of events is supposed by his people to be due to
magic, or, as they call it, ngai.*

(2) J. Thomson, Through Masai-land, p. 444 f-- 'They have faith in witchcraft,
though the power of the medicine-man lies not in any innate power, but in his
power of intercession with ngai.'

(3) A. C. Hollis, The Masai, p. 334 f • : 'When a Masai falls ill, it is said to be
?igai's (God's) sickness.'

Spitting was regarded as a protection against affliction. If a magician dreamed
that the cattle or the people were to be visited by a disease, he summoned the people
to dance while he made medicine. See S. L. and H. Hinde, op. cit., pp. 44, 45, 47-

386. The usual method of making rain seems to have been that of sending the
children out to sing and dance ; there was also a charm, olokora, which old men threw
into the fire in order to influence black ngai. See S. L. and H. Hinde, The Last of
the Masai, p. 102 (for rain-making through children); A. C. Hollis, The Masai,
PP- 345, n- J> 347"8 (for rain-making through children and olokora).

387. For the Awemba, see J. C. C. Coxhead, 'The Native Tribes of N.E.
Rhodesia', R.A.I. Occasional Papers, No. 5, pp. 5"7 \ C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane,
The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia, pp. 16-22, 30-1, 54.

For the freedom of royal females (daughters of the ruling 'king') among the
Baganda, Bakitara, and Dahomans, see J. Roscoe, The Baganda, p. 85; idem, The
Bakitara, p. 171 ; A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West
Africa, p. 204. I should have expected to find the same custom among the Banyan-
kole, but in his monograph on that society Canon Roscoe does not mention it. In
the reports on the Bakitara there are some apparent contradictions in regard to the
bearing of children by the 'princesses'. Cp. J. Roscoe, The Bakitara, pp. 136, 143,
171, and idem, The Northern Bantu, p. 136.

The extension of sexual freedom to the females of the ruling clan has been men-
tioned in a different context by Sir J. G. Frazer, in G.B., The Magic Art, ii. 276 f.,
who gives examples from other parts of Africa.

It seems probable that the sexual freedom was the outcome of an injunction
against marriage and that the latter was connected with disputes in regard to the
succession to the kingship. This at any rate was the idea behind a similar prohibi-
tion in the Later Roman Empire, where in the seventh century the daughters of an
emperor who had sons were not allowed to marry. After the time of Constantine IV
the same rule was extended to younger sons of the emperor.

388. See J. C. C. Coxhead, 'The Native Tribes of N.E. Rhodesia', R.A.I.
Occasional Papers, No. 5, p. 14; C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau
of Northern Rhodesia, pp. 55, 57, J°8.

389. J C C. Coxhead, 'The Native Tribes of N.E. Rhodesia', R.A.I. Occasional
Papers, No. 5, PP- n, 15, 18; C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau
of Northern Rhodesia, pp. i57_D3, ID9, r7I-

§39© NOTES AND REFERENCES 539

Mr. Sheane contrasts two forms of marriage, chisungu and bwinga : the former was
a 'temporary loan of a woman removeable at will by her clan' ; bwinga implied her
complete surrender to her husband. It seems possible that chisungu was matrilocal
and bwinga patrilocal. Perhaps Mr. Sheane was prevented from making an explicit
declaration to that effect because he compared chisungu and bwinga to the Roman
conubium and confarreatio. The comparison is invalid. For Roman marriage cus-
toms, see para. 171.

Mr. Sheane states (op. cit., p. 141) that 'chastity was an unknown quantity in
young girls over fifteen years of age'. This means nothing more than that pre-
nuptial chastity was not demanded. Mr. Sheane does not state what limitations
were imposed on the pre-nuptial freedom, although it is clear that such limitations
existed. He was much impressed by the lack of 'morality'.

390. See (1) J. H. W. Sheane, 'Some Aspects of the Awemba Religion and
Superstitious Observances', J.A.I, xxxvi (1906), p. 151 : 'There is no special wor-
ship of Leza' ;

(2) C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia, pp.
80-1 : 'The cult of Leza is outside their ordinary religion : there is no direct access
to him by prayer or by sacrifices.' How, then, can it be said that there was a 'cult'
of Leza ?

391. See J. H. W. Sheane, 'Some Aspects of the Awemba Religion and Super-
stitious Observances', J. A. I. xxxvi (1906), pp. 15 1-2; C. Gouldsbury and H
Sheane, The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia, p. 82.

In the latter passage, the phrase: 'milungu who approximate closely to "nature
spirits" . . .' is followed by the declaration: 'milungu being nature spirits . . .'. In
this manner many inferences have assumed the appearance of facts.

J. H. W. Sheane, in op. cit., p. 194, uses mulungu in a plural context. This sug-
gests that the plurality existed only in the mind of the white man.

392. The reports concerning Mulenga are scanty. He is said to have had the
power to grant abundant rain and plenteous harvests. This may be an inference
from the fact that sometimes the absence of rain and a failure of the crops were
ascribed to his malevolence. In one passage mulenga has been called 'the god of

' the Rinder pest'; in another, 'the Azrael of the Wemba'. See J. H. W. Sheane,
'Some Aspects of the Awemba Religion and Superstitious Observances', J. A. I.

' xxxvi (1906), p. 151 f. ; C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau of
Northern Rhodesia, pp. 81-2, 126-7. The statements are not helpful.

393. C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia,
. pp. 82-3, 185-8.

The native name for the hut is not given in the description of the burial cere-
monies. It may have been mafuba, which is translated 'little god-hut' in op. cit.,
p. 26, and 'ghost-hut' in op. cit., p. 83.

Although all 'departed chiefs' seem to have been buried in Mwaruli, a literal

I acceptance of all the appropriate statements would make us conclude that the
honour was paid only to 'kings'. The employment of native terms would have
avoided these uncertainties.

j We are told (op. cit., p. 83) that 'the aid of the departed chiefs was evoked (sic)
in time of war, in periods of drought, and special offerings were made at their
shrines at harvest time'. The rites which are described were all do ut abeas. The
reports, however, are scanty. The public character of the rites is emphasized, but

I I can find no explicit case in which the chiefly mipashi were tended by any one who
was not of chiefly descent.

Were the ba muka benye, 'priestesses of the departed chiefs' (op. cit., p. 23), the

54o NOTES AND REFERENCES §394

women who remained to tend the hut? They are mentioned again in op. cit., p. 83,
in a most remarkable passage.

A certain class of women, mfumu ya mipashi, became 'possessed' in the usual
manner; their ecstatic ravings were interpreted by the basinganga, 'medicine-men'
(n. 395)' They are called 'Possessed Chieftainesses of the Spirit'. The translation
is misleading, for apparently mipashi was a plural word. We are not told the identity
of the 'spirit' by whom they were possessed. The fact of possession and not the
identity of the possessing spirit seems to have been responsible for their divinatory
power. The reports are scanty. See C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, op. cit.,
pp. 54, 83; J. H. W. Sheane, 'Some Aspects of the Awemba Religion and Super-
stitious Observances', J.A.I, xxxvi (1906), p. 152.

It will be noticed that in the former work mfumu ya mipashi is translated both
masculine and feminine, 'chiefs' and 'chieftainesses', and that in the latter paper
the Bantu form is imfumu shya mipashi.

394. The attenuated passage in C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great
Plateau of Northern Rhodesia, pp. 84-5, is the sum of our knowledge, but the fol-
lowing sentence is tucked away in op. cit., p. 1 14 : ' If the ghost of a deceased relative
proves obnoxious, they dig up and burn the body to cancel the power of the
spirit.'

Clearly the 'short ejaculatory prayers', 'usually couched in a set formula , were
incantations. It would be interesting to know if their content had any relation to
the subject on hand. These incantations are submitted as evidence of 'ancestor-
worship'; but it is inadmissible. See my comments (para. 81) on reports of
'ancestor-worship' in Africa. The 'ancestor-spirits' mentioned in op. cit., p. 50,
seem to have been the ghosts of great men, or those of members of the 'royal' clans.

395. For viwanda (vizva), see J. H. W. Sheane, 'Some Aspects of the Awemba
Religion and Superstitious Observances', J.A.I, xxxvi (1906), p. 153 (who calls them
vibanda and compares the Mang'anga chiwanda (n. 447)); C. Gouldsbury and H.
Sheane, The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia, p. 85 f.

According to J. H. W. Sheane, op. cit., p. 155, 'most of the old people pretended
to be basinganga . There is no report of any exorcism or transference. The nganga
divined the cause of affliction and applied simple remedies, which were reinforced
by the use of amulets and charms. See also C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, op. cit.,
pp. 23, 54, 83-5, 119-20, 285, 306.

We are told that no one except a nganga could make fire. This may mean that
only old people could do so, since most old people claimed to be basinganga.

The information concerning waloshi (mlozi, zvalozi) will be found in the above-
mentioned passages.

396. The steps which may be taken to create rain must always be distinguished
from the steps which are taken to conciliate a power which is withholding the rain.
Only the latter have been reported of the Awemba. See the passages cited in n. 393.

The casual mention of rain in C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau
of Northern Rhodesia, p. 23, is misleading, unless it is read in conjunction with those
passages.

397. E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale, The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia,
ii. 38-40.

But what happened if an initiated but unbetrothed girl became pregnant.''
Perhaps most of the girls were betrothed at an early age. Tn cases of inconvenient
pregnancy', we are told, 'resort is often had to abortifacients.'

The Baila sexual regulations were remarkable for some post-nuptial arrange-
ments which possibly are unique among Bantu tribes. There was a covenant of
friendship, mulongo, whereby men voluntarily swore brotherhood and shared every-

§398 NOTES AND REFERENCES 541

thing which they possessed, including the sexual qualities of their wives. The
arrangement was of a purely private character and was sealed sometimes by mutual
blood-letting. Ibid. i. 308.

Another extra-matrimonial sexual relationship was lubambo, 'an arranged thing':
all the married men and women seem to have entered into lubambo alliances ; the
partnerships were made publicly at a great annual festival. No Ila husband objected
to these arrangements unless he had reason to think that his wife intended to leave
him and to live permanently with another man. Ibid. ii. 67-9.

In addition to these customs, the habits of wife-lending and of wife-exchange
prevailed; these were temporary accommodations rather than permanent alliances,
and are not unique.

A man could live with an unmarried woman and eat her food, even though he
had paid no price for her. In that case he could not leave her; he was her slave.
Ibid. i. 403.

Messrs. Smith and Dale emphasize the great part which sex played in the life
of a Baila. Doubtless the mulongo and lubambo customs were partly responsible for
this 'pervasive element', for the Baila pre-nuptial regulations were more stringent
than those of many other tribes. Their post-nuptial customs, however, afforded
a post-nuptial sexual opportunity which could not have been easily extended.
I See further n. 399.

398. Ibid. ii. 120 (for mabwabwa), 164-8 (for mizhimo), 173 (for 'sacred spots'
in the family hut).

399. E. W. Smith, Pte. Com., 19/10/29.

When I was studying Messrs. Smith and Dale's monograph, I was struck by the
fact that in many details Baluba culture was higher than that of the Baila. I asked
Mr. Smith whether the sexual regulations of the two societies were different. He
i replied: 'I do not know much about the Baluba, but I believe their regulation of
1 sex relations was more strict than among the Baila. Whether the regulations among
the Baila have become looser in course of time is, I think, impossible to say
definitely. It is so difficult to ascertain what the state of things was fifty years ago.'

A reliable monograph on the Baluba would be a valuable addition to our
knowledge.

400. E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale, The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern
Rhodesia, ii. 180-92.

Malumba is said to have been a great wonder-worker whose parents came from
the east. Apparently Mungama was a powerful chief of a more mundane character;
he created large cities. Shimunenga, whose position at Kasenga was shared by a
female muzhimo, Nachilomwe, was their contemporary; he 'came from the north
somewhere'.

401. Ibid. ii. 166, 169, 175-7.

The commonest offering was water; the person filled his mouth and then spat:
'A gentle expectoration, tsu, is an accompaniment of an offering, or an offering in
itself, to the divinities' (ibid. ii. 174). This 'gentle expectoration' was a custom also
among the Baronga. M. Junod calls it a 'famous sacramental rite'. See para. 93,
'n. 408.

If they were neglected on earth, old people might say : 'You people neglect me,
you do not bring me water and food as you ought ; when I am dead I will come back
md trouble you.' See, e.g., op. cit. ii. 115 f.; and compare a similar threat by an
\shanti (n. 467), and by the Fijian kalou-vu, Ndengei (para. 34).

402. Ibid. ii. 171-4, 178-80.

The Iwanga was a mysterious institution. Messrs. Smith and Dale call it 'the

542 NOTES AND REFERENCES §403

village altar'. Usually it consisted of a long many-pronged pole on which charms
were hung. Cp. the Ronga nkonola (n. 408) and the Ashanti nyame dua (n. 462).

Another 'sacred spot' was the gateway through which the cattle were driven.
Both the Iwanga and the gateway are said to have been connected with mizhimo,
but the appropriate facts have been reported scantily. The Iwanga seems to have
been connected also with the musediakwe, 'namesake' (op. cit. ii. 156), and with a
successful hunt (op. cit. ii. 172). It would be interesting to know whether it was
associated also with leza or with musamo.

Some Ila 'chiefs' were buried in their huts. The huts were kept in repair for
a little time and afterwards were replaced by others, smaller and flimsier (op. cit.

U The Baila made no images of mizhimo, but in the north-eastern area, where the
Baluba influence was considerable, a chief possessed in the middle of his village a hut
which was sacred to his muzhimo; he kept his property there and the muzhimo
guarded it for him. The hut was taboo to ordinary people ; it contained two images
about 10 inches high. Ibid. ii. 169 f.

403. Ibid. ii. 186-9. .
Shimunenga is the only greater muzhimo concerning whom Messrs. bmitn and

Dale give any details.

The manner in which the sacred grove was formed should be noticed by those
who consider that the members of some historical societies connected such a place
with sylvan 'spirits' or 'nature-spirits' of a similar character. See para. 148.

The dual character of the staff (custodian and medium) is noteworthy. Cp. the
dual priesthood of the Baganda and of the Tongans (nn. 130, 209).

Shimunenga is called 'Giver of Virility to men' (op. cit. ii. 189), but I cannot find
any rite which was 'cult'. The offerings of seeds prior to the sowing season (op. cit.
ii 188) may have been a method of anticipating anger by an early conciliation. We
are told (op. cit. ii. 167) that a ghost had some power 'that a living man has not',
but the remark is made in reference to the family dead. Clearly the attention which
was paid to them was do ut abeas. .

I notice (op. cit. ii. 184) that mizhimo were manifest also in large trees, especially
in fig-trees. Cp. the application oijok, ngai and mulungu to fig-trees by the Lango
(n. 356), Akikuyu (n. 362), Akamba (para. 86), and Wayao (n. 437). Cp. also the
wakan-trees of the Dakota Indians (n. 522) and the manido-trees of the Ojibwa

Indians (para. 113). . , ,

Bulongo is a subject on which Messrs. Smith and Dale express their doubts and
uncertainties. Apparently he was connected only with rain. Ibid. 11. 192-6.

404. Ibid. ii. 197-212 (for leza, but inference must be subtracted from fact),
80, 88 (for the quotations).

For further comments on leza, see nn. 390, 405, 409.

With musamo Messrs. Smith and Dale compare electricity, but is this a valid
comparison? Musamo may not have been all-pervasive; its alleged omnipresence
may be an inference, and possibly a false one, from the fact that it was manifest
in strange, unusual things. See para. 148. ?

Everything in which musamo appeared was tonda, 'dangerous . See op. cit. 1.

346 ff.

405. Sickness might be due to (1) witchcraft, (2) breaking a taboo, tonda, (3)
ghost (3) is an intricate subject, for no less than four native words of various
meanings have been translated by the same English word; the evidence in their
connexion is scanty: (1) bapuka, 'ghosts of the living men', seem to have been
able to penetrate the ear, (2) chizwa (pi. mazwa) was 'pressed' into the service ot
a mulozhi wizard, even when its owner was alive, (3) kayobela (pi. tuyobela) seems

406 NOTES AND REFERENCES 543

to have been a chizwa which chirped like a bird, (4) mutalu was applied to the ghost
of a specially aggrieved person. See E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale, Ila-speaking
Peoples of Northern Rhodesia, i. 244; ii. 132.

For the banganga, basozhi, and baloshi, see op. cit. i. 265-80; ii. 83. The banganga
extracted properties which were contained in plants and other things, and put them
to beneficent or maleficent purposes.

Concerning leza the following notes are appropriate :

(1) Virulent diseases or plagues were ascribed to leza (op. cit. ii. 232).

(2) Leza was associated with leprosy (op. cit. ii. 245).

(3) When offerings to the mizhimo did not procure the desired result 'direct
access was sought to leza' (op. cit. ii. 210).

(4) Death was applied to leza (op. cit. i. 266).

If we were to tabulate the phenomena with which leza was associated or to which
the term leza was applied, it is probable that we should be able to submit a hypo-
thesis in regard to leza which would be more acceptable than those which have been
submitted hitherto.

The offering to leza in op. cit. i. 168 may have been confused with the offerings
which were made on the same occasion to mizhimo. The association of the two
words in an incantation may have caused the confusion. This is the only recorded
example of an offering to leza which I can find.

For further comments on leza, see nn. 390, 409.

If we may judge from op. cit. i. 222 ff., the Baila possessed a very considerable
store of anatomical knowledge ; or it may be that we know more about the Baila than
we do about other societies and that if we knew as much about the others we might
find that they were equipped in a similar manner.

406. Ibid. ii. 208.

There were charms to prevent rain, misamo ya leza (op. cit. i. 255). Cp. Ronga
maringo ya tilo (para. 93).

There was a certain bush, kamwaya, with which rain could be dispersed if it came
too much (op. cit. ii. 86).

'The rain may be prevented from falling by those who have the proper medicine
! and released by others with more powerful stuff' (op. cit. ii. 221).

All these rites imply a magical control of sky-activity.

407. See H. A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe2, i. 97-8.

I M. Junod mentions a tribe, the Pedi, whose pre-nuptial regulations were dif-
ferent from those of the Baronga. Among the Pedi, he says, 'girls are absolutely
prohibited from having any sexual relation before their marriage. They must keep
absolutely pure. In some clans they must even undergo a physical examination

I at the hands of the old female relatives of the husband to prove their virginity.'

Apparently the information was hearsay, perhaps also inferential, and this casual
report must be confirmed before it can be accepted. Various references to Pedi

(customs are scattered throughout M. Junod's book. Their culture appears to have

'differed in many ways from that of the Baronga. Most of the statements, however,
are second-hand. We must remember that there is always a danger of a demand for
pre-nuptial chastity being inferred from a condemnation of pre-nuptial pregnancy,
but the report as to the tokens seems definite, though 'some clans' is vague.

408. See H. A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe2, ii. 372-428.

1 Many questions arise from the study of these pages. The following comments,
! which might be extended, are appropriate :

(1) In op. cit. ii. 372, shikwembu (pi. psikwembu) seems to have been an entity
which only came into existence when a man died; in op. cit. i. 140, however, we
are told that a corpse was never tied up 'because the shikwembu would not be able

544 NOTES AND REFERENCES §408

to escape'. This not only conflicts with a passage in op. cit. ii. 172 ; it also suggests
that the shikwembu was in the living body, escaping at death. Perhaps the second
statement does not represent Aronga opinion ; it may be an inference on the part
of M. Junod.

(2) From a single photograph (op. cit. i. 141) I conclude that sometimes a round
hut was erected over a grave. I can find no reference to these huts in the text of
M. Junod's book. Yet they are (or would be) an important cultural item. In the
case to which the illustration refers, the man was an exorcist. No huts were erected
over the graves of chiefs in the forest ntimu, burial ground. See op. cit. ii. 377.

(3) The psikwembu which were especially feared were the psikwembu of persons
killed in battle or by wild beasts, of drowned people, of suicides, and of pregnant
women who had been buried with their unborn children in their wombs. According
to M. Junod the great fear of them was due to the fact that they had not been
buried in due form. M. Junod (op. cit. ii. 374-5) calls them 'gods of the assegais',
'gods of bitterness', 'gods of the bush', &c. Such exaggerated phraseology is
misleading.

(4) We are told (op. cit. ii. 384) that the Baronga 'gods' 'revealed themselves in
the form of animals, especially snakes.' The intention to appear, however, may not
have been a part of the Ronga conception. It is more usual to say that ghosts were
transferred to animals; possibly it would be more accurate to say that the same
native term was applied to the dead and to some snakes. The same word shikwembu
is translated both as 'ancestor' and as 'god' in op. cit. ii. 396.

(5) When M. Junod declares that the gods 'blessed' and 'cursed', he seems to
mean that in some cases affliction was attributed to psikwembu. That psikwembu
also conferred blessings seems to be an inference from the fact that sometimes they
were alleged to have hindered the baloyi, wizards, from spoiling the crops. See
op. cit. ii. 386. But does the latter remark apply to any shikwembu except the shik-
wembu of a mungoma ?

(6) M. Junod continually speaks of the 'priest'. Moreover, there is an entry
'Priest, Priesthood', in the index of his book. Yet in ii. 141, we read 'there was no
sacerdotal caste; the right of officiating is strictly confined to the eldest brother'.

(7) Clearly the 'prayer', bakutjela, 'in which the officiant says the same thing
over and over again' (op. cit. ii. 421) was an incantation. For M. Junod's phrase
'extremely liturgical' (e.g. op. cit. ii. 427), read 'magical'. More information is
required concerning the contexts in which the words khongota and bulabulela were
employed.

(8) The habit of spitting was indulged also by the Baila (n. 401), but Messrs.
Smith and Dale do not call the action (tsu) a 'sacramental rite'. To them it was
merely a 'gentle expectoration'.

The forked branch of the tree, nkotwla, where a magician sometimes made his
offerings, may be compared to the I la Iwanga (n. 402) and to the Ashanti nyame dua
(n. 462). The place where an ordinary man made his offering was behind his hut,
inside it, at the door, in a wood, in the bush, or in any other place which was
indicated by the divinatory bones, bula. See op. cit. ii. 389-90.

I am not satisfied that all the 'sacrifices' which are mentioned in op. cit. ii. 393_5
were made to psikwembu, 'ghosts', and I am not convinced that the word shikwembu
was not used in reference to other phenomena also.

The 'special family sacrifices' were made only in cases of sickness. The 'typical'
examples in op. cit. ii. 396-7 show that these rites also were tendance, e.g. 'You are
useless. You only give us trouble.' The so-called 'national' sacrifices, which appear
to have been offerings which a chief made to his own ancestors, were of a similar
character, e.g. if the harvest was threatened, the natives thought, 'perhaps the
masters of the country are angry'. If the rain was normal and punctual, nothing
was done; but if it was late, then psikwembu were tended (op. cit. ii. 4°5)-

§4°9 NOTES AND REFERENCES 545

When a man cried, 'Here is some tobacco. Come all of you and take a pinch,
and do not be angry with me when I snuff, nor say that I deprive you of your
share,' he seems to confuse the one and the many (para. 67); but clearly the bones,
bula, could reveal the identity of the ghost which was the cause of the trouble. See
op. cit. ii. 389.

Part of the slaughtered animal was attached to the person on whose behalf it had
been offered (op. cit. ii. 417). Presumably it was regarded as a charm.

409. See H. A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe2, ii. 395, 428-47, 519.
These pages are a good example of romantic interpretation, the opinions of the

natives being expressed in the terms of the white man's philosophy. Even when
M. Junod stated that sickness and death were due to tilo, 'Heaven' (i.e. in Ronga
opinion, the solid blue sky), it does not seem to have occurred to him that he was
confusing the meaning of the word with one of the phenomena to which it was
applied. See further n. 410. His essay in comparative anthropology in op. cit. ii.
446 is misleading.

There is some uncritical repetition of M. Junod's inferences in J. G. Frazer,
The Worship of Nature, pp. 89-3 15. I am not clear what exact meanings are attached
to the words 'worship' and 'god' in those pages. It is impossible to accept Sir
James's descriptions as an accurate reflection of native thought. The native words
have been translated by English equivalents which are used in many other senses
than those which may have represented the native term in some of its contexts ;
then the natives have been credited with the 'beliefs' represented by these additional
meanings. Inference has been piled upon inference, and the result has little relation
to the opinions of the natives as they are described in the works to which Sir James
refers his readers.

I have only mentioned the volume because there is a danger that the author's
illustrious name might infuse with life the dead weight of its contents and thus
promote the inferences into facts. In the tribes which I have studied I have found
I no trace of 'nature-worship' in any form, actual or implied.
See further n. 624.

i The word tilo was used by the Baronga in many contexts in which the Baila use
;the word leza, for which see nn. 390, 405.

i With the maringo ya tilo, cp. the Baila misamo ya leza (n. 406).

410. H. A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe2, ii. 195, 320.

I suspect that the alleged 'connexion' between abnormal births of human beings
and the rainfall was due to the fact that the Baronga applied the same word tilo to
each of them. By translating tilo as 'Heaven', M. Junod has limited, even changed,
[its native meaning. The sky was only one of the many phenomena to which the
word was applied.

The psikwembu are said (op. cit. ii. 316) to have been responsible for the rain.
The opinion may be an inference from the fact that psikwembu of chiefs were tended
if the rain was late. Psikwembu were not held responsible for the regular supply of
rain, only for an interference with that supply. See also n. 408.

We are told that in time of drought the Baronga 'beat the graves with sticks'.
It would be interesting to know whether these graves were the recognized graves
of evil wizards or powerful rain-makers. Wizards, we are told, could prevent rain
(op. cit. ii. 316).

A black ram, and even a human being, constituted the sacrifice, if a sacrifice was
made (op. cit. ii. 316, 405, 415).

1

411. For the whole subject, see H. A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe2,
fi- 451-572.

The criticisms made in n. 408 apply also to these pages.

N n

546 NOTES AND REFERENCES §412

In op. cit. ii. 505, 516, M. Junod states that the power of the baloti was 'not
essentially different' and 'at bottom of the same nature' as that of the mungoma.
Are we to understand, then, that a mungoma indulged in anti-social practices?

I doubt if the word 'exorcism' can be used in reference to the Baronga practices.
It is not permissible to apply the term to a rite which consisted of waving a palm-
leaf in front of the sufferer and of washing him with a foamy liquid.

The nocturnal activities of the baloti may be compared to those of the Trobriand
Islands mulukwaisi and other wizards and witches, for whom see nn. 301, 336.

To a Muronga noti was manifest also in will-o'-the-wisps and shimmering lights
in the marsh. This may be compared to the opinions of some New Guinea tribes
(e.g. the Mafulu, para. 75).

M. Junod's consistent uncertainties in regard to psikwembu render impossible
an intelligent understanding of the Ronga rites. Cp. n. 408.

A man who became a recognized mungoma as the result of 'possession' was
admitted into the magical fraternity: 'He starts new rites, discovers more powerful
drugs and so attracts patients to himself from all parts' (op. cit. ii. 500). This
explicit assurance of individual invention is important. The baigona- and taro-
cults of Papua were also the spontaneous inventions of individuals. See paras. 79,
80, and n. 632.

The tabulated list of magical practitioners in op. cit. ii. 518 is misleading if I am
right in thinking that both a shinusa, 'smeller-out', and a babula, 'bone-thrower',
were also mungoma. According to a passage in op. cit. ii. 385, a diviner (babula})
claimed to have received his power from a dead relative.

It is interesting, and possibly important (but only a Bantu scholar could assess
the value of the evidence), that the Ronga word for a magician, mu-ngoma, was
a compound of the same word as the Akikuyu employed in reference to the dead
and confused with ngai. See para. 85. Cp. also the Zulu angoma (n. 420).

The word mhamba is obscure. It was applied to (i) the twig which was placed
in a dead man's hand when he was buried (op. cit. i. 142) ; (ii) the offerings of drink,
&c, which were made to psikwembu (op. cit. ii. 396) ; *ne equipment which was
used in approaching psikwembu (op. cit. ii. 412); (iv) the preserved nails and hair-
clippings of deceased chiefs (op. cit. ii. 406).

412. Gibson MS. i. 1 ; J. McLean, A Compendium of Kafir Law and Custom,
pp. 66, 115; A. T. Bryant, A Zulu-English Dictionary, s.v. hlobonga, pingay vim-
bezela, u(lu)ngqotingqoyi.

The manner in which the father of a girl would beat off, and even kill, any young
man who visited his daughter at night is related by J. Shooter, The Kafirs of Natal

and the Zulu Country, pp. 51-5-

When Chaka reorganized the Amazulu in order to create a more efficient military
machine, he forbade the young warriors to marry. He is also said to have enforced
celibacy, 'from an idea that sexual enjoyments relaxed the animal spirits'. See,
e.g., N. Isaacs, Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa, ii. 306. It is impossible to
estimate the effect which these reforms exercised upon the sexual opportunity
of the natives.

Mr. R. U. Sayce has drawn my attention to an anonymous letter in the South
African Outlook, 1 May 1930, which says that it was customary among the Zulus
to assemble all the young women and to examine them as to their chastity, and that
the custom was abolished by the missionaries.

The writer does not state whether this virginity- test was one of Chaka 's innova-
tions.

413. See H. Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu, p. 10, n. 24; A. T.
Bryant, A Zulu-English Dictionary, ss.w. ?

Father Bryant translates each of these words as 'ancestral spirit'. Bishop

§4i4 NOTES AND REFERENCES 547

Callaway says that they were applied not to the living man but to 'a new and
distinct existence which comes out of the body when dead'. He includes isitunzi in
this category, but according to Father Bryant isitunzi denoted the living principle
in a man.

Apparently the natives used itongo only in reference to ghosts, idhlozi being
applied also to certain snakes. Isituta seems to have been rare.
See also n. 414.

414. See J. Shooter, The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country, p. 162 ; D. Leslie,
Among the Zulus and the Amatongas, p. 47 (who calls the snake ehlose in an anglicized
transliteration); H. Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu, pp. 135, 196,
who says: 'The snakes into which men turn are not many; they are distinct and
well known.'

Clearly, in the former of the above-cited passages from Bishop Callaway's book,
the native informant was so confused by the Bishop's questions that he made an
attempt to rationalize the subject.

Dead chiefs and commoners were not manifest in the same kind of snake ; dead
chiefs were manifest in some species, dead commoners in other species. Bishop
Callaway tells of the identity of these species.

D. Leslie, op. cit., pp. 48, 138, 147-8, speaks of an ehlose as a 'guardian spirit',
and some contexts suggest that by ehlose the native was denoting something other
than a snake or a ghost. Possibly the full purport of the word has not been fully
understood. If we translate it as 'ghost', we may confuse the meaning of the word
with one of the phenomena to which it was applied. The word mulungu (paras. 86,
92, 98) meant 'good luck' as well as being applied to 'something unusual' and 'the
dead'. The contexts in which, according to Leslie, the word idhlozi {ehlose) was
used by the Amazulu seem to have been of a somewhat similar character.

415. H. Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu, pp. 133, 144, 171-3;
D. Leslie, Among the Zulus and Amatongas, p. 148; J. Shooter, The Kafirs of
Natal and the Zulu Country, pp. 161-6; Gibson MS. ii. 2; N. Isaacs, Travels
and Adventures in Eastern Africa, ii. 301; J. Macdonald, 'Manners, Customs,
Superstitions, and Religions of South African Tribes', J.A.I. xix (1890), p. 296;
A. F. Gardiner, Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country, p. 314.

Shooter gives examples of the words which accompanied a sacrifice: 'Eat ye:
here is your ox. Eat my father, my grandfather, all the spirits of my ancestors . . .',
&c. The 'thank-offering for prosperity' was, of course, a form of tendance.

If the animal made a noise when it was slaughtered, success was assured; if it
died quietly, it was doubtful whether the sacrifice was accepted or not. Thus a goat
was a favourite offering, for a goat was not silent ; a sheep was not used because
a sheep 'is foolish and makes no noise'. See H. Callaway, op. cit., pp. 143, 177, n. 39.

The Amazulu do not appear to have taken themselves seriously, for sometimes
a man would say that he had dreamt of an ancestor in order that he might have
a good meal : 'People are now very fond of meat, and a man says he has dreamed of
the idhlozi, and forsooth he says so because he would eat meat' (H. Callaway, op.
cit., p. 173).

Scholars who attempt to derive all 'gods' from 'nature-spirits', and who emphasize
the importance of so-called fertility cults, may be referred to J. Shooter, op. cit.,
PP- 245, 247, where the titles 'Over-Ruling Spirit of Vegetation', 'Female Elephant
with Small Breasts', 'Great Mother of Earth and Corn' are quoted as having been
applied to the mother of Chaka.

Scholars who concentrate their attention on beliefs rather than on rites have
promoted into anthropological prominence the Zulu conception of an alleged
'Supreme Being', unkulunkulu. The subject has been discussed at length by H.
Callaway, op. cit., pp. 1-104. Literally the term seems to have meant 'Great great'.

548 NOTES AND REFERENCES §415

The following comments are appropriate:

(1) When A. F. Gardiner, Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country, p. 283,
asked a native about the creation of the world, the following conversation took

Gardiner. Have you any knowledge of the power by whom the world was made ?

When you see the sun rising and setting and the trees growing, do you know

who made them and who governs them?
Tpai. No. We see them, but cannot tell how they came. We suppose they come

of themselves.

Gardiner. To whom do you attribute your success or your failure in war?
Tpai. When we are unsuccessful and do not take cattle, we think that our father

has not looked on us.
Gardiner. Do you think that your father's spirit made the world ?

Tpai. No.

Thus when Gardiner was in that part of Zululand to which this passage refers,
the conception of a 'Supreme Being' did not exist.

Parenthetically, the phrase 'We suppose they come of themselves' militates
strongly against the Tylorian theory of 'primitive' thought. Cp. the Suto phrase
quoted in n. 423. Tylor suggested that 'spirits' were 'personified causes' of natural
phenomena. See also paras. 62, 146.

(2) Concerning another group of Amazulu, Gardiner remarks (op. cit., p. 314):
'They acknowledged a traditional account of a Supreme Being called Ookoolukoolu,
but know nothing further respecting him.' D. Leslie, op. cit., p. 149, also says
that the ideas concerning the 'big one of all' were 'confused'.

H. Callaway, op. cit., p. 32, states that each household possessed its own un-
kulunkulu. Thus the application of the same word by different people to their
respective forefathers seems to have caused some of the early travellers to promote
a common descriptive term to the status of an entity. Later this entity was identified

with the Christian God.

(3) According to Bishop Callaway (I.e.), unkidunkulu denoted the oldest ancestor
who could be remembered. The natives said, 'The first of our family was un-
kulunkulu', and referred to their great-grandfathers. Thus three generations
appears to have been the limit of Zulu memory.

(4) It was the custom among the early travellers to search for some knowledge
of 'the one true God'. Thus J. Shooter, op. cit., pp. 159-61, remarks: 'The great
tradition of the Great-great is not universally known among the people. War,
change, and the worship of false deities have gradually darkened their minds and
obscured their remembrance of the one true God.' In this case, however, the
expression 'the one true God' is definitely inapplicable. H. Callaway, op. cit.,
pp. 20-1, explicitly informs us that this was not the Zulu conception ; the Amazulu
took pains to point out to him the heavenly king to whom he introduced them was
not their unkulunkulu. Thus Shooter's suggestion that the Zulu idea was the
relic of an original revelation of God to mankind in general is invalidated.

In later times the word unkulunkulu was used by the missionaries to denote the
Christian God. Father A. T. Bryant, A Zulu-English Dictionary, p. 758, says,
' Unkulunkulu— The Great-great ancestor or ancestral spirit who is supposed to
have made most of the things round about' (cp. (1)) 'hence adopted by the mission-
aries to express God, Creator'.

Thus, even if we admit that (a) native 'beliefs' can be studied scientifically, {b)
the phrase 'Supreme Being' is sufficiently exact to be accepted as a category into
which some of those 'beliefs' can be classified, the alleged Zulu 'Supreme Being
cannot be included in that category.

For comments on the 'Supreme Beings' of some other uncivilized societies,

see nn. 116, 122, 180, 237, 246, 451, 462, 471, 5°^ and 585-

§416 NOTES AND REFERENCES 549

According to Gibson MS. iv. 3, and H. Callaway, op. cit., pp. 69, 105, the
(Ama-Xosa ?) word tixo (utikxo) was used by some missionaries in the same sense
as that in which unkulunkulu was employed by other Christians.

H. Callaway, op. cit., pp. 12-15, mentions an interesting word, unsondo, which
I have been unable to find in Father Bryant's dictionary. Unsondo was applied
(1) to any man 'who does a wonderful thing which other men cannot do', (2) to the
hardness of very stubborn soil, (3) to excessive rain, (4) to handsome men and
women, (5) apparently to anything superlative or unusual.

416. For this matter, see H. Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu,
pp. 160-1, 228 ff.

417. The following passage is from Gibson MS. ii. 2:

'I have understood that spiritual survival is restricted to chiefs and heads of
families. Their place of dwelling is that at which the body was buried which con-
tained them while it lived, but they are capable of being conveyed through the
performance of certain rites to the place where a new home is established, and
when this has been done the burial place loses its sacredness. This was done in
the case of the Zulu king, Tshaka, in whose grave at the village of Shangar in Natal
the people have ceased to be interested. His spirit was translated to the Dukuza
Kraal on its re-establishment in the valley of the White Umfolozi more than a
hundred miles distant.'

According to A. F. Gardiner, Narrative of a Journey through the Zoolu Country,
p. 96, no altar was used when the king propitiated the itongo of his immediate
ancestor: 'No ceremony of any kind is observed. The bullock is killed within the
cattle fold, contrary to the ordinary practice, and the flesh is cooked and partaken
of in that very spot.'

The Amazulu did not bury all their dead. According to J. Macdonald, 'Manners,
Customs, Superstitions and Religions of South African Tribes', J.A.I, xix (1890),
p. 275, only chiefs were buried. J. Shooter, The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu
Country, pp. 240-1, says that every one was buried except dependents and those
who had been executed by the king's orders, chiefs being interred with their heads
above ground.

The most complete statement concerning Zulu burial customs comes from N.
Isaacs, Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa, ii. 315 : 'When a man dies the body
is dragged on the ground by his wife or mother or nearest female relation to the
thickets or jungles where it becomes a repast for wolves and other wild animals.
When, however, a principal chief, or the king, dies, he is interred in the hut in
which he breathes his last. A deep hole is dug, and the body put into it, standing
erect, with the head out of the ground. The hut is fenced round and people are
stationed day and night to guard it for twelve moons. These are the only funeral

■ rites.'
I

418. For the meaning of nyanga, see H. Callaway, The Religious System of the
Amazulu, p. 131, n. 6; A. T. Bryant, A Zulu-English Dictionary, s.v.

For the activities of nyanga, see D. Leslie, Among the Zulus and Amatongas,
pp. 50-2; J. Shooter, The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country, pp. 167 ff.;
:N. I saacs, Travels and Adventures in East Africa, ii. 306 et saepe; J. Macdonald,
'Manners, Customs, Superstitions and Religions of South African Tribes', J.A.I.
,xix (1890), pp. 293-4.

Our authorities use the words 'prophet' and 'seer' very loosely, and I do not
1 think that they have distinguished carefully between the nyanga and the angoma.
Perhaps the angoma was nyanga. See further n. 420.

According to D. Leslie, op. cit., p. 120, a wizard could raise the dead ; the newly
raised ghost was called esemkofu and assisted the wizard in his anti-social practices.

550 NOTES AND REFERENCES §419

419. H. Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu, pp. 375-413; D.
Leslie, Among the Zulus and Amatongas, p. 169; J. McLean, A Compendium of
Kafir Laic and Custom, pp. 108-0; J. Shooter, The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu
Country, pp. 213-14; J. Macdonald, 'Manners, Customs, Superstitions and
Religions of South African Tribes', J. A.I. xix (1890), pp. 294-6.

Macdonald adds that 'anything unusual is an excuse for calling the magician'.

J. Shooter, op. cit., p. 353, states that the magic arts were hereditary. Even if
a youngest son were taught the recipes, the eldest son would obtain the fees that
his brother earned.

When we read (J. Y. Gibson, The Story of the Zulus, p. 91) that Sobuza cried
to the dying Dingana, 'Dingana, are you still the rain-maker? Are you still the
greatest of living men?' I do not think we may conclude that the Zulu kings were
rain-makers. If men like Chaka and Dingana declared they could control the
elements, they meant that they were lords of all the world. At any rate I think it
would be rash to draw any further conclusion.

420. That people who were subject to fits were feared greatly is stated by J.
Shooter, The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country, p. 238. Shooter ascribes
(e.g. op. cit., pp. 167, 191, 195) to such a 'seer' or 'prophet' all the powers which
according to the authorities cited in n. 418 were possessed by a nyanga. On the
other hand, A. T. Bryant, A Zulu-English Dictionary, s.v. angoma, seems to regard
a 'possessed' man as distinct in practice and ability. So also the Gibson MS. ii. 2,
in which the Zulu word is mgoma.

In his The Story of the Zulus, p. 80, Mr. Gibson translates izangoma 'witch-
doctors'. Similarly Father Bryant calls the angoma 'necromancer, so-called witch-
doctor'. Father Bryant adds that inyanga is 'another title' of the isangoma. The
vague use of the English word 'witch-doctor' may be responsible for these con-
fusions. Possibly nyanga was the general and angoma the particular term. Cp.
n. 418.

Is the root of angoma the same as that from which the Ronga mungoma was
derived ? Is it related also to the Akikuyu ngoma ? Cp. n. 41 1 . |

421. E. Casalis, The Basutos, pp. 183 (for parental vigilance), 192 (for parental
choice of first wife); M. Martin, Basutoland, pp. 81-6 (for method of betrothal);
H. E. Mabille, 'The Basutos of Basutoland', Journ. Afr. Soc. v (1906), pp. 244-6,
365 f. ; Dutton MS. i. 1.

R. BrifTault, The Mothers, iii. 339, cites an obscure German authority for stating
that 'among the Basutos so long as a girl is not pregnant, she is "in order" '. This
seems to support the suggestion I have made in the text. R. BrifTault, op. cit.
ii. 5 n., also cites Mr. Mabille as his authority for stating that pre-nuptial sexual
freedom prevailed among the Basutos. This citation is eclectic and misleading.

For other comments on the work of R. BrifTault, see nn. 112, 155, 163, 172,
382, and 470.

An anonymous writer to the South African Outlook, 1 May 1930, to whose letter
Mr. R. U. Sayce has drawn my attention, states that the lobola cattle were returned
to the groom's people if it was found that the girl was not a virgin.

422. In the main I have relied on the Dutton MS., esp. iv. 3-6; v. 3.
According to E. Casalis, The Basutos, pp. 248-50, each family was under the

influence of its own ancestors and the people sought only to avoid trouble. Casalis
adds that 'the tribe, taken as a whole, acknowledges for its national gods the
ancestors of the reigning sovereign'. But can we take the tribe 'as a whole' ? Who
was the 'reigning sovereign'? Casalis (I.e.) states that the object of the ancestral
rites was 'to avoid trouble' ; thus they come under the heading of tendance. Similar-
ly, J. Macdonald, 'Manners, Customs, Superstitions and Religions of South

§423 NOTES AND REFERENCES 551

African Tribes', J. A J. xix (1890), p. 276, states that war, peace, disease, drought,
floods, cold, heat, pestilence, sterility, fecundity 'and almost every event and
circumstance' were traced directly or indirectly to the ancestral spirits.

E. Casalis, op. cit., p. 248, tries to show that the word molimo 'is by no means of
heathen origin' : 'It is evidently composed', he says, 'of the prefix mo, which belongs
to almost all those words representing intelligent beings, and of the word holimo,
above, in the sky. Moholimo, or the abbreviation molimo, therefore, signifies
"He who is in the sky".' Even if this were so, the argument is valueless, for the
Basuto used the plural form of the word, balimo, rather than the singular form,
molimo. It is not likely that the missionary, anxious to illustrate the original and
universal revelation to mankind by producing a relic of its influence, would care
to prove that the Basuto believed in many 'beings' in the sky.

Limo is an interesting root. According to the Dutton MS. v. 3, holimo meant
'up above', leholimo 'the sky', lelimo 'a cannibal'. 'The cannibal', Mr. Dutton says,
'comes into the list because he has eaten some one and by this has become a super-
man.' Did limo, then, denote superlative or supernormal quality?

423. See H. E. Mabille, 'The Basutos of Basutoland', Journ. Afr. Soc. v (1906),
pp. 352 ff. ; E. Casalis, The Basutos, pp. 249, 274, 282, 292 ; M. Martin, Basutoland,
pp. 75, 88, 103 (but I am not clear what word she translates as 'water-spirits');
J. Macdonald, 'Manners, Customs, Superstitions and Religions of South African
Tribes', J.A.I, xix (1890), pp. 273, 293 ; Dutton MS. ii. 1 ; iv. 3.

Casalis mentions that sickness was sometimes intrusive ; the ngaka sucked it out.

According to the Dutton MS. the belief was current that the baloi flew naked
through the air by night and met on the veldt. This is another example of a common
belief in regard to wizards and witches of which other instances are cited in nn. 301,
336, and 411.

According to J. Macdonald, op. cit., p. 275, formerly it was the custom to bury
only chiefs; in later times sepulture was universal.

E. Casalis, op. cit., p. 238, is confident that it 'never entered their heads' that
the world might have been created. Such statements as this are common in
anthropological source-books; they show what every traveller must know, viz.
that natives do not seek for the causes of things. Clearly the Tylorian hypothesis
of 'spiritual beings' as 'personified causes' (paras. 62, 146) is untenable. See also
n. 415.

424. Dutton MS. iii. 1 ; H. E. Mabille, 'The Basutos of Basutoland', Jfourn.
Afr. Soc. v (1906), p. 354; M. Martin, Basutoland, pp. 75, 102-3; E. Casalis, The
Basutos, pp. 283, 296 ff.; J. Macdonald, 'Manners, Customs, Superstitions and
Religions of South African Tribes', J.A.I, xix (1891), pp. 283-95.

Martin, Casalis, and Macdonald confine their statements to the ngaka and do
not mention the ceremony. Mabille describes the ceremony, which is discussed
at greater length in the Dutton MS. Mr. Dutton mentions other ceremonies also.

425. Dutton MS. ii. 2; v. 2.

426. Final note to Dutton MS.

427. In this connexion, the opinion of E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale, The Ila-
speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia, i. 345, is worth recording:

'Changes in traditions and the establishment of new customs are due largely
and probably mostly not to ruling chiefs but to those who are mouth-pieces of the
gods, the prophets.'

In this passage the word translated 'gods' is mizhimo; 'prophet' is a rendering
of nganga.

552 NOTES AND REFERENCES §428

428. For descent and inheritance among the Wayao, see A. Werner, The
Natives of British Central Africa, p. 252; H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of Nyasaland',
Harvard African Studies, iii (1922), pp. 236, 277, 282; Duff MacDonald, Africana,
i. 187.

For descent and inheritance among the Anyanja, see A. Werner, op. cit., p. 252 ;
H. S. Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa', J. R.A.I, xl (1910),
p. 307; R. S. Rattray, Some Folk-lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanja, p. 127.

Sir H. H. Johnston, British Central Africa3, pp. 389-90, thinks that the Wayao
were late-comers to this area. He states that the Nyanja stock comprised the Asenga,
Amarani, Achipeta, Amakanja, Vadema, Vanyunjur, Amanganja, Ambo, Anyanja,
and Achura. I have adopted the inclusive term Anyanja to denote these tribes, but
the information derived from other authorities may refer to social groups whose
names are not included in this list. Our authorities do not always state the places
where they obtained their information, so it is impossible to tell to what particular
society a particular statement applies. D. C. Scott, Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the
Manganja Language, preface, uses the term Manganja in reference to the tribes
which the Rev. A. Hetherwick speaks of as Nyanjas, in an anglicized plural.

The Wayao were known to the Anyanja as the Ajawa, but the former name has
become popular, so I have adopted it. It is less correct, however, than Ajawa.

Racially the Anyanja seem to have been more nearly related to the Amazulu and
other coast tribes than to the Wayao.

429. For the method of securing a wife among the Wayao, see H. S. Stannus,
'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies, iii (1922), pp. 233-6; Duff
MacDonald, Africana, i. 118.

Sometimes a marriage was negotiated by two mothers ; but it was possible for a
man to negotiate on his own behalf with a mother who had been delivered of a girl.
In the latter case, the first applicant was usually successful ; his sole obligation was
to supply the young girl with loin-cloths, the child remaining with her mother.
Sometimes, however, a man who betrothed himself to a newly born child brought
his infant fiancee to live with one of his wives in her village.

For the method of securing a wife among the Anyanja, see A. Hetherwick, art.
'Nyanjas', Enc. Rel. Eth., ed. J. Hastings, ix. 421 ; A.Wrerner, The Natives of British
Central Africa, p. 133; H. S. Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of British Central
Africa', J.R.A.I. xl (1910), pp. 308-9.

Apparently customs were different in different areas. Mr. Hetherwick states
that a man secured his wife by serving her mother, she in her turn taking the
first-born child of the union to replace the daughter whom she had lost. According
to Dr. Stannus, some of the chiefs removed their wives to their own villages.
Dr. Stannus does not say whether they made any compensation to the woman's
people or not. Miss Werner says that all wives stayed in their own village, a poly-
gamist visiting his wives in turn.

430. H. H. Johnston, British Central Africa3, p. 408, n. 1 ; H. S. Stannus,
'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies, iii (1912), p. 279; Duff
MacDonald, Africana, i. 118, 173. I can find no reference to pre-nuptial children.

431. For these qualifications, see H. S. Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of
British Central Africa', J.R.A.I. xl (1910), pp. 290, 309, 312. I presume that the
phrase 'out of wedlock' applies to pre-nuptial children.

432. A. Hetherwick, 'Some Animistic Beliefs among the Yaos', J. A.I. xxxii
(1902), p. 94; H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies,
iii (1922), p. 312.

I have conjectured (para. 89) that the Lango may have used their word jok in
the sense of 'God knows'.

§433 NOTES AND REFERENCES 553

In the above-quoted passage, Dr. Stannus observes: 'The vagueness concerning
mulungu has given rise to some doubts in my mind as to how far he was a deity
with an entity of his own in their religion of a little time ago.' The answer is con-
tained in the passage which I have quoted in the text; mulungu is an entity only in
our translations. The missionaries realized that they were guilty of many inferences
concerning mulungu, but the authorities of the missionary societies discouraged
their employees from writing of the native culture, so their publications do not
contain a discussion of native usage.

See also Duff MacDonald's declaration quoted in n. 433.

433. A. Hetherwick, 'Some Animistic Beliefs among the Yaos', J.A.I, xxxii
(1902), p. 94; Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 59, 66.

MacDonald is quite frank: Tn all our translations of Scripture where we found
the word God we used Mulungu, but this word is chiefly used by the natives as
a general name for spirit.'

434. A. Hetherwick, 'Some Animistic Beliefs among the Yaos', J.A.I, xxxii
(1902), pp. 59-92; A. Werner, The Natives of British Central Africa, p. 62

The same report is made by Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 59-60, who adds:
Besides lisoka and mulungu there is another word for spirit, msimu: This is the
only reference which MacDonald makes to msimu. Mr. Hetherwick does not
mention the word in his writings on the Wayao. H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of
Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies, iii (1922), pp. 311-12, 316, uses msimu to
denote that part of a man which was absent from him when he was unconscious
and which went to the spirit world when he was dead. The word masoka, he says,
though sometimes used as equivalent to msimu, usually seems to have rather a
sinister significance'. C. H. Stigand, 'Notes on the Natives of Nyasaland', J. R.A.I.
xxxvn (1907), p. 130, states that the mzimu were 'the people who come to us in
dreams'.

I am not convinced that the pure Wayao used both masoka and msimu, that is,
that in the Yao language there were two words for a single conception. Perhaps
masoka was Yao, and ?nsimu Nyanja. The two groups converged and sometimes
it must have been difficult to distinguish them. Certainly the Nyanja mfiti, witch-
craft, has been confused with the Yao msawi (n. 440), so the convergence of the
groups may have caused a similar confusion between masoka and msimu. If msimu
had been a Yao term, I think that Mr. Hetherwick would have mentioned it. Those
of the Wayao who lived nearest to the Anyanja (did the groups intermarry?) may
have adopted the Nyanja term ; and this may be the explanation of the confusion
reported in the above-quoted passages.

Dr. Stannus remarks (op. cit., p. 320): 'Their religion is not animistic. There
are certain spirits of evil, demons, fairies, and supernatural beings and animals
which, however, do not play any real part in their beliefs.' I hold no brief for
animism', but I should have said that the conception of 'certain spirits of evil,
demons, fairies, and supernatural beings' was prima facie evidence of its existence!
Dr. Stannus does not quote the native terms for these 'beings' and I do not know
what he means when he says that they did not 'play any real part' in Yao belief.

435. A. Hetherwick, 'Some Animistic Beliefs among the Yaos', J.A.I, xxxii
(1902), pp. 92-3. The huts are also mentioned by H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of
Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies, iii (1922), pp. 245-6.

The passage in Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 106-10, must be read with care.
The following points are noteworthy :

(1) The offerings which were made at the grave were not tendance because they
were not post-funeral.

(2) We are told that the hut was erected 'for the purpose of keeping away the

554 NOTES AND REFERENCES §436

witch who caused the death and who now wishes to eat the flesh of her
victim'. This statement seems to be an inference and an unlikely one.
(3) MacDonald does not distinguish between the burial of a headman and the
burial of an ordinary man. He merely says that 'the man may be buried in
his own dwelling'. Since the hut to which he refers was turned into a house
of offering instead of being pulled down in accordance with the usual
practice, I think we must conclude that only a chief would be buried in
that manner.

Evidently customs varied; indeed, this is made clear by C. H. Stigand, 'Notes
on the Natives of Nyasaland', J. R.A.I, xxxvii (io°7)> PP- iao-i, whose report
agrees in general with but differs in detail from that of the above-cited authorities.

436. Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 60, 69; H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of
Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies, iii (1922), p. 313.

437. According to Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 70-2, Kangomba was manifest
on Mt. Sochi, Mtanga and Chitowe being associated by the Wayao with their
original habitat, the former with Mt. Mangochi, the latter with famine: but A.
Werner, The Natives of British Central Africa, p. 255, seems confident that Kan-
komba was a Nyanja chief. This seems to be the opinion also of A. Hetherwick,
'Some Animistic Beliefs among the Yaos', J.A.I, xxxii (1902), p. 93, who states that
a Yao chief, Kapeno, ousted Kangomba from the position which the latter occupied
in Yao culture. Cp. n. 446.

Ghosts (i.e. mulungu) were also in trees, especially fig-trees. See H. S. Stannus,
'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies, iii (1922), p. 312 ; A. Werner,
op. cit., p. 62 f. Cp. Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 60, who seems to refer to the
same conception.

For the residence of ngai, mulungu, jok, &c, in fig-trees, see nn. 356 (Lango),
364 (Akikuyu), 403 (Baila), and para. 86 (Akamba). Cp. the 'mystery' trees of
some American Indians (para. 113, Ojibwa; n. 522, Dakota).

438. Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 68, 70.

439. H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies ,
iii (1922), pp. 313-14; Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 76-97.

440. So, at any rate, Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 87, but in op. cit., p. 207,
MacDonald says that a witch-detective was called mavumbula.

A. Hetherwick, 'Some Animistic Beliefs among the Yaos', J. A. I. xxxii (1902),
p. 90 f., seems to regard the 'witch-detective' as a person who was possessed by
masoka. In that case the mchisango and mavumbula were the same person. Mr.
Hetherwick does not quote the native terms. He says that epilepsy was ascribed
to masoka.

Sickness in general was due to (1) mulungu, (2) violation of some taboo, (3)
msawi, witchcraft. See H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard
African Studies, iii (1922), pp. 283, 293; Duff MacDonald, op. cit. i. 87, 207;
H. H. Johnston, British Central Africa, pp. 439, 441, 443 ff- Some of these writers
used the Nyanja word mfiti instead of msawi. The confusion between the two
words strengthens my suspicions that msimu was a Nyanja, not a Yao, word.
See n. 434.

441. So Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 99; but according to H. B. Barnes,
Nyanja-English Vocabulary, s.v., the correct form was nganga, singanga being
applied to a European doctor or his dispenser. See further n. 447.

In Manganja the meaning of tua was 'sun' (H. B. Barnes, op. cit., s.v.). No other
authority seems to give the native term.

With nganga, cp. the words for magician mentioned in para. 96.

§442 NOTES AND REFERENCES 555

442. See H. S. Stannus, 'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies,
iii (1922), p. 295. Cp. the use of mulungu among the Akamba (para. 86).

443. Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 89. In reference to the whole area, Sir H. H.
Johnston, British Central Africa2, p. 451, remarks: 'A belief that certain persons
have power over the atmosphere so that they can make rain fall or wind rise or
drop is universal.'

444. The description of Nyanja culture by A. Werner, The Natives of British
Central Africa, pp. 46-98, is based in a large measure on the writings of Duff
MacDonald and Mr. Hetherwick.

L. T. Moggridge, 'The Nyasaland Tribes, their customs and their poison ordeal',
J.A.I, xxxii (1902), pp. 467-72, includes the Ajawa (Wayao) in his survey.

The difficulties of separating the Yao and Nyanja elements are admitted by H. S.
Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa', J.R.A.I. xl (1910),
p. 285, who states, however, that he has made an attempt to distinguish between
them. I notice that he uses the word masoka (op. cit., p. 301) in speaking of
Nyanja culture. This seems to have been a Yao term. See nn. 434, 440.

In his article 'Nyanjas' in Enc. Rel. Eth., ed. J. Hastings, ix. 419-22, Mr. Hether-
wick has abandoned the careful methods which he adopted so successfully in his
paper on the Wayao.

445. If every student of British Central Africa had read the pregnant passages
in Duff MacDonald, Africana, i. 6-14, in which the author warns his successors of
the danger of direct questioning, of the possibility of 'romantic information', and
of the devastating effect which 'native politeness' produces if everything which
the natives say is assumed to be true, then some of the more ingenuous declarations
concerning mulungu would have been avoided. See, e.g., L. T. Moggridge, 'The
Nyasaland Tribes, their customs and their poison ordeal', J.A.I, xxxii (1902),
p. 469. Cp. my comments in para. 4.

The intensity of the subjective intrusion which is apparent in the reports con-
cerning the Nyanja mulungu is tremendous. No observer has reported the native
usage. A. Hetherwick, art. 'Nyanjas', Enc. Rel. Eth. ix. 420, is not content to identify
mulungu with the Christian God ; he calls mpambi 'the heavens', mlengi 'the Creator',
and chauta 'the Almighty'. A. Werner, The Natives of British Central Africa,
PP- 55-7, merely states the opinions of other writers. R. S. Rattray, Some Folk-
lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanja, p. 198, has his own views.

In his Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the Manganja Language, s.v. mpampe, D. C.
Scott translates still another word, mfumu, 'God'. I notice, however, that in his
new edition of Scott's vocabulary A. Hetherwick has omitted the entry.
■ 'All that pertains to the spirit-world' is a paraphrase which has been submitted
by A. Hetherwick (op. cit., p. 419). H. S. Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of British
Central Africa', J.R.A.I. xl (19 10), p. 299, states that the word 'seems rather to
mean the spirit-world'. The remarks are not helpful.

I 446. For the erection of the hut and the occasions of the offerings, see H. S.
Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa', J.R.A.I. xl (1910),
3P- 3I4~i5- Dr. Stannus says that 'in olden times the graves of Manganja chiefs
>nly had a fence round them'. From the context I judge that 'only' should be read
is referring to the chiefs, but I cannot be sure.

Dr. Stannus does not give the native word for the hut, which we learn from
\. Hetherwick, art. 'Nyanjas', Enc. Rel. Eth. ix. 420 ; idem, Dictionary of the Nyanja
language, s.v. kachisi. In the latter passage, the kachisi is said to have been used
or offerings 'to the spirits of the departed or to God', i.e. mizimu or mulungu.
n the former article we read that 'sacrifices to mulungu are offered in a small
acrificial hut, kachisi, built on the outskirts of the village or at the foot of any large

556 NOTES AND REFERENCES §447

tree where there is shade' ; 'sacrifices to the spirits of the dead may be offered near
the hut where the deceased person lived or at the sacrificial hut where his spirit
may be approached'. In this paper Mr. Hetherwick seems to have gone out of his
way to associate the kachisi with rnulungu, 'God', and so to give a bias to Nyanja
culture. He makes no reference to the kachisi under 'Burial', where it properly
belongs. In his reissue of D. C. Scott's Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the Manganja
Language, to which I have referred above, Mr. Hetherwick omits the long note on
kachisi which was included in Scott's original work and has curtailed all those entries
which might have had an anthropological value. The translations which he retains
are those which reveal the greatest subjective intrusion ; and the lists of meanings
attached to the most important words are remarkable not so much for what they
include as for what they omit.

I H. S. Stannus, op. cit., p. 300, says that the object of the offerings was 'to keep
him quiet'. A. Hetherwick, Enc. Rel. Eth. ix. 420, states that offerings were made
'only in time of great local fear'. Thus the 'ancestor- worship' of the Anyanja
was tendance.

Mr. Hetherwick mentions Kankhomba and Mpalele as 'the names of two chiefs'
who were remembered and apparently in times of stress also tended. Cp. n. 437.
A. Werner, The Natives of British Central Africa, p. 255, states that Kankomba
was living in 1861. She does not mention Mpalele.

The word msimu (mzimu, mizimu) is translated 'spirits of the dead'. When
'spirit' or 'spirits' are mentioned it is impossible to tell whether the reference is to
rnulungu or to mizimu. Both the singular and plural are used to translate both words.

447. According to A. Hetherwick, art. 'Nyanjas', Enc. Rel. Eth. ix. 421 f.,
disease, accidents, epidemics, and misfortunes of every description were due only
to mfiti. H. H. Johnston, British Central Africa*, p. 443, n. 1, says that they were
due also to 'act of God', i.e. rnulungu. H. S. Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of
British Central Africa', jf.R. A.I. xl (1910), p. 301, translates masoka as 'evil spirits';
but I believe masoka to have been a Yao word. See nn. 434, 440, 444.

Mr. Hetherwick, op. cit., p. 20, states that affliction was due to chiwanda, a
disembodied soul. This is contrary to his other opinion to which I have already
referred. In his Dictionary of the Nyanja Language, s.v., chiwanda is said to have
been a form of madness which was supposed to afflict murderers. See also D. C.
Scott, Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the Manganja Language, s.v., upon which doubtless
Hetherwick was relying. A third opinion is expressed by H. B. Barnes, Nyanja-
English Vocabulary, s.v., who states that chiwanda meant 'a corpse, large plain'; he
refers to viwanda, which in its plural form chi-viwanda was applied (by missionaries
or by natives?) to 'wooden images used in Nkole'.

This confusion is characteristic of our reports on the Anyanja.

With chiwanda, cp. the WTemba viwainda) (n. 395).

In Enc. Rel. Eth. ix. 420, Mr. Hetherwick mentions mbona 'seer' and mlauli
'prophet', but in his dictionary mboni is translated as 'a witness'. See also Barnes
and Scott, op. cit., ss.w., who do not mention the mbona.

According to Mr. Hetherwick, op. cit., p. 421, the 'witch-finder' was mabisalira
(mabisalila). So also Scott, who appends an example of a Yao 'witch-finder'.
This shows how greatly the culture of the two tribes has been confused. I can
find no other mention of this person.

According to H. S. Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa',
J. R.A.I, xl (1910), p. 303, a diviner was munto wa ula, the ula man, the man with
the divining sticks. H. H. Johnston, British Central Africa*, p. 446, says that the
medicine-man was sinanga, but this seems to have been the Yao word. See n. 441.
In Mr. Hetherwick's dictionary nanga is said to mean 'breast, breast-bone'. D. C.
Scott does not give it.

•

§448 NOTES AND REFERENCES 557

With nanga, cp. the Southern Bantu terms nanga, nyanga, Sec, discussed in
para. 96.

448. For the ceremony at the kachisi, see R. S. Rattray, Some Folk-lore Stories
and Songs in Chinyanja, pp. 118 f., 204 f., and cp. J. G. Frazer, G.B., The Magic
Art, i. 250.

For 'rain-doctors', see A. Werner, The Natives of British Central Africa, pp. 77-
80, and the passage from H. H. Johnston, British Central Africa^, p. 451, quoted
in n. 443.

L. T. Moggridge, 'The Nyasaland Tribes, their customs and their poison ordeal',
J.A.I, xxxii (1902), p. 469, says: 'On Cholo Mount there is a sacred stone; some-
times, after a severe drought, parties of natives go up to the stone and leave old
tools there with an idea that rain may follow.'

449. H. S. Stannus, 'Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa', J. R.A.I.
xl (1910), p. 287.

450. A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 156, 201 (for
primitiae), 202 (for pre-nuptial intercourse); J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is,
PP- 4997500 (for primitiae) ; R. F. Burton, Mission to Gelele, ii. 161-2 (for primitiae).

An eighteenth-century French historian has stated that at Whydah a girl who
had had many lovers was more in request than one who was continent. A. B. Ellis,
op. cit., p. 206 f., considers that he was misinformed, for virginity was as highly
prized at Whydah as elsewhere.

The history of Whydah is strange and comparatively unknown. In 1727 it was
ruled by a 'young, weak, and indolent prince' whose territory was conquered by
one Agajah, also called Guadja Trudo. Perhaps the early French historian based
his report on evidence collected at the court of this prince.

Agajah is said to have been the originator of the Amazons. See A. Dalzel, The
History of Dahomey, p. 16 f.; J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is, pp. 449-50.

451. See A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 12, 37-52,
56; J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is, pp. 466-72; R. F. Burton, Mission to Gelele,
pp. 139-42.

I do not know if the passage in W. Bosman, The Coast of Guinea, p. 494, is
Burton's sole authority for the diffusion of Hu, Atinbodum, and Danhgbwe from
Whydah. I find the passage unconvincing.

Some other points of difference between our authorities may be noted :

(1) Legba, who was also a Yoruba god (para. 42), is classed as a 'minor deity'
by J. A. Skertchley. R. F. Burton also, op. cit. ii. 144, clearly regards him
as unimportant.

(2) Aizan is reported by Ellis to have performed 'the functions of the multi-
farious local market gods' of the Gold Coast. Skertchley states that a large
number of such local deities, of which he gives a list, existed also in Dahomey.

(3) According to W. Bosman, Huntin was a greater god before the conquest
of Whydah than he was at a later date.

(4) Ellis regards Sapatan as the god of small-pox. Skertchley says she was
a goddess under the immediate command of Atinbodum.

s And so on.

The so-called 'sky-god', mawu (mau), was honoured neither by a temple nor
by sacrifices. Skertchley calls mawu 'the moon fetiche'. According to Ellis the
word indicated 'the firmament'. Burton seems to agree with Ellis.

Skertchley, Ellis, and Burton seem to have regarded mawu as a kind of otiose
supreme being. The German missionaries had their own opinions which have
been literally repeated by Sir J. G. Frazer, The Worship of Nature, pp. 106-15.

If mawu was a 'Supreme Being' and was conceived by the natives in the manner

558

NOTES AND REFERENCES

§452

which is described by Ellis, Skertchley, Burton, Frazer, and later writers, and if
his 'worship' (whatever the word may mean in reference to mawu) was of such
paramount importance as these writers appear to have believed, I should have
expected the earlier writers to mention the fact. But they are strangely silent. I
can find no reference to mawu in W. Bosman, The Coast of Guinea (1705), A.
Dalzel, The History of Dahomey (1793); J. Duncan, Travels in Western Africa in
1845 and 1846 (1847), and F. E. Forbes, Dahomey and the Dahomans (1851);
but mawu makes his appearance in R. F. Burton, Mission to Gelele, ii. 135-7
(1864); J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is, pp. 461-2 (1874); and A. B. Ellis, The
Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 31-7 (1890). Moreover, these writers
give him an increasing importance. Furthermore, mawu has been identified, and
possibly confused, with the Israelite Jehovah, as well as with the gods of other
societies ; and the Roman Catholic missionaries called themselves mawu-no, instead
of vodu-no, the native term for 'priest'. The inference seems obvious.

Probably we shall never know the original native usage of the word mawu. Was
it applied to any other phenomena in addition to the sky and the moon ? For
some comments on other 'Supreme Beings', see nn. 116, 122, 180, 237, 246, 415,
462, 471, 501, 585.

452. W. Bosman, The Coast of Guinea, p. 494 f. ; R. F. Burton, Mission to Gelele,
i. 93-9; J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is, pp. 94, 466, 469; A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-
speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, p. 80 f.

453. A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 141-2, 148-9.
According to J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is, pp. 476-7, a layman could

become a priest on payment of heavy fees, but usually priests were sons of priests.
Apparently in some areas Yoruba influence was paramount, for at the birth of
a child a priestess of Elegba was present, and the bukono, priest of Ifa, revealed the
identity of the ancestral spirit which animated the body. Both Elegba and Ifa
were Yoruba gods ; perhaps their influence in Dahomey was due to the Yoruba
conquest (n. 154). For the Yoruba, see para. 42.

454. A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 13-14, 29,
33, 141 ; J. G. Frazer, The Worship of Nature, p. 108.

Probably the kosio are the women to whom A. Dalzel refers in The History of
Dahomey, p. 129. The priestesses of Danhgbi were called danhsio.

In the western districts, the word for 'god' was edro; dronu meant 'witchcraft',
dronuwola 'witch or wizard' ; drowe 'dream', lit. 'place of edro' ; kudro 'to dream', lit.
'to attain godlike, edro-\ike, condition'. The word edro-kosi was applied to all
persons belonging to or connected with edro, a priest being called also nunola.
See A. B. Ellis, ll.cc.

For the Tshi bohsum and Yoruba orisha, see para. 100 and n. 145 respectively.

455. A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 112, 118;
A. Dalzel, The History of Dahomey, p. 38.

It is Dalzel who states that the victim was first consecrated.

The Grand Customs which were held when the king died, and the Annual
Customs which were held every autumn, are described at length by Forbes,
Dalzel, Burton, and Skertchley. It is quite impossible to come to any conclusion
about them. Their original significance is obscure. Perhaps they were a form of
tendance.

With tansino, cp. the Ashanti barimfo, for whom see n. 466.

456. R. F. Burton, Mission to Gelele, ii. 148; A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking
Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 104, 111.

§457 NOTES AND REFERENCES 559

It would be interesting to know if the word which Ellis translates 'indwelling
spirit' in op. cit., pp. 65-90, was noli or vodu.

With the attention to noli, cp. the attention which was paid by the Yoruba to
exhumed skulls (n. 153).

457. See A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, pp. 103,
io5> 107, 109 (for noli and abonsa), 50, 109-10 (for priestly cures), 91-3 (for
amulets); J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is, p. 464.

The priest of Ifa, bokiino, usually diagnosed. Ifa was a Yoruba god. Thus the
influence of the bokuno may have been due to the Yoruba conquest (n 154) Cp
n. 453-

W. Bosman, The Coast of Guinea, p. 483, states that sacrifices for the cure of
sickness were more general in Dahomey than on the Gold Coast. F. E. Forbes,
Dahomey and the Dahomans, i. 174 f., says that sickness was cured by sacrifices!
He does not state to whom or in what place the sacrifices were made.

J. A. Skertchley, op. cit., p. 447, remarks: 'There is none of the barbarous
ruelty which results from a belief in witchcraft. No man believes that any person
an injure any other by any powers, incantations, or ceremonials.' A. B. Ellis,
)p. cit., pp. 94-5, however, refers to certain powders which were thrown on an
enemy's foot-prints to make him mad ; and A. Dalzel, The History of Dahomey,
>. 123, says that witchcraft was a crime. Thus Skertchley's statement seems
exaggerated. But the evidence is scanty.

458. W. Bosman, The Coast of Guinea, p. 494. The connexion between mawu
md rain was a 'belief about the rain. The subject of mawu does not enter into the
liscussion concerning the steps which were taken when rain was required. For
fiawu, see n. 451.

459. I have not included J. Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London,
824), in my list of authorities on Ashanti customs and culture. He remarks
op. cit., p. ii) : 'As to the negroes, I have reason to know that their fidelity as narra-
ors or interpreters may be justly suspected. In fact, their intellectual faculties,
ike those of savages in general, although powerful in the emergencies of life, never
tray from the usual routine of human pursuits to explore unprofitable mysteries ;
leither is it to be forgotten that a cautious scepticism is necessary, when the secret
nterests or affections of men are to be prized against the words to which their
ongues give utterance.'

Two comments are appropriate:

(1) Dupuis must be added to the list of travellers who have discovered the
answers of natives to the white man's questions cannot be trusted. Cp.
para. 4, nn. 227, 234, 445.

(2) The fact that, according to Dupuis, the natives did not 'stray from the usual
routine of human pursuits to explore unprofitable mysteries' militates
strongly against the Tylorian hypothesis of 'spirits' as 'personified causes'.
See also paras. 62, 146.

460. A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, pp. 235-6, 282, 286.
^ The demand for the tokens is mentioned also by A. ffoulkes, 'Fanti Marriage
uistoms', Journ. Afr. Soc. viii (1909), 33 f., whose report applies to the coastal
rea.

The statements of Capt. R. S. Rattray must be read with care. When he says
Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 76) that 'courtship in Ashanti runs a course not
ery different from that followed among ourselves', he appears to refer to genuine
ative customs, but actually he is describing a modern tendency. That customs
ave changed is clear from another passage: 'Chastity before marriage is not now,

56o NOTES AND REFERENCES §461

I am afraid, demanded to the extent it was in olden times' (R. S. Rattray, op. cit.,
p. 85 f.).

Capt. Rattray adds that in pagan times a bride was expected to be a virgin.

Thus it seems that in Ashanti, as elsewhere, the introduction of the white man's
customs has resulted in an extension of pre-nuptial sexual opportunity.

Capt. Rattray states (op. cit., p. 78) that the semi-educated African 'supremely
ignorant of and contemptuous of his own institutions' now calls the aseda tiri nsa
'head- wine'.

I cannot find the word asiwa in J. G. Christaller, Dictionary of the Asante and Fante
Languages. Christaller says that 'a young woman in a state of puberty' was obadun,
and that a girl, married or unmarried, 'who had not borne a child' was ababa.

Both T. E. Bowdich, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, p. 252, and
J. Beecham, Ashantee and the Gold Coast, p. 128, assert that husbands and fathers
used to encourage their wives and daughters to have sexual intercourse with a
stranger, in order to secure a 'palaver'. These tactics were adopted also by the
Corinthians in historical times (see, e.g., W. A. Becker, Charicles, pp. 22-42, and
Excursus) . They have not been unknown in other historical societies, even in our own.

461. A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, p. 29; R. S.
Rattray, Ashanti, p. 141. For a comment on nyame, which is discussed in these
passages, see n. 462.

462. For the temple of Ntoa, see R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, fig. 80. Cp. the temple
of Ta Kora (Tano, Tando) in op. cit., figs. 74 and 75. The inscription on the wall
of the latter building is written in English, the building itself being European both
in character and design.

Capt. R. S. Rattray has reported (Ashanti, p. 142) that temples were erected
to nyame (nyankupon), an alleged 'Sky-god' or 'Supreme Being', but it seems
doubtful whether these were built before Christian and Mohammedan influence
became paramount. I am not convinced by the evidence which has been submitted.
The question has been complicated by the fact that Ashanti 'beliefs' have been
recorded with a certain amount of subjective intrusion. The following comments
on the reports are appropriate :

(1) When Sir A. B. Ellis wrote his first book on West African culture, he said that
in his opinion the conception of this 'Supreme Being' was due to alien influence.
In his second publication he retracted, and said : 'I now hold that Nyankupon is like
Mawu, the sky-god, an indwelling spirit of the sky, and that, also like Mawu, he has
been to a certain extent confused with Jehovah.' See A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking
Peoples of the Gold Coast, pp. 24, 28; idem, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave
Coast, p. 30 f. For mawu, see n. 451.

Capt. R. S. Rattray, in Ashanti Proverbs, pp. 17-19, and Ashanti, pp. 139-141,
criticizes Ellis for having formed the first opinion, but he does not mention Ellis's
subsequent retraction of that opinion. Yet it is manifestly unfair to quote the one
and not the other, and it is reasonable to suppose that Capt. Rattray had a definite
purpose in view, for we must assume that he would not criticize Ellis before making
himself acquainted with his writings. Capt. Rattray's purpose is revealed in the
second of the above-cited passages. He wishes to 'take a firm stand against a school
of thought (the Ellis school) which denied that the conception of a Supreme
Being in the West African mind was due to any cause deeper or more remote than
the influence of Christian missionary teaching'. Capt. Rattray states that he can
see no reason why 'the idea of a great God, who is the Firmament, upon Whom
ultimately all life depends, should not have been the conception of a people living
under the conditions of the Ashanti of old'. There is, he thinks, 'no just cause for
attributing what we have come to regard as one of the noblest conceptions of man s
mind to dwellers in cities and to writers'.

§463 NOTES AND REFERENCES 561

Thus Capt. Rattray not only considers that 'the idea of a great God, who is the
Firmament' is 'one of the noblest conceptions of man's mind'; he wishes to prove
that this idea was present in the minds of the pagan Ashanti. Clearly his point
would be proved more easily if he could show that the pagan Ashanti erected
temples to nyankupon (nyame).

It behoves us, therefore, to examine the evidence with great care.
^ (2) Sir A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, p. 26, states that
there were no priests of Nyankupon'. Ellis does not define the word 'priest'-
nor does Capt. Rattray, who challenges this statement by maintaining that (i)
indirectly every fetish priest was a priest of Onyankopon, (ii) direct service also
was rendered to that 'god'. The evidence of this 'direct service' is stated thus-
In every village in Ashanti may be seen a tree or stick terminating on three forks
which form a stand on which a pot or gourd is set; the name of this stick is nyame
dua ; in the pot, dish or gourd, are placed offerings for onyame.' See R. S Rattray
Ashanti Proverbs, pp. 19, 21-2.

In this early publication Capt. Rattray does not mention the erection of temples
to nyame {nyankupon). The word nyame {nyankupon) is translated as 'High God'
Supreme Being', 'God', 'Creator'. Moreover, eight different names (or titles or
descriptive epithets) are given to nyame. Capt. Rattray considers that the northern
tribes may have been influenced by 'the Allah of the Mohammedans', but in
his opinion this hypothetical influence does not explain the fact that nyame
{nyankupon) was a 'deeply rooted part, the very centre in fact of the religion of the
Ashantis'.

In his next publication, Capt. Rattray again emphasizes the ubiquity of nyame
dua, and remarks {Ashanti, p. 142): 'Beside these rude altars are to be found
hidden away in remote corners of the older palaces, beautifully designed temples
to the Sky God. One such is shown in the frontispiece of this volume, with an
altar and one of the priests beside it.' Here I am in difficulties: {a) I do not under-
stand why the 'beautifully designed temples' to the god who was 'the very centre'
of Ashanti religion should have been 'hidden away in remote corners'; {b) when
I look at the frontispiece to which I am referred, I see a europeanized edifice two
stories high, of such a size that it could not be 'hidden away' at all It is Very
unlike such a native building as the temple of Ntoa. Moreover, there is no altar
in the picture, but the priest is seated on the steps. This 'priest' appears to have
been a lad of about ten years old, surely a very early age at which to have com-
pleted a three years' novitiate. I do not think I am wrong in considering Fig. 52
to be another photograph of the same lad outside the same building ; the altar nyame
dua is shown there. This nyame dua was not in the same position in the first
photograph. We are not told where it was then nor why it was moved to its new
position.

On the whole, the evidence for the existence of nyame {nyankupon) temples in
pagan times is of a very poor quality.

With nyame dua, cp. the Ila Iwanga (n. 402) and the Ronga nkonola (n. 408).
For a comment upon Capt. -Rattray's remark that every 'fetish priest' was a
priest of Nyame', see n. 464.

For some comments on other 'Supreme Beings', see nn. 116, 122, 180 217 246
4i5,45i,47i,50i,585.

463. A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, pp. 123 ff.; R. S.
Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, pp. 40-4.

464. The double meaning of bohsum is reported by A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-
speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, p. 19. The word is translated 'tutelar or guardian
spirit of men and family' by J. C. Christaller, Dictionary of the Asante and Fante
Languages, p. 42. R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, p. 90, applies it to the 'non-human spirit'

O O

562

NOTES AND REFERENCES

§4^5

as well as to the brass pan which was 'the potential resting place' of this spirit. So
bohsum (obosorn) is said to have meant both 'god' and 'shrine'.

The difference between obosotn and suman was the subject of some acute direct
questioning by R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, pp. 22-3. The answers
which he records have no greater anthropological value than an answer given by
an English ploughboy to a question concerning the meaning of 'God' and 'spirit'.
The conclusions founded upon them are unacceptable.

Apparently it was after such conversations as these that Capt. Rattray formulated
his opinion that 'the main power of the most important Spirit in an obosom comes
directly or indirectly from Nyame, the Supreme God'. The opinion is expressed
also in Ashanti Proverbs, p. 30.

According to Ellis, bohsum was applied also to a lake and to the moon. In fact,
he says it meant 'lake' and 'moon'. The latter is denied by R. S. Rattray, Ashanti,
p. 90, n. 2. Cp. 'moon fetiche' as a translation of the Dahoman mazvu (n. 451).

R. S. Rattray, in Ashanti, p. 90, and Religion and Art in Ashanti, pp. 11 f., 23,
would like to reserve the English word 'fetish' as a translation of suman; so also
J. G. Christaller, op. cit., pp. 42, 462. Surely it is better to discard the word.
Ellis (I.e.) translates suman (suhman) as 'tutelary deity of individuals'.

For okomfo, see R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, pp. 39, 148; J. G.
Christaller, op. cit., p. 242.

For Capt. Rattray as okomfo and akomfo, see R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, pp. 152, 171.

The native words for 'wizard', 'witch', and 'witchcraft' are uncertain. For
'wizard' or 'witch' R. S. Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, p. 30, gives bayifo; J. G. Chris-
taller, op. cit., p. 32, gives bayifo and obonsam. According to R. S. Rattray, Religion
and Art in Ashanti, p. 28, bonsam was masculine and obayifo feminine. Ellis (I.e.)
translates abonsam 'witchcraft, magic, malignant spirit'.

The word which Capt. Rattray renders 'spirit' and 'devil' in Ashanti Proverbs,
p. 42, is sasa {sesa), for which see n. 466.

465. R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, pp. 161, 172, 179; A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking
Peoples of the Gold Coast, pp. 12, 32.

466. The propitiation of the sasa (sisa, sesa) is described by R. S. Rattray,
Religion and Art in Ashanti, pp. 151 ff. Capt. Rattray says (op. cit., pp. 182 ff.)
that similar rites were celebrated when trees were cut down. A. B. Ellis, The
Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, pp. 150, 240, states that the object of the
rites was the conciliation of the sisa and that 'food and wine were placed daily on
the grave for some months'. This seems to have been tendance. The bay a ceremony
on 'sacred Monday' ('Spirits of our grandsires, come and eat rice, we invoke
blessing for a good year') may have been cult. For the baya ceremony, see R. S.
Rattray, Ashanti, pp. 136-7.

For the control of sisa 'by the spells of priests' and 'powerful suman* , see A. B.
Ellis, op. cit., p. 150; R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 99.

There were three other ceremonies, adae, affrahbi (afahye), and odwira (ojirrah),
which are said to have been connected with the dead; but the reports conflict.
Moreover, the reports conflict in a manner which suggests that the same native
word is being translated as both 'gods' and 'spirits of the dead'. Thus (1) according
to Ellis, the adae ceremonies were in honour of the gods ; Capt. Rattray says that
they were in honour of the dead; (2) according to Ellis, the affrahbi {afahye)
ceremony was a 'remembrance of the dead'; Capt. Rattray states that it was con-
nected with both the gods and the dead; (3) according to Ellis, the odwira {ojirrah)
ceremony was a thanksgiving to the gods ; Capt. Rattray calls it a 'feast of the dead'.
Unfortunately neither of these writers quotes the native terms, so we cannot tell
whether their reports really contradict one another or whether the contradiction
is only apparent, and due to the translations.

§467 NOTES AND REFERENCES 563

The evidence is as follows :

(1) Adae ceremonies.

(a) A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, p. 228: 'On the Adae
festivals it is customary to offer sacrifices to the tribal and national deities.'

(b) R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, pp. 92, 99: 'The first in order of importance of those
customs dealing with the propitiation, solicitation, or worship of ancestral spirits':
'there is no apparent invocation or mention of any power or spirit other than those
of human ancestors.'

(2) Affrahbi (afahye) ceremony.

(a) A. B. Ellis, op. cit., p. 227 f. : 'Annual general remembrance of the dead':
'Each family proceeds to the place of burial of its dead; they sit down round the
graves and laying upon them offerings of fowls, eggs, rum, and palm-wine, call
upon the deceased to accept their offerings.'

(b) R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, pp. 203-12: 'An annual custom is held in connexion
with the eating of the first-fruits of each crop, in this case yams' : the ceremony 'has
two distinct aspects in connexion with (a) the spirits of ancestors, (b) the gods'.

(3) Odwira (ojirrah) ceremony.

(a) A. B. Ellis, op. cit., p. 229 f. : 'Held for the purpose of returning thanks to
the gods for having protected the crop.'

(b) R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 127: 'A feast of the dead very
closely connected with the crops and first-fruits.'

The older authorities are not helpful. For instance, T. E. Bowdich, Mission from
Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, pp. 226-30, says that the odwira was merely a yam
festival.

In addition to sisa (sasa, sesa) another word, srahman (saman), has been translated
'spirit of the dead', 'departed spirit'. It is impossible to tell sometimes which of
these two words the English phrase represents, for in the appropriate passages
our authorities do not always quote the native terms. The do ut abeas rites seem
to have been connected with sisa (sasa, sesa). Is srahman (saman) the word which
has been translated 'ancestral spirit' in the descriptions of the above-mentioned
ceremonies ? The relation between the sisa (sasa, sesa) and the srahman (saman)
is not clear. I conjecture that the Tshi kra, srahman (saman), and sisa (sasa, sesa)
corresponded to the Ewe luwo, noli, and abonsa. This seems to be the opinion of
Sir A. B. Ellis. For these Ewe terms, see para. 99.

The place where the dead lived between death and reincarnation is termed
srahmanadzi (Ellis), asaman (Christaller), samando (R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, pp. 53,

i 80), asaman (idem, Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 152), samandow Cidem, Religion

J and Art in Ashanti, pp. 59, 149, 152).

In the south the dead used to be buried in the floor of the huts (A. B. Ellis, op.
cit., p. 239). This practice was forbidden on the coast. Perhaps in a like manner

i the use of burial grounds in the north was due to alien influence.

Members of the royal family used to be buried in special mausoleums, barim
dan, which were like ordinary houses. A barim dan was cared for by certain
attendants called barimfo. See A. B. Ellis, op. cit., p. 242; R. S. Rattray, Ashanti,

P- *33-

I With barimfo, cp. the Ewe tansino (para. 99).

1 467. A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, pp. 119, 148, says:
I'All sickness is believed to be caused by superhuman agents who enter the body';
''every unusual or unfortunate event' was attributed to 'superhuman beings'. For
some descriptions of the treatment of disease, see R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art
\in Ashanti, pp. 38-40, 107, 147-8. Capt. Rattray devotes little space to the question.
Probably the old ideas had disappeared before he arrived in the country.

According to R. S. Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution, pp. 16, 313 f., witch-

564 NOTES AND REFERENCES §468

craft was a serious crime. A man who was ill treated would threaten to haunt his
enemy after death. Cp. a similar report on the Baila (n. 401).

There appears to be more inference than fact in the descriptions of sasabonsum
and srahmantin. See A. B. Ellis, op. cit., pp. 34-8 ; R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art
in Ashanti, p. 28. Both these words seem to refer to the dead, for they are com-
pounds of sasa and srahman (n. 466). The capital S with which the names are
spelt seems to be the result of inference.

468. This criticism applied especially to Dr. Radin's essay, 'Religion of the
North American Indians', J.A.F.L. xxvii (1914). PP- 335-73, and to his Mono-
theism among Primitive Peoples (London, 1924). I do not know what single precise
meaning Dr. Radin attaches to the word 'monotheism', hut I notice that on p. 24
of the latter book he says, 'Among the Crow Indians the Sun is the Supreme
Deity'. For the Crow Indians, and the application of maxpe to the sun, see para. 1 19.

I have commented on Dr. Radin's other writings in para. 120. They have been
the subject of some discussion by B. Aitken, 'Temperament in Native American
Religion', J. R.A.I, lx (1930), pp. 363-87. Her title was happily chosen if it refers
to the writers as well as to the subject of their writings.

For the 'Great Spirit' fallacy, see J. O. Dorsey, 'A Study of Siouan Cults',
nth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1889-90, pp. 361-544.

469. See J. W. Mooney, 14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1892-3, pp. 657, 777;
Clark Wissler, The American Indian, passim; idem, The Relation of Nature to Man
in Aboriginal America, pp. 82-90 (for Sun-Dance), 189-93 (for Peyote cult— the
latest of the new cults, but apparently not messianic); L. H. Morgan, League of
the Iroquois, pp. 226 ff. (for Ganeodiyo) ; J. G. Bourke, 'Religion of the Apache',
Folk-Lore, ii (1901), p. 425 (for Nakaydaklinni).

The linguistic classifications which I adopt are those of J. W. Powell in yth Ann.
Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1885-6, pp. 7-142. Cp. Clark Wissler, The American Indian,
pp. 304-H.

470. J. R. Swanton, 'Social Conditions, Beliefs and Linguistic Relationships of
the Tlingit Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1904-5, p. 428 f . ; I. PetrofT,
'Report on the Population, Industries and Resources of Alaska', Tenth Census of the
United States, 1880, p. 169; W. H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources, pp. 412, 415-16;
A. Krause, Die Tlingit-Indianer, pp. 220-1.

The original authority for many of these statements seems to have been a Russian
missionary, Father Veniamanoff. There is no doubt, I think, that R. BrifTault,
The Mothers, i. 575, has interpreted the evidence correctly. For other comments
on his work, see nn. 112, 155, 163, 172, 382, 421.

At puberty a girl was secluded, but not in order to limit her sexual activities;
her confinement took place on the first appearance of the menses, as at such a time
'her look might dismay the luck of a hunter, fisher, or gambler, turn objects into
stone . . .' The period of the seclusion is reported as two to three months (Swanton)
and a year (PetrofT). Dall says that a year was the usual period, which in some
places had been reduced to three months.

For the reason of the fear of the menses, see para. 146.

F. Shotridge, Univ. Pens. Mus.Journ. iv (1913), p. 103, who had a great oppor-
tunity of stating the facts explicitly, says: 'Until a few years ago the custom of
seclusion of young girls for a prescribed period prior to entering upon the life oi
womanhood was strictly observed.' The statement is too vague to be helpful.

The Tlingits are called Tlinkits, Thlinkets, Thlinkeets, and (by the Russians
Koloshes.

471. The Tlingit yek was one of the terms which I selected (para. 5) in order tc
illustrate the impossibility of translating the native terms. The 'animistic' viev

§472 NOTES AND REFERENCES 565

was propounded by Dr. F. Boas, Fifth Report of the Committee on the N.W. Tribes
of Canada, 59th Rep. Brit. Ass. Adv. Sc. (Newcastle, 1889), p. 848: 'All nature is
animated and the spirit of any being can become the genius of a man who thus
acquires supernatural powers. These spirits are called yek: In the passage from
which I have extracted the quotation in the text, J. R. Swanton, 'Social Conditions,
Beliefs and Linguistic Relationships of the Tlingit Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur.
Amer. Eth., 1904-5, p. 451, n. 3, states that the alleged ubiquity of these 'spirits'
is due to the 'European lineage' of the observer.

Our authorities have different forms of the word yek :

(1) W. H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources, p. 422, says, 'There are immense
numbers of minor spirits called yekh, who are invoked by shamans. Each shaman
has his own familiar spirits. These spirits are divided into three classes: khiyekh,
"the upper ones", takhi-yekh, "land-spirits", and tekhi-yekh "sea-spirits". The first
are the spirits of the braves killed in war.'

(2) A. Krause, Die Tlingit Indianer, pp. 291-2, gives the same three compounds
, of yek; but he calls the power jek, 'the spirits of the braves' being tu kinajek.

(3) The report of I. Petroff, 'Report on the Population, Industries and Resources
of Alaska', Tenth Census of the United States, 1880, p. 174, is as follows: 'The
Thlinket have a great number of subordinate spirits called by them yekh (pi.
yaWh), whom the shamans (ikhth) invoke during their performances. These are
divided into khiyekh (or khinayekh), the spirits of the braves fallen in battle,
takhiyekh, land-spirits, and tekhiyekh, water-spirits.'

Both Dall and Petroff seem to have been relying on a common source, probably
Veniamanoff (n. 470) or Holmberg.

(4) H. J. Holmberg, 'Ethnographische Skizzen uber die Volker des russischen
Amerika', Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae, iv (1856), pp. 343-4, calls the power
jekh (pi. jekhch), the shaman ichth, and the 'guardian spirit' both jekh and khinajekh.
His use of the latter word is peculiar to himself.

A typically 'European lineage' interpretation which calls yek a 'Supreme Being'
is quoted by I. Petroff, op. cit., p. 177.

For other reports on 'Supreme Beings', apparently due to 'European lineage',
,seenn. 116, 122, 180, 237, 246, 415, 451, 462, 501, 585.

The method of becoming a shaman is described by W. H. Dall, op. cit., p. 425 ;
I. Petroff, op. cit., p. 176; H. J. Holmberg, op. cit., pp. 344 ff. Dall says that the
yek animal was an otter. Such an otter was taboo, an otter skin being the trade-
mark of a magician. In the tongue of the otter, Dall says, lay 'the whole secret
power and force required in the profession of shamanism'. This is reported also
by J. R. Swanton, op. cit., p. 464.

: Perhaps a famous and successful magician had possessed 'medicine' of this
character and all subsequent aspirants tried to emulate him.

472. The most explicit statement of the facts is to be found in I. Petroff, 'Report
bn the Population, Industries and Resources of Alaska', Tenth Census of the
United States, 1880, pp. 17 1-6.

For the mortuary-chest and grave-poles, see J. R. Swanton, 'Social Conditions,
Beliefs and Linguistic Relationships of the Tlingit Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur.
imer. Eth., 1904-5, pp. 431-4. He says that 'shamans' bodies were placed along
he shore', the great fear of dead shamans being reported in op. cit., pp. 466-7.

'The ghost or spirit of the dead body was called sagi' (J. R. Swanton, op. cit.,

460). This statement seems to refer to a spook.

473. See J. R. Swanton, 'Social Conditions, Beliefs and Linguistic Relation-
lips of the Tlingit Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1904-5, pp. 445 ff.,
64, 469-70. We are told that often, if not usually, sickness was regarded as
ttrusive.

566 NOTES AND REFERENCES §474

474. See esp. J. R. Swanton, Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida,
pp> so_! . c. Harrison, Ancient Warriors of the North Pacific, pp. 76-7; F. Poole,

Queen Charlotte Islands, p. 31a.

G. M. Dawson, 'On the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands', Geological
Survey of Canada, 1878-9, p. 130 b, observes : 'It is said that the Haidas were once
distinguished by good morals. If so, they differed from most of the coast tribes.
Female chastity is certainly not now prized.' It may be that morals have deterior-
ated since the white man arrived in the country ; but what exactly do we mean when
we say that the Haida 'were once distinguished by good morals' ? On what evidence
is the statement based? By what criterion do we judge?

475. E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, xi. 136, 187, 210 (for skit), 128
(for drowned men); J. R. Swanton, Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida,
pp 13-14, 29 (for sgana), 38 (for shaman). In a comparative table of Skidegate
and Massett words, Mr. Curtis translates skanakcdas or skil (S) and skil (M) as
'supernatural being', skanakwai (S) and shanuwa (M) as 'supernatural power'. His
skanakdas seems to correspond to Mr. Swanton's sganaqcdas, sgana of the ocean,
his skanakwai, 'supernatural power', to Mr. Swanton's sganaqzcai. Thus he seems
to have mistaken a manifestation of sgana for sgana.

Mr. Swanton has been influenced by the 'animistic' theory. He speaks of the
Haida 'spiritual theory' and of the world being 'alive with spirits'. In addition
to the lapse which I have noticed in the text, the following passage is worthy of
remark (J. R. Swanton, op. cit., p. 14): 'According to the legends, sun, moon, and
stars are inanimate objects, yet the first two were each inhabited by a supernatural
being who sometimes spoke through shamans.' The contradiction which is
suggested by an 'inanimate' object being inhabited by a 'being' is only apparent;
it is due to the use of the word 'supernatural being'. If we substitute the Haida
word sgana or skil, it disappears : sgana (or skil) was manifest in the sun and moon,
but not in the stars.

The words 'deity', 'worship', &c, have been loosely employed by C. Harrison,
Ancient Warriors of the North Pacific, pp. 121 ff. I presume that 'god of the sea',
'god of the sun', &c, are translations of skil (sgana). The belief that there were two
'important gods' or 'great spirits', shanungitlagidas and hetgwaulana, seem to have
been due to Christian influences. We read that 'the Haidas did not fear the two
great spirits as much as the minor deities'. Is 'minor deities' a translation of
sgana} G. M. Dawson, 'On the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands',
Geological Survey of Canada, 1878-9, p. 121 B f., also mentions a 'lord of all things,
whose dwelling was in some remote undefined region', suniatlaidus or shanungit-
lagidas, 'but it is difficult to ascertain exactly what his attributes are'.
In such passages the subjective intrusion is intense.

It is probable that the contradictions which C. Harrison (op. cit., p. 130) notes
in the alleged Haida 'beliefs' were due to the veneer of white influence which
overlay the native culture.

476. C. Harrison, Ancient Warriors of the North Pacific, p. 1 15.

'Unusual customs' at the death of 'prominent men' are reported also by E. S.
Curtis, The North American Indian, xi. 126-8.

J. R. Swanton, Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida, pp. 52-4, seems to
confuse a 'great chief and a 'shaman', unless the Haida 'chiefs' were always

magicians. . ,

C. Harrison remarks that a dead saagga 'still remained an object of veneration .

Thus we may conclude that a dead magician was more respected than a dead

layman. There is no report of any post-funeral rites; indeed C. Harrison (op. cit.,

p. 80) remarks that very little care was taken of the dead.

J. R. Swanton, op. cit., p. 53 f., says that a man who was threatened with con-

§477 NOTES AND REFERENCES 567

sumption would take food to the place where a shaman's body sat, hang the food
in front of the dead man's mouth for four nights and then eat it; if other dead
shamans were seated in the neighbourhood, he placed a piece of food before each
of them. The rite was not do ut abeas, for there is no evidence of affliction being
caused by the dead. The latter part of the report appears to be the answer to a
direct question. Perhaps the man thought he would be cured by some magic
power which the food absorbed in its contact with the shaman's body.

477. For the causes of disease, see J. R. Swanton, Contributions to the Ethnology
of the Haida, pp. 27, 40-2; E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, xi. 136-8.

For activities of sgaga, skaga, or saagga, see C. Harrison, Ancient Warriors of
the North Pacific, pp. 61, 116; G. M. Dawson, 'On the Haida Indians of Queen
Charlotte Islands', Geological Survey of Canada, i8j8-g, p. 122 b; J. R. Swanton,
op. cit., pp. 42-6.

The source of magic power was sgana, according to all these authorities except
Curtis, who remarks: 'Medicine-men obtained their power by purification of the
body, not by personal contact with a supernatural being.'

According to G. M. Dawson, the magical profession was not hereditary. Any
man could be a magician if he could dream and see visions. Mr. Swanton says
that the profession was hereditary in the maternal line from uncle to nephew.
When a form of the classificatory relationship prevails, a report concerning heredity
must be accepted with reserve. Cp. n. 59.

478. G. M. Dawson, 'On the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands',
Geological Survey of Canada, 1878-9, p. 124B.

479. For lack of post-funeral attention to the dead, see J. Teit, The Thompson
Indians, p. 330.

480. J. Teit, The Thompson Indians, pp. 321-6.

481. Ibid., pp. 327-36.

482. Ibid., pp. 338, 354-5.

Mr. Teit's descriptions have been repeated almost verbatim by J. G. Frazer,
Totemism and Exogamy, iii. 413-18.

483. Ibid., p. 360. The fact that the native words which Mr. Teit translates
as 'spirits' are not given detracts much from the value of the report concerning
sickness. The chief cause of affliction was witchcraft, body refuse and clippings
being carefully destroyed.

484. Ibid., p. 345.

The missing word for 'supernatural power' may have been kwalus (swalus,
qailus). Mr. Teit seems to have been puzzled by the native use of the word. Per-
haps he approached the study of American Indian culture from a preconceived
'animistic' point of view. He remarks: '. . . the word qailus was repeated twice;
this was perhaps a term of address, or the name of the earth or mountain deity,
after the manner of the Indians praying in the sweat- house, who address the deity
presiding over the act of sweat-bathing as kwalus or swalus.'

485. F. Boas, The Shushwap, pp. 632, 641, 645; J. Teit, The Shuswap, pp. 584-92.
The word which Mr. Teit translates as 'mystery' was applied also to twins and

a girl's first menses. It is not quoted. Abortion, we are told, was rare; but the
report seems to apply only to married women. I can find no mention of pre-
nuptial children. Was contraception the rule?

486. See esp. J. Teit, The Shuswap, pp. 598, 605-7, The method by which
the people secured their 'guardian spirits' has been related also by J. G. Frazer,
Totemism and Exogamy, iii. 421-8, q.v.

568 NOTES AND REFERENCES §487

487. See J. Teit, The Shuswap, pp. 597-8, 601-2, 607, 620.

488. J. Teit, The Lillooet Indians, pp. 263-6; C. Hill-Tout, 'Report on the
Ethnology of the Stlatlumh of British Columbia', J. A.I. xxxv (1905), pp. 136-7.

The distinction between the upper and lower tribes is made only by Mr. Hill-
Tout.

As 'the marriage customs of the Lillooet were practically the same as those of
the Thompson tribe' (J. Teit, op. cit., p. 267), we may ascribe the same pattern
of sexual regulation to the Thompson, Shuswap, and Lillooet.

489. F. Boas, 'The Salish Tribes of the Interior of British Columbia', Ann.
Arch. Rep., 1905, p. 222; C. Hill-Tout, 'Report on the Ethnology of the Stlatlumh
of British Columbia', J. A.I. xxxv (1905), PP- 144. 145. I5°i T53-

490. J. Teit, The Lillooet Indians, pp. 278, 287.

491. See J. Teit, The Lillooet Indians, pp. 271-3.

492. Various magical practices are reported by J. Teit, The Lillooet Indians,
pp. 274, 276, 283, 286, but their discovery appears to be the result of industrious
search; they do not appear to have been a general habit. Perhaps the Roman
Catholic priests had discouraged the ancient practices.

493. C. Hill-Tout, The Far West, The Home of the Salish and Dene, p. 33, has
divided the Salish into three sections: (1) interior, (2) delta, (3) coastal. Of the
interior tribes, the Thompson, Shuswap, and Lillooet are the most important and
the best known. The groups which lived on the lower Fraser River between the
Lillooet and the coast have been discussed by F. Boas in Ninth Report of the Com-
mittee on the N.W. Tribes, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science (Oxford, 1894), pp. 454-63. Some of the coastal groups are discussed by
E. S. Curtis in The North American Indian, vol. ix (Cambridge, Mass., 191 3).

Mr. Hill-Tout has dealt with some of the problems which arise in the study of
the Salish in his 'Ethnological Survey of Canada', Reports of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science (Dover, 1899, and Bradford, 1900). His remarks
have been supplemented by F. Boas, 'Ethnological Problems in Canada', J. R.A.I.
xl (1910), pp. 529-39. The standard of Salishan ethnology is not high.

I have made a small selection from the scattered literature, omitting as redundant
C. Hill-Tout, 'Report on the Ethnology of the South-Eastern Tribes of Vancouver
Island, British Columbia', J. R.A.I, xxxvii (1907), pp. 306-74.

494. For the social regulations and puberty rites, and for an emphasis on the
extreme variety of the practices, see C. Hill-Tout, 'Some features of the Language
and Culture of the Salish', Amer. Anth., N.s., vii (1905), p. 679; idem, 'The
Siciatl', J.A.I, xxxiv (1904), p. 32; idem, 'The Stoeelis and Skaulits', J.A.I, xxxiv
(1904), pp. 318-19.

495. See F. Boas, The Lkungen, pp. 574 (for supernatural power of twins),
580-1 (for native names of magicians). Among the Lkungen the term for 'guardian
spirit' was tlkayin, which Dr. Boas compares to the Chinook tamanowus, for which
see para. 109.

See also C. Hill-Tout, 'The Siciatl', J.A.I, xxxiv (1904), PP- 26 (for names of
magicians), 26 f. (for sulia), 331 (for names of magicians). Among the Siciatl
the term for 'guardian spirit' is said to have been sulyu ; the word has been translated
also as 'supernatural helpers' and as 'tutelary spirits'.

Such 'animistic' translations, though seemingly harmless, are actually extremely
dangerous and misleading. See paras. 146-8.

§496 NOTES AND REFERENCES 569

For the equation sulia = snam = manitou = wahabe, see C. Hill-Tout, 'Some
Features of the Language and Culture of the Salish', Amer. Anth. N.S. vii (1905),
p. 682.

496. G. Gibbs, 'Tribes of Western Washington and N.W. Oregon', Contribu-
tions to North American Ethnology, i (1877), pp. 198-9; Myron Eells, Twana,
Chemakum and Klallam Indians of Washington Territory', Smith. Rep., 1887,
p. 615; Erna Gunther, 'Klallam Ethnography', Univ. Wash. Publ. Anth. i, no. 5,
P- 245.

497. Myron Eells, 'Twana, Chemakum and Klallam Indians of Washington
Territory', Smith. Rep., 1887, pp. 674-5 5 Horatio Hale, The Chinook Jargon, p 51.
The word tamanous has been translated also as 'angelic spirit'.

Various phenomena to which the word tamanous was applied, and a number of
mythological figures, have been called 'gods' and 'deities'; see Erna Gunther,
'Klallam Ethnography', Univ. Wash. Publ. Anth. i, no. 5, pp. 234, 289; Myron
Eells, op. cit., p. 672; idem, 'The Religion of the Clallam and Twana Indians',
American Antiquarian, ii (1879-80), pp. 9-14.

Eells remarks: 'Except the medicine-men there is no separate class of persons
for religious service and their main business is sickness.'

Erna Gunther, op. cit., p. 297, says that black magicians were killed. This
differentiation between beneficent and maleficent practices may have been a later
development, the sense of Myron Eells 's reports demanding the assumption that
witchcraft was one of the ordinary risks of life.

Although he states that 'they tamanous for wind', Myron Eells says that 'there
were no rain-makers'. Erna Gunther, op. cit., p. 295, however, states that the
weather was considered to be under the control of those who had special guardian-
spirits (i.e. tamanous).

498. Myron Eells, 'Twana, Chemakum and Klallam Indians of Washington
Territory', Smith. Rep., 1887, p. 669; Erna Gunther, 'Klallam Ethnography',
Univ. Wash. Publ. Anth. i, no. 5, p. 296. Miss Gunther says that a ghost was
sndenur, but H. Hale, The Chinook Jargon (vocab.), does not give the word; he
translates skookum, lit. 'strong', as 'demon, ghost'. Perhaps both sndenur and
skookum were applied to any spectre, spook, or apparition, their meaning having
been confused with the phenomena to which they were applied adjectivally.

1

499. H. J. Spinden, 'The Nez Perce Indians', Mem. Amer. Anth. Ass. ii, part 3,
pp. 250-1.

i

, 500. H. J. Spinden, 'The Nez Perce Indians', Mem. Amer. Anth. Ass. ii, part 3,
.pp. 248-9 (for guardian spirits and songs), 252-3 (for ghosts), 256 (for weather
control).

H. J. Spinden, op. cit., p. 258, says : 'Their conception of the world was animistic.'
He does not quote the native word which he translates 'spirits'. It may have been
tiwat, for, according to E. Curtis, The North American Indian, viii. 161, 194, the
1 terms for 'medicine-man', 'medicine-woman', and witchcraft were tiwat, tiwatayat,
and tiwatitmas respectively. (Mr. Curtis uses 'medicine-man' as a general term for
magicians.) Mr. Curtis and Professor Spinden say that tiwatitmas came from the
fSun, moon, fish-hawk, pelican, &c. I conjecture that these phenomena were magically
[powerful because they were tiwat. Cp. a similar report in reference to the Black-
feet (n. 510).

The sun is reported to have been regarded as 'the seat of wisdom' (H.J. Spinden,
op. cit., p. 259). This may be another way of saying that the sun was tiwat.
Professor Spinden does not quote the native word.

57o NOTES AND REFERENCES §501

501. A. G. Morice, 'The Western Denes', Trans. Can. Inst., 3rd series, vii
(1888-9), pp. 126, 157, 161; idem, 'The Great Dene Race', Anthropos, v (1910),

P Various words, borrowed from other dialects, are applied to this 'guardian
spirit' or 'tutelary genius', nagwal (nagual) and manitou being the most common.
The latter was Algonquian; the former belonged to some Central American
peoples who are not included in this treatise. We know very little about them.

In 'The Canadian Denes', Ann. Arch. Rep., 1905, pp. 203-4, a later publication
which shows signs of an extensive study of comparative anthropology, Father
Morice speaks of a 'Supreme Being'; but the passage contradicts his early pro-
nouncements. He does not quote the word which in the above-cited essays he
translates 'spirits' and it is impossible to tell what native words are represented by
the various English terms which he employs. It is easy to speak of 'gentile, honorific
and personal totems', but such declarations have no single precise meaning unless
the evidence is quoted on which their application to the Dene is based.

The danger of these translations cannot be over-emphasized.

502. A. G. Morice, 'The Western Denes', Trans. Can. Inst., 3rd series, vii
(1888-9), pp. 144, 157-8; idem, 'The Canadian Dene', Ann. Arch. Rep., 1905,
pp. 207-10. The latter report is of a very general character.

503. See S. Hearne, A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort to the Northern Ocean,
pp. 103-5, 126-8, 285 ; A. G. Morice, 'The Great Dene Race', Anthropos, ii (1907),

PP- 32-3. , r , .

The Dene are said to have wrestled and fought for their women in a manner

which would delight popular writers on the 'cave-man'.

In 'The Great Dene Race', Anthropos, v (1910), pp. 981-8, Father Morice seems
to confuse a temporary sexual partner and a wife. Some sections of the tribe are
said to have taken great care of their children ; but no regulations that imposed
a compulsory continence existed.

I do not know whether or not the report of cannibalism by A. G. Morice, 'The
Great Dene Race', Anthropos, ii (1907), P- J92, can be accepted literally. The
danger which is inherent in any translation of classincatory terms of relationship
is great, because the parents, wives, and children may not have been kindred in
the sense which we understand by those terms.

504. P. Jones, History of the Ojibway Indians, p. 78; W. H. Keating, Narrative
of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River, ii. 166.

505. P. Jones, History of the Ojibway Indians, p. 99", W. H. Keating, Narrative
of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter s River, ii. 155 .

Jones says that the grave was three feet deep; according to Keating, its depth
was six to eight feet.

Jones does not mention the burial of notable men.

506. P. Jones, History of the Ojibway Indians, pp. 83-8.

When Peter Jones, who was a missionary, says that the Ojibway believed in
a 'Benevolent and Merciful Spirit', keche-munedoo , and 'in the existence of an evil
spirit, mahje-munedoo', I suspect that the statements were made as a result of answers
to direct questions, those answers being given to please the inquirer. See my
remarks in para. 4. These 'beliefs' are mentioned only once.

For W. J. Hoffman's account of Ojibwa 'beliefs', see n. 507.

507. P. Jones, History of the Ojibway Indians, pp. 64 f., 84, 88.

For the details of the causes and treatment of disease, see P. Jones, op. at.,
pp. 145-6; W. H. Keating, Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peters
River, ii. 158-9. The efficacy of the remedy lay in the spells and songs possessed

§508 NOTES AND REFERENCES 571

by the magician. Some examples are quoted in Narrative of Captivity and Adven-
tures of John Tanner, ed. E. James, p. 376. Witchcraft, and the magical introduction
of some intrusive alien element into the body of the sufferer, are said to have
been hypothesized as the causes of an unaccountable disease.

For a full and learned description of the society of the Mide, see W. J. Hoffman,
'The Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibway', yth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
1885-6, pp. 149 ff.

In this essay Mr. Hoffman employs an anglicized plural, manidos, to denote
what Jones calls munedoo: 'The Ojibway believe in a multiplicity of spirits, or
manidos, which inhabit all space and every conspicuous object in nature' (op. cit.,
p. 163). Mr. Hoffman mentions three compounds of manido: kitshi-manido ,
dzhe-manido, and dzhibai-manido . The first compound is reported also by Jones
(kechemunedoo). See n. 506. By 'priest' Mr. Hoffman means mide, but usually he
translates mide as 'shaman'. He translates manido as 'spirit', 'personal mystery',
'guardian spirit', 'tutelary daimon', &c. This looseness in translation greatly
detracts from the value of Mr. Hoffman's work.

508. Clark Wissler, 'Social Organization and Ritualistic Ceremonies of the
Blackfoot Indians', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, vii (1912), pp. 8-9.

Elopement was common ; the sexual intercourse which resulted was not a matter
of concern. Although the girl's parents might object to the lad she had chosen,
their anger seems to have been easily mollified. See G. B. Grinnell, Blackfoot
Lodge Tales, p. 205; W. McClintock, The Old North Trail, pp. 184-91 ; idem, Old
\ Indian Trails, pp. 80-4.

McClintock lays great stress on the 'sanctity of marriage', but his statements
1 must be received with caution, and the following facts borne in mind :

(1) McClintock uses the word 'chastity' in reference to post-nuptial conduct;
in his opinion a woman was 'chaste' if she was a constant wife. We are told that
before a woman could perform the Sun-Dance, she was compelled to take an oath,
swearing that she was 'virtuous'. From the various contexts I judge that a 'virtuous'

I woman was a married woman who had not committed adultery. But McClintock's
use of the words 'chastity', 'virtuous', &c, is neither uniform nor exact, and no
l definite conclusion can be drawn from his statements.

(2) McClintock was anxious to present the Blackfoot character in the best
possible light; thus it is natural that he should not have reported, even if he were

I acquainted with them, those native customs which might offend his readers. T
have come to live among you', he said to his Blackfoot friends, 'that I might learn

I the truth about you and then tell the truth to the white people. The hearts of many
of the white men feel warm towards their red brothers, and when they know the

\ truth about you they may act more wisely' (W. McClintock, The Old North Trail,
p. 508).

For 'chastity' in connexion with the Sun-Dance, see W. McClintock, Old
Indian Trails, pp. 82, 246, 307.

When Professor Wissler (I.e.) refers to 'formal virginity tests' among the Sioux,
I do not know to what he refers or what meaning he attaches to the words 'virginity'
\ and 'test'. All these writers speak in exceedingly vague terms when they discuss
sexual matters.

For the divisions of the Blackfoot tribe, see G. B. Grinnell, op. cit., pp. 208-9;
G. Catlin, Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the N.A.I, i. 52;
Handbook of the American Indians, s.v. siksika.

509. See Clark Wissler, 'Social Organization and Ritualistic Ceremonies of
the Blackfoot Indians', Anth. Pap., A ?ner. Mus. Nat. Hist, vii (191 2), pp. 31 (for
burial places, the information being less exactly stated on p. 287), 79 (for ghostly
tampering with speech and face), 288 (for fear of the dead).

572 NOTES AND REFERENCES §510

Their methods of burial (platforms in trees, platforms in lodges, and on the
ground in lodges) are reported by G. B. Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales, p. 193,
who says that a 'great chief or 'noted warrior' was treated more carefully.

W. McClintock, The Old North Trail, p. 149, states that the dead were placed
on scaffolds in trees, on a high hill, or laid in a lodge pitched in a thicket. He does
not say how the question (as to which form of burial should be adopted) was
decided. In his Old Indian Trails, pp. 155, 166, McClintock mentions an aged
medicine-woman who was buried in a tree and a famous man who was buried on
a hill ; so it may be that magicians were buried more carefully than ordinary men
and women. The manner of McClintock's story implies that the living had a
greater fear of the powerful dead than of the ordinary dead.

According to G. B. Grinnell, op. cit., pp. 273-4, the ghosts of enemies killed in
battle shot invisible arrows into people, thus causing sickness and death. Such
ghosts are also said to have caused insanity and paralysis. I can find no record of
the manner in which such sickness was treated. The statements seem to be such
as might result from direct questioning. The native words are not quoted. One
man is reported to have conversed happily with the ghost of his wife. There was
no tendance of the dead.

510. For 'bundles', see Clark Wissler, 'Social Organization and Ritualistic
Ceremonies of the Blackfoot Indians', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, vii

(1912), pp. 71-2, 107. .

Professor Wissler says that it was necessary for a man who treated sickness to
have gained his power through dreams and visions following on fasting, and in
no other manner: 'A medicine-man may have owned all the rituals and stand
pre-eminent in ceremonial skill and yet not be a doctor.'

Fasting as a means of securing help from 'supernatural beings' is mentioned also
by E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, vi. 15 ff. Mr. Curtis does not quote
the native word which he translates 'supernatural being'. The treatment of sickness
by songs is illustrated by W. McClintock, Old Indian Trails, pp. 261-72, who
describes the 'Weather-Makers' in op. cit., pp. 310-1 1.

In Old North Trails, pp. 167-77, W. McClintock says that:

(1) the sun, certain animals, and 'supernatural beings' were the source of magic
power (cp. a similar report in reference to the Klallam, n. 500);

(2) the 'Great Spirit' ('Great Mystery', 'Good Power') was 'everywhere and in
everything' (the native term is not quoted) ;

(3) 'sun-worship' was the 'very centre' of Blackfoot religion.

All these statements appear to be false inferences, the truth being that the sun
was natosio, i.e. 'unusual', or 'beyond comprehension', so the natosio-quality was
manifest in the sun, as well as in anything else which was unusual or beyond
comprehension. The evidence is as follows :

E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, vi. 64-5, 172, reports that (a) a medicine-
man was natosio; (b) the sun was 'invoked' as Natosio (note the capital N) ; (c) the
word natosio was applied 'as an adjective to all sacred or supposedly supernatural
creatures or objects'; (d) the ordinary word for sun was kyesum, the moon being
koko-kyesum, 'night-sun'. In pagan times, Mr. Curtis thinks, kyesum was the only
word which meant 'sun', but the continued application of natosio, 'supernatural', to
the sun (would not 'supernormal' be a preferable term?) caused the natives to
speak of the sun as Natosio.

Natosio was of the Piegan dialect ; the remainder of the Blackfoot tribe used the
word natoye. G. B. Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales, pp. 101, 258, says that natoye
was applied to certain animals: 'This word', he adds, 'may be translated "of the
sun", "having sun-power", or more properly "something sacred".'

Thus (1) if the word which McClintock renders 'Great Spirit', &c, be natosio

§5n NOTES AND REFERENCES 573

(natoye), its ubiquity is a false inference from the fact that the word was applied
adjectivally to supernormal phenomena; (2) the sun was not worshipped qua
sun, but because it was natosio (natoye).

We find that the report of 'sun-worship' among the Crows (para. 1 19) is founded
on the same error, i.e. upon a confusion between the meaning of a word and the
phenomena to which it was applied. Indeed, all reports of sun-worship among
uncivilized societies must be examined with great care before they can be accepted.

The confusion between natosio and the phenomena to which it was applied is
illustrated by this story: When J. W. Schultz was about to marry his charming
Nat-ah-Ki, he said to her, in reference to a Minister of the Methodist Episcopal
Church: 'He out there is a sacred (more correctly sun) white man. I have asked
him to sacredly marry us.' See J. W. Schultz, My Life as an Indian, p. 225.

G. Catlin, Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the N.A.I.
i. 36, tells us that he was a 'medicine-man' of the highest order among the Black-
feet. It is probable that the natives applied to him the word natosio (natoye) because
his painting was a strange, unaccountable thing, and thus the greatest of 'medicine'.

There appears to have been a similar confusion between the adjectival meaning
of the word natosio (natoye) and the Old Man, a mythological trickster to whom
it was applied. Thus the Old Man has been called a 'god', and we are told that he
was 'worshipped'; but no rites were conducted in his honour. For the Old Man
as a 'deity', see Handbook of the American Indians, s.v. siksika.

With these comments, cp. my remarks in reference to the reports on the
Arapaho, n. 514.

For ninampskan, see G. B. Grinnell, op. cit., p. 271.

511. According to J. Mooney, 'The Ghost Dance Religion', 14th Ann. Rep.
Bur. Amer. Eth., 1892-3, p. 953) the doctrines of the Indian messiah religion
which has been given that name were contained for the most part in songs: 'First
in importance, for number, richness of references, beauty of sentiment, and rhythm
of language, are the songs of the Arapaho.' Among the Arapaho the Ghost-Dance
was stamped out quickly, being replaced by the Sun-Dance. See A. L. Kroeber,
'The Arapaho', Bull. 18, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., pp. 279 ff., 319; E. S. Curtis, The
North American Indian, vi. 144.

The Sun-Dance of the Arapaho is the subject of an extremely able paper by
G. A. Dorsey, Field Columbean Museum, Anth. Ser. iv (1903), pp. 1-228, who states
(op. cit., p. 9) that the main object of the ceremony was the prevention of sickness.

J. Mooney, op. cit., p. 954, says that the Arapaho were one of the westernmost
of the Algonquian stock, and were associated so closely with the Cheyenne that
'they have no recollection of the time when they were not allies'. On the other
hand, E. S. Curtis, op. cit., pp. 137, 139-40, calls them the most southerly of the
Algonquian people and considers that they were not closely related to the Cheyenne
'except by association and customs'. I can do no more than record these conflict-
ing reports. Perhaps their apparent contrariness is due to the use of such vague
words as 'allies' and 'related'. '

Mr. Mooney gives a list of the names by which the Arapaho were known. He
states also that the Gros Ventres (i.e. Hidatsa, for whom see para. 119) were a sub-
tribe of the Arapaho.

512. A. L. Kroeber, 'The Arapaho', Bull. 18, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., pp. 13-15 ;
E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, vi. 149.

If I have read aright the speeches reported by A. L. Kroeber, op. cit., pp. 315-16,
marriage was usually matrilocal.

513. A. L. Kroeber, 'The Arapaho', Bull. 18, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., pp. 17,
317; E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, vi. 150.

574 NOTES AND REFERENCES §514

514. See A. L. Kroeber, 'The Arapaho', Bull. 18, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., pp. 15
(for baataana), 418-19 (for fasting), 435-6, 450 (for treatment, and purchase and
inheritance of 'power' or 'medicine'); E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian,
vi. 142 (for fasting), 143 (for 'bags'), 160 (for medicine-men).

The poverty of our knowledge concerning the native terms which the Arapaho
employed is illustrated by the fact that in his comparative vocabulary (op. cit.,
p. 172) Mr. Curtis omits the word which corresponds to the Blackfoot natosio
(natoye), for which see n. 510. In that note I pointed out the confusion which has
arisen between 'supernatural power' and the place of its manifestation. E. S. Curtis,
op. cit., p. 144, says that 'the same tendency to confuse the mythological trickster
with the supernatural power was exhibited among the Arapaho'. The 'mythological
trickster' among the Blackfeet was Napi, 'Old Man', to whom they applied the term
natosio; the corresponding figure in Arapaho folk-lore was niatha, spider. Cp. the
Siouan iktomi, spider, and the Coyote of the Rocky Mountain tribes. The words
applied to this 'wonder-working hero' were applied also to the 'miraculous white
man'.

The Arapaho term for 'supernatural power' (unless it was baataana) is missing.
Whatever term it was, it is translated 'spirit' by G. A. Dorsey, 'The Arapaho Sun
Dance', Field Columbean Museum, Anth. Ser. iv (1903), p. 106.

Mr. Dorsey says that the word was applied to Grandfather, Light of the Earth,
Old Woman Night, Four Old Men, and Morning Star. E. S. Curtis, op. cit.,
p. 144, reports that 'the principal spirits were Father, Four Old Men, the Sun,
and the Earth'. Probably Mr. Curtis 's 'Father' is Mr. Dorsey 's 'Grandfather'.
According to Mr. Curtis, 'Father' represented 'the same conception as the Great
Mystery of the Sioux'. 'The Four Old Men', he adds, 'are the four quarters of the
semi-cardinal points.'

Thus (1) there was a word {baataana}) in the Arapaho language which was
applied to (a) the miraculous figures in their folk-tales, (b) to the sun, earth, and
cardinal points;

(2) the word corresponded to the Siouan wakan (para. 117, and esp. n. 520) ;

(3) the meaning of this word seems to have been confused with the phenomena
to which it was applied.

515. For these dates and data, see H. Hale, The Iroquois Book of Rites, p. 9;
H. R. Schoolcraft, Notes on the Iroquois, p. 185; L. H. Morgan, League of the
Iroquois, pp. 226 ff.

516. The best summary is to be found in L. H. Morgan, League of the Iroquois,
pp. 156-61, 170, 178, 183.

Morgan calls Hawenneyo 'Great Spirit'. Literally, he says, the word meant
simply 'a ruler'. According to F. Parkman, The Jesuits in North America, p. lxxviii
and n. 1, the translation of the word as 'God' was due to the Jesuits.

For a totally different version of the alleged 'Great Spirit' conception, see H. R.
Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, i. 316-17.

517. See H. R. Schoolcraft, Notes on the Iroquois, p. 87 (for witchcraft); L. H.
Morgan, The League of the Iroquois, pp. 164, 330 (for witchcraft), 172-3, 175 (for
burial).

Morgan says that a magician was possessed by a 'spirit', but he does not quote
the native word.

518. See J. N. B. Hewitt, 'Orenda and a Definition of Religion', Amer. Anth.
N.s. iv (1902), pp. 33-46, esp. pp. 33, 36-8.

Mr. Hewitt has published another essay ('Iroquoian Cosmology', 21st Ann. Rep.
Bur. Eth., 1899-1900, pp. 127-339) in which he speaks of 'primitive man', 'animate
spirits', &c. I do not know if orenda is the word which he translates 'spirits'. 'The

§519 NOTES AND REFERENCES 575

significance', he says (op. cit., p. 135), 'of the Iroquois term usually rendered
"god" is "disposer" or "controller".' It is possible that he also has confused
a mythological trickster with a 'god'. This mistake is common in the literature on
the American Indians; see, e.g., nn. 510 and 514. Mr. Hewitt would have been
more helpful if he had quoted the native terms which he was translating. The
Iroquoian word for 'malefic magic power' was otgon orenda (ibid., pp. 224, 339).

The comparison between zvakan and orenda cannot be accepted while the diffi-
culty stated in the text remains unsolved. If the terms are comparable, Mr. Hewitt's
description of orenda is inaccurate; if his description of orenda is accurate, and not
due to the intrusion of the white man's theories, the two conceptions were different.

The failure to recognize the difference between the reported meanings of the
two words vitiates the interpretations placed upon them by Marett, Durkeim,
Hubert and Mauss, and others, for whose submissions see n. 520.

E. S. Hartland also {Ritual and Belief , p. 90) has made certain submissions which
are founded upon the legitimacy of the comparison.

519. L. H. Morgan, The League of the Iroquois, pp. 320-3, 331.

The 'notoriously dissolute' character of the Hurons, and their practice of tem-
porary or experimental marriages, are mentioned by F. Parkman, The Jesuits in
North America, p. xxxiv.

The literature in reference to the pre-nuptial sexual conduct of the Iroquois
has been discussed by R. Briffault, The Mothers, ii. 32-4.

520. See W. J. McGee, 'The Siouan Indians', 15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
1893-4, PP. 182-3; S. R. Riggs, 'Dakota-English Grammar and Dictionary',

f Smith. Contrib.Knowl. iv, ss.vv. wakan, wakanda; idem, 'Dakota-English Diction-
ary', Contrib. N. Amer. Eth. vii, ss.vv. wakan, wakanda. W. J. Cleveland's note is
included only in the latter work.

For wakanda as 'Great Spirit', see, e.g., J. Carver, Travels through the Interior of

\ North America, p. 379; W. H. Keating, Narrative of an Expedition to the Source
of St. Peter's River, i. 407-9.

Keating was an accurate observer: for instance, he noticed that 'one spirit
resides in the sun, another in the moon'. The fact which did not occur to him was
that he was reading a white man's 'spiritual concept' (to employ Mr. McGee's
phrase) into the red man's thoughts. On the whole, however, Keating is a reliable
authority. Moreover, he realized that his information was not infallible. He says
that he received most of it from a man called Renville, and himself warns us that
'all the information which he (i.e. Renville) has given us cannot be depended on'.

For a long discussion of the 'Great Spirit' with reference to some very inaccessible
literature, see J. O. Dorsey, 'A Study of Siouan Cults', nth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer.
Eth., 1889-90, pp. 431-3. The opinion that there is 'no propriety in speaking of
wakanda as "great spirit" ' has been expressed also by A. C. Fletcher and F. La
Flesche, 'The Omaha Tribe', 2jth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1905-6, p. 597.
For the Omaha, see para. 118.

The Dakotan wakan has played a notable part in the submissions of R. R.
Marett, The Threshold of Religion, passim', E. Durkeim, The Elementary Forms
of the Religious Life, trans. J. W. Swain, p. 192; Messrs. Hubert and Mauss in
UAnnee sociologique , vii (1902-3). This literature is vitiated by the fact that
certain native words of a totally different character are compared with one another.
The confusions seem to have arisen from the fact that the English words 'magic
power' have been used to translate each of those native terms; then it has been
assumed that the words had an identical native meaning. A study of the native
usage shows that this assumption is unjustified.

The Dakotans were first visited by the Jesuits in 1640 (McGee) or 1660 (Keating).
See W. J. McGee, op. cit., p. 189; W. H. Keating, op. cit. i. 407. Another name of

576 NOTES AND REFERENCES §521

the tribe was Naudowessies. Carver uses it. For a full list of the names by which
the group was known, see Handbook of the American Indians, s.v.

521. For methods of burial, see Philander Prescott in H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian
Tribes, iv. 65-6, 70; J. O. Dorsey, 'A Study of Siouan Cults', nth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Amer. Eth., 1889-90, p. 485.

According to the Rev. S. R. Riggs, 'Mythology of the Dakotas', American
Antiquarian, v (1883), p. 149, 'they also pray to the spirits of their deceased
relatives'. He does not quote the evidence on which the opinion was based, and
describes no rites in honour of the dead. He obtained his information, he says,
'directly from the Dacota themselves, partly by direct inquiry of those most capable
of giving the information sought'. Thus the statement, essentially meaningless,
may be based on hearsay.

J. O. Dorsey, op. cit., p. 493, quotes a passage from Smet's Western Missions
and Missionaries, p. 243, in reference to the treatment of ancestors. The food
which here is reported as having been placed on the scaffolds by some members of
the Assiniboin tribe was not tendance, for the attention was not post-funeral. The
members of many zoistic societies placed food in a grave when they buried their dead.

The Assiniboin were a sub-tribe of the Dakota ; they broke away from the main
body of the tribe. According to W. H. Keating, Narrative of an Expedition to the
Source of St. Peter's River, i. 404, the Dakota called them Hoha, 'the Revolted'.

522. For the Sun-Dance and the occasions of its performance, see J. O. Dorsey,
'A Study of Siouan Cults', nth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1889-90, pp. 451 rT.

For the cause and treatment of sickness, see J. Carver, Travels through the Interior
Parts of North America, pp. 384-5, 395 ; W. H. Keating, Narrative of an Expedition
to the Source of St. Peter's River, i. 434-5 ; J. O. Dorsey, 'A Study of Siouan Cults',
nth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1889-90, pp. 493, 499; S. Eastman, in H. R.
Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, iv. 495. The native magicians are called prophets,
medicine-men, jugglers, conjurors, &c.

P. Prescott, in H. R. Schoolcraft, op. cit. iii. 229, reports an interesting custom
which seems to place the practices of these Indians on the same plane as, e.g., the
zoistic Melanesians. 'The Indian', he says, 'will pick up a round stone and paint it,
and go a few rods from his lodge and clear away the grass, and there place his stone,
or god, as he would term it, and make an offering of some tobacco and some feathers
and pray to the stone to deliver him from some danger that he has probably
dreamt of.' The word 'god' is a translation of wakan; possibly a wakan-stone was
a stone of unusual character or shape. Cp. the haze-stones of the Loyalty Islanders
(para. 30), the uhngen-stones of the Tannese (para. 31), the rot-stones of the Banks
Islanders (para. 72), the magic stones of the Koita (n. 331), and the 'medicine-
rocks' of the Crow Indians (para. 119).

Certain articles, which are called 'guardian-spirits' or 'mystery rocks' by J. 0.
Dorsey, op. cit., p. 446, may be compared to the Arapaho 'bags' and the Blackfoot
'bundles', for which see paras. 114 and 115,

When P. Prescott, in H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, iii. 227, says that 'the
worship of the sun is caused by some one having dreamed of the sun', he is reporting
what other observers would have expressed by saying that the sun was a 'god' or
a 'guardian spirit'. It is clear from the statements of Mr. McGee (n. 520) that
the attention to the sun was due to the fact that the sun was wakan. Cp. the meaning
of the Blackfoot natosio (natoye) (n. 510), the Arapaho baataana (n. 514), and the

Crow maxpe (para. 119).

Similarly, it is probable that the 'mystery tree' for the Sun-Dance was a tree in
which wakan was manifest, i.e. an 'unusual' tree. Cp. the Ojibwa method of
selecting a manido-tree for certain rites (para. 113). Cp. also the presence of the
power in the universe in fig-trees (para. 86, nn. 356, 362, 403, 437).

§523 NOTES AND REFERENCES 577

For wakan ('gods') in trees 'on the highest eminences', see also S. Eastman in
H. R. Schoolcraft, op. cit. iii. 486.

523. S. R. Riggs, 'Dakotan Grammar, Texts and Ethnography', Contrib. N.
Amer. Eth. ix. 205 ; J. Carver, Travels through the Interior Parts of North America
PP- 375-8.

There is a strange report by S. Eastman in H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes,
m. 238 ; it is not only worthy of notice for the facts which it records ; it is also fairly
representative of a certain type of anthropological literature :

'Courtships can be carried on at almost any time, owing to their being huddled
together and all the time meeting each other about the lodges. Some we may say
make their visits regularly at the lodge; others do not; and some may not visit the
lodge at all, or even have spoken to the woman, and the first thing she knows she
is bought.'

It seems possible that some parts of this paragraph have been deleted by a careful
editor. Perhaps we may understand that if they were so inclined the young men
visited the girls in their lodges but that it was unusual for a girl to marry her lover
marriages being arranged by their elders between two young people who may not
have been acquainted with one another. I doubt if 'bought' can be literally
understood. There may have been a mere exchange of gifts.

524. J. O. Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology', 3rd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1881-2
pp. 260 (for pre-nuptial licence), 365 (for parental care); A. C. Fletcher and
F. La Flesche, 'The Omaha Tribe', 27th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1905-6
pp. 324-5-

In op. cit., p. 323, Fletcher and La Flesche state that 'tribal custom favoured
chastity', but from subsequent passages I judge that the Omaha did not object to
pre-nuptial sexual intercourse ; they merely disapproved of a girl changing her
lover constantly.

For some comments on the value of reports concerning sexual behaviour (as
distinct from sexual regulation), see para. 15.

525. For burial, see A. C. Fletcher and F. La Flesche, 'The Omaha Tribe'
27th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1905-6, pp. 591-2.

No post-funeral rites were conducted in honour of the dead. Concerning ghosts
some 'beliefs' are reported which appear to be individual opinions expressed in
answer to direct questions; e.g. some people thought that ghosts (the native term
is not quoted) tampered with food, but a man could thwart them by placing a knife
across the plate ; a ghost might follow a man who travelled by night, but if the
traveller jumped a stream, he was safe, for this was a feat which no ghost could
perform. Such reports as these have no scientific value.

For the causes and treatment of sickness, see A. C. Fletcher and F. La Flesche,
p. cit., pp. 582-4, 602; J. O. Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology', 3rd Ann. Rep. Bur.
"mer. Eth., 188 1-2, p. 364.

Fletcher and La Flesche attach an unusual meaning to the word 'witchcraft' ;
cp. the following passages :

(1) 'Although witches and witchcraft did not exist among the Omaha, disease
was sometimes supposed to have its origin in the magical introduction into
the human body of a worm or other object.'

(2) 'Witchcraft such as is said to have existed in other tribes was not found
among the Omaha. There was general fear and dread of magic, but no
one who practised it was persecuted or punished for the acts; he might be
avoided, but he would remain unmolested.'

According to this account, anti-social magic may be termed 'witchcraft' only
vhen the practitioners are 'persecuted or punished'. It is a strange use of a simple

pp

578 NOTES AND REFERENCES §526

word. Most writers apply the term to the magic which is feared and dreaded,
whether the practitioner be persecuted or not. It is clear that such 'witchcraft'
existed among the Omaha.

J. O. Dorsey states that when a man who had been bewitched died, the wizard
who was responsible for his condition could be killed without trial.

526. For the application of wakonda (is this the substantival or the adjectival
form?) to mysterious and inexplicable phenomena, see A. C. Fletcher and F. La
Flesche, 'The Omaha Tribe', 27th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1905-6, p. 599-

From this use of the word Fletcher and La Flesche infer that wakonda denoted
the 'idea of permeating life': e.g. 'Wakonda stands for the mysterious life power
permeating all natural forms and forces and all forms of man's conscious life'.
See A. C. Fletcher, 'A Study of the Omaha Tribe: the Import of the Totem',
Smith. Rep., 1887, pp. 577"86.

The inference is unjustified. 'Permeating life' is a conception which has been
formulated only by some members of some civilized societies. That wakonda was
a conception of the usual kind is clear from the fact that the female menses, among
other inexplicable things, was one of the phenomena to which it was applied. See
J. O. Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology', 3rd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1881-2, p. 266 f.

As for the alleged personification of wakonda, it seems possible that there was no
word in the Omaha language which corresponds to our word 'it', and that if the
neuter gender was not used, the use of 'he' or 'she' in those contexts in which
we use 'it' may have resulted in wakonda being reported as 'personified'. Cp.
para 148.

For magical fraternities, see A. C. Fletcher and F. La Flesche, op. cit., p. 133;

J. O. Dorsey, op. cit., p. 349.

For fasting as a means of securing 'supernatural' power, see A. C Metcner and
F. La Flesche, op. cit., pp. 129-31 ; J. O. Dorsey, op. cit., pp. 266-7.

527. For sexual conduct, see R. H. Lowie, 'Social Life of the Crow Indians',
Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, ix (1912), pp. 215, 220-4; idem, 'Notes on the
Social Organization and Customs of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow Indians',
Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, xxi (1917), P- 80; E. S. Curtis, The North
American Indians, iv. 31, 32, 35 5 G. F. Will and H. J. Spinden, 'The Mandans',
Peabody Museum Amer. Arch. Eth. Papers, iii (1906), p. 131 f-5 Washington
Matthews, Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, pp. 52-3; J- °-
Dorsey, 'A Study in Siouan Cults', nth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1889-90,
p. 505.

For the similarity of the customs of the three tribes, see Handbook of American
Indians, ss.w.; J. O. Dorsey, 'Siouan Sociology', 15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
1893-4, pp. 241-3. Mr. Dorsey quotes freely from the older writers such as James
and Maximilian.

The 'modesty' of the women is reported by G. Catlin, Illustrations of the Manners,
Customs and Condition of the N.A.I, i. 121. Cp. my comments in para. 15 and

n- 524. . ,

For female descent, see R. H. Lowie, 'Notes on the Social Organization and

Customs of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Crow Indians', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist, xxi (1917), p. 9 ; but according to G. F. Will and H.J. Spinden, op. cit., p. 131,
'descent was probably in the male line' among the Mandans.

Another name for the Crow Indians was Aparoke ; sometimes the Hidatsa are
known as Minnetarees and Gros Ventres.

528. For absence of tendance, see R. H. Lowie, Primitive Religion, p. 23;
E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, v. 18.

For the method of disposal of the dead, see G. F. Will and H. J. Spinden, 'The

§ 529 NOTES AND REFERENCES 579

Mandans', Peabody Museum Amer. Arch. Eth. Papers, iii (I9o6), pp. I45-6-
Washington Matthews, Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, p. 9. '

G. Cathn, Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Condition of the N A I
1 90 reports a peculiar post-funeral rite which was earried out by the Mandans'
Cathn s account raises more questions than it answers, and I doubt if his knowledge
of the custom was exhaustive. The skulls of the dead, we are told, used to be arranged
m circles on the praine; specially prepared food was placed before a skull at "ght
the woman who had tended her relative returning for the dish in the mornfng
The following questions arise: morning.

(1) Were the skulls of all dead persons treated in this manner, or were the skulls
k made? ^ ^ ? * " M°n ™ ™de> hoW and * ^o~
(a) Was the rite a regular custom or did Cathn obserye gn incident?

M m , 8 A °i f°ld n" a" °f Placati°n> °r Was " insPired ^ mere affectfon i
(3) Who placed the skulls m a circle? For what reason was the circle made"
Since there .s no report of affliction being ascribed to ghosts, the rite cannot
have been do ut abeas I conjecture that the circle had been made in connexion
with some ceremony of which Catlin did not know the nature and that the woman "
action (Cathn mentions only a single instance) was a chance action on the part of
a single individual. pdU 01

/,f pSeC I0 f°rJhe 5rOWS' R- R Lowie> <Relieion of the Crow Indians'
Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, xxv (i922) p 317 maians ,

Professor Lowie criticizes Dr. Radin for saving (J.A.F.L. xxvii (1904), pp 344-

wi h solTts TfSDr 7T PerS°nS " °bjeC? " aSCribed S°le1^ t0 the — n
with spirits. If Dr. Radm were to express this alleged Crow opinion in the Crow

language, his statement would read: 'Sacredness of maxpa persons or objects is
ascribed solely to the connexion with maxpa: Does not this more accurate state-
ment alter the sense ?

E S. Curtis The North American Indian, iv. 53-4, says that maxpe meant 'that
which is above . He seems to have confused the meaning of the word with one of
the phenomena to which it was applied.

The sun was maxpe; and one man regarded the sun as his special 'medicine'
(R. H. Lowie, op. cit., p. 353). R. H. Lowie, Primitive Religion, p. 2r discussing
the application of the English phrase 'supreme being' to the sun, says - 'Even the
most trustworthy witnesses cannot agree as to whether he is identical with Old
Man Coyote, the hero of Crow folk-lore.' Is it not possible that the confusion
exists only because maxpe was applied both to the sun and to Old Man Coyote ?
Cp. n. 510. A similar confusion has arisen out of the application of the Blackfoot
adjective natosio to the Old Man, the sun, and other phenomena. See also para 120

Offerings were made to any maxpe object (e.g. the sun); see R. H. Lowie'
Religion of the Crow Indians', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, xxv (1022)'
pp. 426, 428. v y ■

(a) for the Mandans G^F. Will and H. J. Spinden, 'The Mandans', Peabody
Museum Amer. Arch. Eth. Papers, iii (1906), p. 134.

1 These scholars also appear to have confused the meaning of hopini with
jQr ?he^me"a to which k was aPPIied> for t^y identify the sun and the 'Lord of
v ^ u ldentlficatlon seems ^ be an inference from the fact that the natives

?S5 th^WOrd hopini to both Phenomena. Cp. the identification of the sun and
Uld Man Coyote in (1).

(3) for the Hidatsa, Washington Matthews, Ethnography and Philology of the
Hidatsa Indians, pp. 47-9, 149, 184. J

The word mahopa is translated as a substantive, 'medicine, charm spell' The
un is reported to have been hopa, which apparently was the adjectival form of

5g0 NOTES AND REFERENCES §53©

mahopa. But the distinction is not always maintained in the appropriate

literature. , T . < , ,

Mr Matthews does not report that the mythological hero Itakatetas, who made
all things' was confused with other phenomena to which the word hopa was
applied He says that hopa was applied to Itakatetas. Probably his statement that
the Hidatsa worshipped 'everything in nature' is an inference from the fact that
the /io/xz-quality was manifest in incomprehensible things.
(4) E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, v. 19.

530 See R H Lowie 'Religion of the Crow Indians', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist, xxv (1922), pp. 344 (for batse maxpe), 373"5 (for treatment of sickness),
344 424 (for weather control), 385, 3Qi, 418 (for medicine-rocks and bundles);
E S Curtis The North American Indian, iv. 56-7 (for magical cause and treatment
of sickness among the Crows), v. 12 (for treatment among the Mandans) ; G. Cathn,
Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Condition of N.A.I pp. 39 (for treatment
of sickness) 134-9 (for rain-makers and rain-stoppers) ; A. L. Kroeber, Ethnology
of the GrosVentres', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 1 (1908) p. 221

With the Crow medicine-rocks, cp. the Dakotan stones and similar magical

instruments (n. 522). . .

G H Pepper has described a Hidatsa shrine in 'An Indian Shrine , Univ. Pen.
Mus.Journ. iv (1913), PP- 104-6. It was decorated by a bundle, a pipe, and two
human skulls (of dead hopa-men?).

For shrines, bundles, &c, among the Mandans, see G. F. Will and H J. Spinden,
'The Mandans', Peabody Museum Amer. Arch. Eth. Papers, 111 (1906), pp. 137-8.
The Mandan visions have been described by E. S. Curtis, op. cit. v. 13, 16.

For Catlin as hopini owing to his painting, see n. 510.

531. P. Radin, 'The Winnebago Tribe', 37th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,

IQI%-l6. P. 282. , . ,-rr U

Dr. Radin's essay contains many inferences and in some places is very difficult
to understand, e.g. such phrases as 'old strata of Winnebago beliefs , the Winne-
bago pantheon', 'newer deities', &c, are not explained, and do not appear to be
justified Nor are the native terms for the latter phrases quoted.

Dr Radin has concentrated on the study of Winnebago 'beliefs and seems to
have secured his information by direct questioning; e.g. he says: What is it that
he (i e a member of the Winnebago tribe) means by wakan ? From my experience
he simply means that it is "sacred" and if pressed for a more definite answer he
would probably say that it has the power of bestowing blessing upon him in other
words, of acting like a spirit.' It is surprising that such a sentence should appear
in an essay which purports to be an authoritative description of uncivilized culture.
Does Dr. Radin suggest that we should accept as irrefragab e evidence the state-
ments of a native who has been 'pressed for an answer'? Moreover, what is this
'spirit' that the phenomenon imitates ? Does it exist apart from the animistic theory?

For a comment on direct questioning, see para. 4. For other comments on

Dr. Radin's writings, see para. 102. iwitt
I sympathize with Dr. Radin's criticism of the writings of (1) J.N. B. Hewitt,

'Orenda and a Definition of Religion', Amer. Anth. N.S. iv (1902), pp. 33"4°t.;

(2) W Jones, 'The Algonkin Manitou', J.A.F.L. xviii (1905), PP- l83"90- *or

a comment on (1), see para. 116. In (2) the ubiquity of manitou has been inferred

from the fact that manitou was manifest in 'unusual' phenomena. See para. 113.
532. For disposal of the dead, see J. E. Fletcher in H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian

Tribes iv 54-5. A fire was kindled at the grave for four nights.

For'fasiing in order to secure 'medicine', see P. Radin, 'The Winnebago Tribe ,

37th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1915-16, pp. 135-290.

§ 533 NOTES AND REFERENCES 581

For the cause and treatment of sickness, see P. Radin, op. cit., pp. 168, n. 9,
171, n. 17, 254 ff-, 313; F. Andros in H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, iii. 498.

In studying Dr. Radin's report, we must make allowance for his use of the words
'spirits' and 'deities'; see para. 102 and n. 531.

533. For cohabitation in menstrual lodges, see P. Radin, 'The Winnebago
Tribe', 37th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Arch. Eth., 1915-16, pp. 136-7.

That sexual latitude was extended to unmarried boys and girls is clear also from
P. Radin, 'The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian', Univ. Col. Publ. Amer.
Arch. Eth. xvi (1920), pp. 387-8.

534. For Natchez as a Muskhogean dialect, see J. R. Swanton, 'Ethnographical
Condition of the Natchez Indians', Amer. Anth. n.s. ix (1907), pp. 513-28.

The Choctaw were one of the largest and earliest known tribes of the Creek
Confederacy, but, as Mr. Swanton has said, 'singularly few attempts were made
to give a description of them' ('Aboriginal Culture of the South-East', 42nd Ann.
Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1924-5, p. 680). Thus I have omitted them from my list.

535. See A. F. Bandelier in Bull. Arch. Inst. Amer. i (1883), pp. 14-15, 19;
J. G. Bourke, 'Notes on the Religion of Apache', Folk-Lore, ii (1891), p. 454;
Handbook of American Indians, s.v. Oraibi.

536. Some of the ceremonies, other than Katchina, have been described by
J. W. Fewkes, 'Tusayan Snake Ceremonies', 16th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
1894-5, PP. 273-311 ; idem, 'Sun-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1918,
PP- 493-526 ; idem, 'Fire-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1920, pp. 589-
610, &c.

In the second-named paper (p. 519) Mr. Fewkes emphasizes the variety of the
practices, especially at Oraibi. This variety was represented by such ceremonies
as the Oraibi Soyal Ceremony, Oraibi Oaquol Ceremony, Oraibi Marau Ceremony,
&c. These are the subject of some learned papers by Messrs. G. A. Dorsey and
H. R. Voth in Field Columbean Museum, Anth. Ser. iii (1901-3), pp. 1-358; vi
(1903-5), PP. 1-113; xi (1912), pp. 1-88. The Oaquol and Marau were two of
the women's secret societies, the former being the largest and most recently formed.
An even greater variety is reported by H. R. Voth, in 'Drab Flute Society', and
'Blue Flute Society', Field Columbean Museum, Anth. Ser. xi (1912) pp 129 ff
135 ff-

The resistance of the Oraibi inhabitants to the intrusion of the white man is
emphasized by J. W. Fewkes, 'The Oraibi Flute Altar', J.A.F.L. viii, no. 31
(separate reprint), p. 1, who states (n. 1) that H. R. Voth 'is the only living white
man who may be said to speak the Hopi language fluently'.

The kindling of fire was an important Hopi rite. 'The Lesser New- Fire Ceremony
at Walpi' has been described by J. W. Fewkes in Amer. Anth. N.s. iii (1901)
PP- 438-53.

A great part of the appropriate literature has been devoted to a separation of the
various elements which constituted this complex ritual. Mr. Fewkes's use of the
term 'supernatural being' is confusing. He appears to use it not as a translation of
any definite Hopi term but as a rough undefined category in which he can place
the Corn-Maid, Katchinas, mythical heroes, 'mystery', &c. Moreover, when he
says ('Fire-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1920, p. 609) that 'fire-cult
and that of the sun are survivals of two forms of element worship that we can trace
back into the past and through archaeology know something of their prehistoric
character', it is clear that he is not describing Hopi culture as it was but speculations
concerning its origin. The study of the native rites is not assisted thereby.

Mr. Fewkes says that 'fire is directly concerned in the sociology and the evolution
of society among the Hopi' ; but can these 'prehistoric phases of cultural develop-

582 NOTES AND REFERENCES §537

merit', as Mr. Fewkes calls them, be the subject of scientific inquiry if it is assumed
a priori that 'the nature and cause of life early became a subject of speculation'?
The opinion would appear to be contradicted by all the available data about
uncivilized life.

537. J. W. Fewkes, 'The Group of Tusayan Ceremonies called Katchinas',
15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1893-4, p. 253. It will be noticed that in this
passage the word katchina is applied to the ceremony ; in other passages it is trans-
lated 'god', 'ancestor', 'supernatural being', &c.

For some of Mr. Fewkes's later publications, see n. 536.

538. For the katchina ceremonies, see J. W. Fewkes, 'Hopi Katchinas',
21st Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., i8gg-igooy pp. 13-126; idem, 'Sun-worship of
the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1918, p. 513 ; idem, 'The Katchina Altars in Hopi
Worship', Smith. Rep., 1926, p. 485 ; idem, 'Ancestor-worship of the Hopi Indians',
Smith. Rep., 1921, pp. 486, 492. The ceremonies varied from year to year; their
significance, Mr. Fewkes remarks, is 'difficult to explain'.

In the last-named paper Mr. Fewkes equates the Hopi katchina with the Zuni
koko.

539. J. W. Fewkes, 'Ancestor-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1921,
pp. 485-6.

540. Ibid., p. 498.

541. J. W. Fewkes, 'The Katchina Altars of Hopi Worship', Smith. Rep., 1926,
p. 469; idem, 'Sun-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1918, p. 524.

542. H. R. Voth, 'Hopi Mortuary Customs', Field Columbean Museum, Anth.
Ser. xi (1912), pp. 99-100, 103; E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, xii.
39-40; J. W. Fewkes, 'Ancestor-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1918,
p. 486.

The dead were placed also in rock crevices, dead children being buried in this
manner.

The Hopi thought the soul of a dead child went back to the mother's house
before being reincarnated in her next baby; until another babe was born, the soul
hovered about: 'WThen an unusual noise is heard in the house, for instance a crack-
ling in the roof, they think the little soul is moving about, and the mother often
secretly deposits a pinch of food on the floor in some parts of the house for her
departed child' (H. R. Voth, I.e.). I do not think that this action, apparently
spasmodic and impulsive, can be called tendance.

543. J. W. Fewkes, 'Sun-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smith. Rep., 1918,
PP- 493 > 496> 5*7 5 idem, 'The Use of Idols in Hopi Worship', Smith. Rep., 1922,
p. 380.

544. For the causes and treatment of sickness, see E. S. Curtis, The North
American Indian, xii. 52-3, 55; for priests, see T. Donaldson, The Moqui Pueblo
Indians of Arizona, p. 17.

There was nothing very remarkable about the Hopi 'altars', but they were
picturesque. The native term for 'altar' seems to have been pahori, a 'prayer-stick'
being pahos. The latter may be an anglicized plural. The sacred badge of a priest
was called tipsni.

I have culled these Hopi words from various sources: see J. W. Fewkes, 'The
Use of Idols in Hopi Worship', Smith. Rep., 1922, p. 378: idem, 'The Katchina
Altars in Hopi Worship', Smith. Rep., 1926, P- 4^91 idem, 'Tusayan Snake Cere-
monies', 16th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1899-1900, p. 277.

§545 NOTES AND REFERENCES 583

It is impossible to tell what native words are represented by the English words
'fetishes', 'idols', 'wonder objects', &c. As written, the reports can hardly be
intelligently understood.

545. H. R. Voth, 'Oraibi Marriage Customs', Amer. Anth. N.S. ii (1900),
pp. 238-9; T. Donaldson, The Moqui Pueblo Indians of Arizona, p. 27; E. S.
Curtis, The North American Indian, pp. 37-9.

According to Mr. Curtis, parents used to arrange marriages.
Unmarried girls wore their hair in two large whorls above their ears ; there does
not seem to have been any connexion between these whorls and virginity.

For sexual opportunity, see also the remarks on communal houses in para. 122.

546. A. L. Kroeber, 'Zuni Kith and Clan', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist,
xviii (1917), PP- 91-2; M. C. Stevenson, 'The Zuni Indians', 23rd Ann. Rep. Bur.
Amer. Eth., 1901-2, pp. 291, 303; E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, xvii.
107-8.

547. M. C. Stevenson, 'The Zuni Indians', 23rd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
igoi-2, pp. 307-8; E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, xvii. no.

548. The following references are to publications cited in n. 547:

for witchcraft, M. C. Stevenson, op. cit., pp. 329 ff.; E. S. Curtis, op. cit.,
p. in;

for treatment, M. C. Stevenson, op. cit., p. 384 f.; E. S. Curtis, op. cit., p. 146;

for rain-making, M. C. Stevenson, op. cit., pp. 180, 305, 386.

The magicians were organized into societies according to the animal which was
their 'fetich' or 'mystery'. F. H. Cushing, 'Zuni Fetiches', 2nd Ann. Rep. Bur.
Amer. Eth., 1880-1, p. 39, states that the wearing of these 'fetiches' was 'almost as
universal as the wearing of amulets and "medicines" among other nations and
Indian tribes'.

The word ashiwanni, usually translated 'rain-priest', is translated by E. S.
Curtis (op. cit., pp. 112, 149, 194) as 'priest associated with world region' and
'chiefs', simply. Ashiwi was an alternative name for Zuni.

The beliefs about rain have been described by M. C. Stevenson, op. cit., pp. 20-1.
Mrs. Stevenson also gives a list of Zuni 'gods'. She seems to use the word 'gods'
in reference to mythological heroes, the subjects of carvings and paintings, wooden
images, &c. Mr. Curtis also mentions 'gods'; he does not quote the native word.
We hear also of 'ancestral gods' (M. C. Stevenson, op. cit., p. 62); this term also
seems to have been applied to mythological heroes.

F. H. Cushing, op. cit., pp. 9, n, says that worship of the Zuni 'while directed
to the more mysterious and remote powers of Nature, or "existences", was directed
more especially to animals'. Mr. Cushing does not quote the native term which he
translates 'existences' nor does he say how the animals were selected, or if they also
were 'existences'.

In her 'The Religious Life of a Zuni Child', 5th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
1883-4, P- 546, Mrs. Stevenson remarks: 'The Zuni are polytheists, yet while
they have a plurality of gods, many of whom are the spirits of their ancestors,
these gods are but mediums through which to reach their one great father of all —
the Sun'. The reference to the sun is repeated in 'The Zuni Indians', 23rd Ann.
Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., igoi-2, p. 22, where 'the Sun Father' is called 'the great
god above all other anthropic and zoic gods'. Mrs. Stevenson does not quote the
native term which she translates 'god' ; was it the same word as that which Mr.
Cushing translates 'existence' ? If I have read correctly a passage in F. H. Cushing,
op. cit., p. 9, the sun was merely one of the many natural phenomena which was
an 'existence'. Thus it seems that there was a word in the Zuni language which

584 NOTKS AND REFERENCES §549

was applied to 'the more mysterious powers of nature', to certain animals and to the
sun. Cp. the Blackfoot natosio (n. 510), Crow maxpe (para. 119, n. 529), &c.

The word kiwisiwe seems to have been applied both to the secret societies and
to the places where the societies met. See M. C. Stevenson, op. cit., pp. 62-7.

Some of the Zuni ceremonies have been described by E. S. Parsons, 'Notes on
Zuni', Mem. Amer. Anth. Ass. iv (1917), pp. 151-225.

549. M. C. Stevenson, 'The Sia', nth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., i88g-go,
pp. 20 (for pre-nuptial licence), 73 (for cause and treatment of sickness), 38, 73,
76-126 (for magical societies), 143, 145 (for disposal of dead).

It would be interesting to know the native term which is translated 'people' in
such phrases as 'cloud people', 'lightning people', &c. I suspect that there was
a term which was applied to certain cloud formations, lightning, &c, and that this
term represented the power which the rain ceremonies were designed to control.

550. For the close association of the two tribes, see E. S. Curtis, The North
American Indian, vol. i, pp. xix, 3 ; L. Ostermann, 'The Navajo Indians of New
Mexico and Arizona', Anthropos, iii (1908), p. 857. Mr. Ostermann cites A. F.
Bandelier's opinion that the Apache were originally nothing else but outlying bands
of Navaho.

551. G. Reichard, Social Life of the Navajo Indians, p. 140; E. S. Curtis, The
North American Indian, i. 76, 133 ; A. B. Reagan, 'Notes on the Indians of the Fort
Apache Region', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, xxxi (1930), pp. 311-12.

552. See (1) for the Apache, A. B. Reagan, 'Notes on the Indians of the Fort
Apache Region', Anth. Pap., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, xxxi (1930), pp. 315-16;
E. S. Curtis, The North America?! Indian, i. 134 ; (2) for the Navaho, R. W. Shufeldt,
'Mortuary Customs of the Navaho Indians', American Naturalist, xxv (1891),
pp. 303-6; E. S. Curtis, op. cit. i. 80, 139; G. Reichard, Social Life of the Navajo
Indians, p. 143.

Mr. Curtis says that elaborate precautions were taken to wipe out all footprints
in order to deceive the ghost as to the movements of the survivors.

J. G. Bourke, 'Notes on the Religion of the Apache', Folk-Lore, ii (1891),
p. 420, says: 'Ghost worship or ancestor-worship is the most widely recognized
feature of American aboriginal religion.' I do not know what single precise
meaning Capt. Bourke attaches to the term 'ancestor-worship'; he produces no
evidence to justify his statement. He seems to translate the word chidin (chindi)
as 'ghost' and as 'the spirit of the dead'. The alleged 'worship' among the Apache
seems to have consisted in the appearance of chidin in dreams, or in 'sober reality'
at night; in other words the chidin was a spook, apparition, or spectre. The
medicine-man, izzenantan, could 'lay' chidin by dances and incantations.

E. S. Curtis, op. cit. i. 143-4, translates chidin (Navaho, tsindi) as 'spirits', and
digin (Navaho, hatali) as 'medicine-man'. In his 'Medicine-men of the Apache',
gth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., i88y-8, p. 452, Capt. Bourke uses the word 'doctor'
to denote a magician, the Apache word being diyi. See further n. 553.

553. See (1) for the Apache, E. S. Curtis, The North American Indian, i. 35,
132 (for medicine-men), 37, 39, 133 (for 'deities', esp. stenatlihan) ; J. G. Bourke,
'Notes on the Religion of the Apache', Folk-Lore, ii (1891), pp. 419, 426, 452, 462
(for the all-powerful medicine-man), 432 (for fear of witchcraft), 499 (for his
difficulties with interpreters); idem, 'Medicine-men of the Apache', gth Ann. Rep.
Bur. Amer. Eth., 1887-8, pp. 45 iff. The latter paper is an essay in comparative
anthropology, not a description of Apache practices. Both Mr. Curtis and Capt.
Bourke mention a certain powder, hoddentin, which wras a favourite Apache
'medicine'.

§554 NOTES AND REFERENCES 585

(2) for the Navaho, E. S. Curtis, op. cit. i. 72, 79 ; A. M. Stephen, 'The Navaho',
Amer. Anth. vi (1893), p. 361 ; G. Reichard, Social Life of the Navajo Indians, p. 148.

The Navaho magicians carried out elaborate dances, ceremonies, songs, and
chants in order to cure or to prevent sickness, to produce rain, to bring good
fortune and to ward off bad fortune. Mr. Curtis says that there were so many of
these ceremonies that their number has never been determined. The most impor-
tant were the Mountain Chant and the Night Chant, which Washington Matthews
has described respectively in 5th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1883-4, pp. 385 ff.
and Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. vi.

In the former essay the medicine-man is called qacali, 'medicine' being qacal.
The word dsilyt seems to have been applied to high mountains ; but the reports are
difficult to understand. Indeed, Mr. Matthews confesses that he has rendered
the same native term by many different English words.

In the latter essay the word hastsebaka is translated 'gods': hastse was manifest
in the dawn, eastern sky, and other places. In Mr. Matthews's posthumous essay
'Navaho Myths, Prayers and Songs', Univ. Cal. Publ. Amer. Arch. Eth. v (1902),
pp. 38, 44, 50, hastsehogan is called a 'house god' and 'personified deity'.

I suspect that both dsilyi and hastse were important words. The application
of wakan, munedoo, and similar terms to the name natural phenomena among the
Plains Indians suggests that either dsilyi or hastse was their Navaho equivalent.

A. M. Stephen, 'The Navaho', Amer. Anth. vi (1893), pp. 359-60, speaks of
'popular deities' being in the dawn, east, and west. E. Backus, in H. R. Schoolcraft,
Indian Tribes, iv. 313, mentions a sacred spring which used to spurt out boiling
water, the obvious conjecture being that it was sacred {hastse! dsilyi?) because it
was incomprehensible.

According to Washington Matthews, 'Some deities and demons of the Navajo',
American Naturalist, xx (1886), pp. 841 ff., the word gay denoted 'divinity'.

554. J. Adair, History of the American Indians, p. 142.

Selections from Adair's report have been reprinted in J. R. Swanton, 'The
Chickasaws', 44th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1926-7, pp. 218-19, 225-6. Mr.
Swanton quotes another authority for saying that the Chickasaws were in the habit
of committing sodomy on the dead bodies of their enemies; from this the extent
of their sexual perversion can be assessed. See also J. R. Swanton, 'Aboriginal
Culture of the South East', 42nd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1924-5, p. 697.

555. For witches and wizards, see J. Adair, History of the American Indians,
p. 36; J. R. Swanton, 'The Chickasaws', 44th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth.,
1926-7, p. 269.

For magicians, J. Adair, op. cit., pp. 176-7; J. R. Swanton, op. cit., pp. 270-1.
For ram, J. R. Swanton, op. cit., p. 268.

For holo and 'deities', J. R. Swanton, op. cit., pp. 247-51, esp. nn. 42 and 43.
For methods of burial, J. Adair, op. cit., p. 180; J. R. Swanton, op. cit., pp. 230-3,
256.

Both these writers use the word 'exorcism' in reference to the pronouncement of
a counter-spell. For my use of the term, see para. 9.

^ 556. C. Swan in H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, v. 272; J. R. Swanton, 'The
Creeks', 42nd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1924-5, p. 354.

Sodomy was common. Cp. the habits of the Chickasaws (n. 554).

557. C. Swan in H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, v. 270 (for burial); J. R.
Swanton, 'The Creeks', 42nd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1924-5, pp. 345 V., 631
(for witchcraft), 615-18 (for magicians), 629-31 (for rain-makers), 398, 516 (for
dead children and affliction), 388-92 (for burial).

586 NOTES AND REFERENCES §558

The word 'deities' is applied to two 'beings' whose names were mentioned in
certain incantations ; no rites were conducted in their honour. They may have been
mythological heroes.

According to Mr. Swanton the religion of the Creeks 'was seamed through and
through with the idea that similarity of appearance means similarity of nature,
and that association of any kind will result in communicating properties from one
thing or person to another'. That is to say, the Creeks had complete faith in
sympathetic magic.

See J. R. Swanton, op. cit., pp. 485 (for 'deities'), 517 (for faith in magic).

558. J. R. Swanton, 'Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley', Bull. 43,

Bur. Amer. Eth., pp. 94-5.

I have thought it better to confine my reference to this publication than to
extend these notes by the citation of books which are not readily accessible. Mr.
Swanton quotes freely from the writings of Penicault, Charlevoix, Gravier, du
Pratz, &c. His essay is a valuable summary of the available information.

559. Ibid., pp. 80-1, 178-9.

560. Ibid., p. 138 f.

561. Ibid., pp. 101-2, 169-70.

562. Ibid., pp. 101-3.

563. Ibid., pp. 158-72.

564. These buildings were scattered over a large part of the Lower Mississippi
Valley. Specific references are made to those of the following tribes: Natchez,
Taensa, Quinipissa, Mujulasha, Acolapissa, Pascagoula, Biloxi, Houma, Grigra,
and Tunica. Ibid., p. 166. We do not know very much about these tribes.

565. Ibid., p. 167. Mr. Swanton makes a valiant attempt to reconstruct Natchez
'beliefs', but, since the native language is no longer spoken, we shall never know
how the natives used their words. The word chill seems to have been important.
Mr. Swanton says that 'it cannot be well rendered in our language'. He does not
state in what contexts the word was used or to which phenomena it was applied.

566. F. Russell, 'The Pima Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1904-5,
pp. 182, 184, 186; F. E. Grossman, 'The Pima Indians of Arizona', Smith. Rep.,
i8yi, pp. 412, 415.

567. F. Russell, 'The Pima Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1904-5,
PP- 193-5-

If a man dreamt of or saw a spook, a medicine-man went to the grave ot the
offender and ordered him to be quiet. Spooks, we are told, 'always do as they are
bid'. Cp. the Nez Perce belief (para, no)— but there is no report that the Pimas
held a ghost responsible for an illness.

The 'sacred places' reported in op. cit., pp. 254-6, seem to have been the graves
of magicians.

568. See F. E. Grossman, 'The Pima Indians of Arizona', Smith. Rep., 1871,
p. 412; F. Russell, 'The Pima Indians', 26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Eth., 1904-5,
pp. 257, 260 fT. (for medicine-men), 258-9, 347~52 (for rain-making).

I am not clear about the sickness which is said to have been caused by animals.
I conjecture that a certain unknown word existed which was applied both to an
unaccountable sickness and to certain animals.

The songs are said to have been selected according to the nature of the illness;
thus we are told that a man would sing a bear song to cure a bear illness, a deer song
to cure a deer illness, and so on.

§569 NOTES AND REFERENCES 587

Mr. Russell says that when a Pima boy was young he was taken in his father's
arms at daybreak to hear the mysteries of the 'Great Sun-God'. Mr. Russell calls
both the sun and the night 'deities'. He does not quote the native terms which he
translates deities : perhaps some unknown Pima word was applied to the sun
night, and other phenomena also. Many cases of alleged 'sun-worship', on being
examined, are found to be a regard for a power which is manifest in many other
places besides the sun. See, e.g., n. 510 (Blackfeet), para. 119 and n. 529 (Hidatsa,
Mandan, Crow).

Mr. Russell mentions two other 'deities', tcuwut makai, 'Earth Magician' and
siuu, 'Elder Brother', but there was 'a puzzling mingling of the old and the new in
the myths due to recent adaptation of Earth Doctor and Elder Brother from the
Christian Religion'. Since 'Earth Magician' was called Tciois and Dios (Spanish)
it is doubtful if these conceptions were pagan -

See F. Russell, op. cit., pp. 193, 251.

569. Tahiti was discovered by Capt. Wallis 19 June 1767, and was called by him
King George's Island. W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 7, maintains the old
distinction between the Georgian and the Society Islands.

Subsequent visits by various explorers were made in 1768 (de Bougainville)
1769 (Cook), 1772 (Boenechea), 1773 (Cook and Furneaux), 1774 (Cook), 1774-5
(Boenechea, Andia, Gayangos, and Langara), and 1777 (Cook and Clerke) The
ship Duff arrived 5 March 1797.

Tahiti is said to have been the Maori Hawaiki, while the equation Fiji = Viti =

I^L*" haS been su^ested by S. Percy Smith, 'The Polynesian Sojourn in
Fiji', J.P.S. ni (1894), p. 146.

J. Cook, A Voyage to the Southern Pacific, ii. 141-2, emphasizes the possibility
of error in his descriptions of native customs: 'The truth is, our visits, though
frequent, have been but transient ; many of us had no inclination to make inquiries ;
more of us were unable to direct our inquiries properly; and we all laboured'
though not to the same degree, under the disadvantages attending an imperfect
knowledge of the language.' He states (op. cit. ii. 76, 250, 335) that the English
and Spanish sailors visited Tahiti more than any other island. The Spaniards, he
says, could not learn much about 'their idolatry'.

570. See B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti, vol. ii, pp. xxxiv. 85 ;
J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, pp. 350-1 ; G. Forster'
A Voyage Round the World, ii. 115.

57 1 . The Memoirs of Ari'itaimai, p . 23 .

572. J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, i. 438, 481; G. Forster, A Voyage Round the
World, 11. 135, 265 ; J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean,
p. 336; L. de Bougainville, A Voyage Round the World, p. 257.

573. J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 187; G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World
i. 265, 284.

This striking diversity is mentioned also by L. de Bougainville, A Voyage
Round the World, p. 249, but the theory is scorned by W. Ellis, Polynesian Re-
searches, i. 82.

J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, p. 371, is careful
to point out that the lewd conduct of the 'young and wanton' can no more be taken
for the standard of manners in Tahiti than the behaviour of the harlots in an English
port can be held to represent the manners of the English countryside.

574. W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 262.

For the alleged compulsory infanticide, 'moral degradation', 'brutal licentious-
ness', 'dissolute sensuality', and the 'revolting' and 'depraved' character of the

588 NOTES AND REFERENCES § 575

Arreoi Society, see J. Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, ii. 159 ; J. Hawkesworth,
Voyages, ii. 208; B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti, iii. 377-8;
W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 248-50.

According to G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, ii. 128-36, the male mem-
bers of the society were warriors of chiefly rank. F. W. Christian, Eastern Pacific
Islands, pp. 201-2, considers that the Arreoi were a band of strolling players of
which only men and women of high rank might be members ; they went from one
island to another, 'giving their hivas or dramatic entertainments, pageants, and
tableaux of varying degrees of grossness, similar to the more elaborate and polished
productions of early Javanese and Peruvian drama'. He considers that the visits of
Persian and Arab traders may have been responsible for their effeminate and
shameful customs.

Mr. Christian also compares arioi (as he spells the name) with the Maori karioi,
'debauched', Marquesan ka'ioi, and submits that these words may be slightly
worn down forms of the Russian kharabati. I am not convinced by his argument.

W. Ellis, op. cit. i. 234, 236, agrees with Christian that the Arreoi were 'strolling
players'. Their activities, he says, had a 'histrionic character'.

The term 'free love' which Hawkesworth (I.e.) applies to the relations which
existed between the members of the society cannot be interpreted literally. Accord-
ing to W. Ellis, op. cit. i. 239, each male member possessed a wife; improper
conduct towards her on the part of any other member 'was sometimes punished
with death'.

Hawkesworth also states that if a woman wanted to rear her child she persuaded
one of the men to 'patronize' it. Then the child was permitted to live, the mother
being called whannownow, 'bearer of children', which was a term of reproach.

575. G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, ii. 129, 131, i33~5; W. Ellis,
Polynesian Researches, i. 232-3.

576. W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 262 f., 270.

Perhaps Ari'itaimai refers to these girls when she mentions the platforms,
paepae, which were placed outside the houses. Ari'itaimai is discussing the tradi-
tional customs of the Tahitians. See The Memoirs of Ari'itaimai, p. 18.

577. For the sexual regulations of the Maori, see para. 45.

578. For Ellis's use of the words fare and marae, see n. 582.

579. J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 234, who writes morai. The word is also spelt
morai, marai, moray, immoray, immarae, imaray, imarae, malai. For the sake of
uniformity I adopt marae. For a discussion of the evidence, see n. 582.

The word tupahow must not be confused with tupapau, which was an embalmed
corpse, the place where the dead were exposed, or a ghost, according as we follow
J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, p. 304; J. Cook, A Voyage
to the Pacific Ocean, ii. 166; or B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti,
ii. 261, n. 1 ; iii. 255.

580. For the biers and the subsequent removal of the bones, see J. Hawkesworth,
Voyages, ii. 96-7, 142-3, 235-6; L. de Bougainville, A Voyage Round the World,
pp. 254-5 ; W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 400-4.

The following writers mention that 'chiefs' or 'persons of note' were embalmed:
J. Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, ii. 52-3; J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage
to the Southern Pacific, p. 363 ; W. Ellis, I.e.

The Tahitian method of embalmment did not prevent the rapid decay of the
corpse.

§581 NOTES AND REFERENCES 589

581. J. Hawkes worth, Voyages, ii. 236.

That the ordinary people kept the relics in the house seems to follow from a
statement by W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 270 f . On the morning of a marriage-
day, he says, 'a temporary altar was erected in the house of the bride; the relics
of her ancestors, perhaps their skulls or bones, were placed upon it'. This custom
may explain the collection of jaw-bones which puzzled J. Cook, A Voyage to the
Pacific Ocean, ii. 52-3.

For orometua (oromatua), 'spirits of the family dead', see W. Ellis, op. cit. i. 334,
who calls them 'demons' in op. cit. i. 357, employing an anglicized plural, ora-
matuas.

For fare, 'house', see W. Ellis, op. cit. i. 170 f.

582. J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 167; G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World,

i. 267 ; ii. 138-9 ; B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti, i. 269 and n. 2 ;

ii. 85, 328.

For marae as 'open space', see nn. 174 (Maori), 196 (Samoan), 205 (Tongan).

William Ellis, the missionary, was responsible, at least in part, for the confusion
between the open space and the stone structure which stood therein. He states
that 'marae was the name for temple. ... All were uncovered, and resembled
oratories rather than temples' {Polynesian Reminiscences, i. 340). Ellis was a close
observer, but a bad scholar; we cannot be surprised at his lapse. Sometimes he
transforms a descriptive term into a proper name. Thus he remarks (I.e.), 'The
1 national places of worship were designated by district appellations. Tabu-tabu-a-tea
was the name of several, especially of those belonging to the king : the word may
mean widespread sacredness.' Surely the application of the phrase to several
structures should have warned Ellis of his mistake, for apparently each structure
was owned by a different family. I think that the error was a result of direct
questioning. To his question as to what the stone structure was called, the Tahitian
probably replied 1 tabu-tabu-a-tea' ('it is very sacred').

Sometimes Ellis uses the word 'temple' in reference to places which were not
called marae by the Tahitians : 'Although they would not only kill but eat certain
kinds of sharks, the large blue sharks, Squalus glaucus, were deified by them, and
rather than attempt to destroy them they would endeavour to propitiate their
favour by prayers and offerings. Temples were erected, in which priests officiated,
and offerings were presented to the deified monsters.' Plainly these temples were
not marae ; what native word, then, is being translated temple? It is impossible
to say. Since, however, the native term for temple among the Samoans was fale-
aitu (para. 50) and among the Tongans fale-tapu (para. 51), I should expect the
Tahitian word to be a compound of atua and fare, 'house'; but no such word is
mentioned by any of our authorities. Indeed Ellis alone mentions these 'temples'
and 'deified monsters'. Elsewhere (op. cit. i. 171) he says that Afareaitu was the
name of a village. The capital letter may be the result of inference, the literal
meaning of the word being 'house of aitu\ Perhaps it was used adjectivally and
denoted the place at which at one time had been the site of afare-aitu. If we may
interpret the word in this manner, it might follow that in a previous epoch the
Tahitians were deistic. At any rate the use of aitu is interesting, for aitu was the
Samoan word which corresponded to the Tongan otua, Maori atua, Tahitian atua.
I have conjectured (n. 195) that both these words, aitu and atua, were at one time
common to all Polynesian societies, that after the dispersion of the Polynesians
some groups preserved aitu, others preserving atua, and that the alternative word
in each case remained in the language as an archaic survival, this archaic survival
being aitu among the Maori and atua among the Samoans. It is tempting to con-
clude that aitu was a similar survival among the Tahitians, who were closely related
to the Maori. Thus the erection of a 'house of aitu' would belong to that period

590 NOTES AND REFERENCES §5s2

of Polynesian history which preceded the dispersion, or at any rate immediately
succeeded it.

In another passage (op. cit. i. 280) Ellis refers to the atua fare is Manaha, 'the
building of the house of Manaha, or hosts of gods'. The literal meaning of the phrase
appears to be 'the atua-house of Manaha'. In other passages (e.g. op. cit. i. 103,
195) we read of family temples, ruins of a temple, &c. The native word for 'temple'
is not quoted, however. I suspect that it was marae, which meant open space. But
it is impossible to be sure, for Ellis often translates several different native words
by the same English word. The qualifying epithet 'family', of course, cannot be
literally accepted. Cp. my remarks in regard to the alleged Samoan 'family'
gods (n. 195).

Mr. R. W. Williamson's discussion in The Social and Political Systems of Central
Polynesia, ii. 60-86, is vitiated by his uncritical acceptance of Ellis's statements.

The lack of scholarship which characterizes Tahitian ethnography is illustrated
by T. Henry who translates tapu-tapu-a-tea as 'sacrifices from abroad' (jf.P.S.
xxi (1912), pp. 77-8).

The word raa, 'taboo', seems to have been promoted to the status of a 'god'
in a similar manner to that in which tabu-tabu-a-tea was promoted from a descriptive
phrase into a proper name (n. 585).

It is evident that J. Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, ii. 40, was uncertain
whether marae denoted the stone structure or the open space in which it stood:
first, he states that after a battle the bodies of slain chiefs were buried in the great
pile of stones 'which compose the most conspicuous part of the marae' ; then he
says, 'the marae, which is a place of worship, sacrifice, and burial at the same time,
is that where the supreme chief of the whole island is always buried. It differs
little from the common ones except in extent. Its principal part is a large, oblong
pile of stones, lying loosely on each other, about 12-14 feet high, contracted
towards the top, with a square area on each side, loosely paved with pebble stones,
under which the bones of chiefs are buried.' A similar account is given by J.
Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, pp. 327-8.

The identity of the person or persons w hose bones were deposited in the stone
structure is uncertain. Capt. Cook mentions the 'supreme chief in this connexion;
one of the Spanish explorers makes a similar report ; but according to other accounts
the honour was accorded to the whole family, to any arVi, to 'those offered in sacri-
fice or slain in battle', and to 'children of chiefs strangled at birth'. See B. G.
Corney, op. cit. ii. 209, 251, 260; J. Wilson, op. cit., p. 304. Can it be that the
bones of a corpse were deposited there if atua had been manifest in the nature of
the person's life or death?

Native wrriters state that the possession of a marae (they refer to the stone struc-
ture) was vital to a chief. See e.g. The Memoirs of Ari'itaimai, p. 15; T. Henry,
'The Oldest Tahitian Marae', Jf.P.S. xxii (1913), pp. 25-7. The aphorism 'no
marae, no chief may have had a two-fold significance: (1) the possession of a
marae of a previous ruler proved descent, actual or fictitious, from the ari'i whose
bones had been deposited there; (2) the erection of a stone structure proved that
a man was ari'i, whether or not he was ari'i by blood.

The word ?narae, like tupapau (n. 579) and oromatua (n. 581), has been translated
in many different ways. The Spaniards call it 'temple', 'burial place', 'cemetery'
(B. G. Corney, op. cit. ii. 41, 209, 259; iii. 15, 44). Some writers prefer 'sanctuary'
(e.g. J. Wilson, op. cit., p. 351). In other reports 'temple' is the usual English
equivalent (e.g. W. Ellis, in the above-cited passages; Tati Salmon, 'On Ari'is
in Tahiti', jf.P.S. xix (1910), pp. 39-46). But 'temple' is misleading, for, as one
of the Spaniards says (B. G. Corney, op. cit. ii. 85), 'they certainly had no house
of worship'.

According to Mr. Corney (op. cit. i. 269, n. 2), a modern Tahitian calls the stone

§583 NOTES AND REFERENCES 591

structure menema, from Gk. ^vfj^a; this word was introduced by the missionaries.
The ancient Tahitians used also the phrase vahi moa in reference to the 'memorial
sanctuary of departed ancestors'.

583. For tii {tee, etee), see W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 334, 354-7; J.
Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, p. 344; J. Cook, A Voyage to
the Pacific Ocean, ii. 164; G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, ii. 111, 151-2,
280, 354-7-

Is toos (Ellis) the same as tip. The former appears to be an anglicized plural.
With tii, cp. Maori tiki (n. 177).

584. J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 168; G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World,
i. 268. Descriptions of these altars are scarce.

585. The preconceptions which were in the minds of the explorers are apparent
from such passages as :

(1) L. de Bougainville, A Voyage Round the World, pp. 255, 267, who speaks
of a 'Supreme Being', 'inferior divinities', 'a superior being';

(2) J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 238-9, who seems to have confused mythologi-
cal figures with 'gods';

(3) G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, ii. 150-3, who speaks of 'revering'
a god by hissing ;

(4) J- Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, p. 343, who thinks
that the conception of 'Jehovah in triune existence' had become rather
obscured ;

(5) B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti, ii. 268 et saepe, who
spells te atua with a capital T, thus transforming a commonplace word into
a proper name;

(6) W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 322, who is confident that 'there was no
one who was regarded as a supreme intelligence' and could find no trace
of 'the doctrine of the Trinity'.

For some comments on reports of other 'Supreme Beings', see nn. 116, 122,
180, 237, 246, 415, 451, 462, 471, 501.

Often, indeed usually, our authorities employ an anglicized plural form of
atua (eatua, eatooa, eatoua).

With the Tahitian atua, cp. the Maori atua (nn. 180-2), Samoan aitu (n. 195),
and Tongan otua (n. 207).

Some animals, e.g. the heron and kingfisher, were held 'in peculiar regard',
i.e. were atua; the natives refrained from killing them, but they neither addressed
petitions to them nor 'approached them with adoration'. See J. Hawkesworth,
op. cit. ii. 242 ; W. Ellis, op. cit. i. 336.

The legends concerning Taaroa, Maui, Tane, Oro, are numerous and contra-
dictory. It is impossible to tell which, if any, of these 'beings' was honoured by
definite rites. The conflicting nature of the stories seems to be due to the fact that
they were collected from different islands. I do not understand why R. W.
Williamson, The Social and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, i. 249, hypo-
thesizes 'two distinct cults' in order to explain certain details of Tahitian culture,
nor do I know what single precise meaning he attaches to the word 'cult'.

For notes on some mythological heroes, see nn. 180 (Maori), 195 (Samoan),
207 (Tongan).

Would it be permissible to argue that since Taaroa had a tii figure, possibly he
was a Tahitian?

The 'great god', fwhanow po, seems to be either an invention or a mistake on
the part of J. Wilson, op. cit., p. 343. The phrase meant 'born of night'; it was
applied in the legends to the first men (i.e. the first Tahitians) who arrived on the

«

5Q2 NOTES AND REFERENCES §586

earth (i.e. in Tahiti). Tati Salmon, 'On Ari'is in Tahiti', J.P.S. xix (1910), p. 40,
says that fanau po, 'born of night', was the term for 'creatures of the gods and
therefore priests'.

W. Ellis, op. cit. i. 325, states that 'Raa ranked among the principal deities';
but the word raa meant taboo simply, and I suspect that raa became the name of
a 'god' in much the same way as tabu-tabu-a-tea became the name of a temple
(n. 582).

Ellis's use of the word 'god', which he applies to tii as well as to atua, is as confusing
as his use of 'temple'.

586. W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 327-8; J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage
to the Southern Pacific, p. 344.

J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 142-4, makes a quaint mistake which illustrates
forcibly how our translations can mislead us. He says that all the visitors supposed
that the food around the bier on which a corpse was placed was intended for the
'spirit of the deceased'; but, he adds, 'upon our applying for further information,
we were told that the food was an offering to the gods', i.e. atua, i.e. the 'spirit
of the deceased'.

I have culled the names of the following 'gods' from W. Ellis, op. cit.:

(1) To-toro-potaa, god of the hair-dressers, 'who was invoked at the toilet'

(i- 136);

(2) Matabu-fenua, god of agriculture (i. 138);

(3) gods of fishermen were numerous: Tamai is said to have been such a god;
elsewhere tamai is said to have been a general term for war (cp. i. 140 and
i. 284);

(4) Matatine, god of fishing-net makers (i. 140, 329);

(5) Ruaifa-atua, god of cock-fighting, a favourite Tahitian sport (i. 223);

(6) Huaouri, god of surf-swimming (i. 225).

We are not told what rites, if any, were celebrated in honour of these alleged
divinities.

587. G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, ii. 150, who appends a list.
Different lists are given by J. Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, ii. 162, 175;

J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, p. 344.

The Spaniards say that there was a different god in each locality for every
occupation. See B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti, ii. 259, &c,
and n. 585.

The lists of 'gods' have no greater or lesser evidential value than the lists of
Samoan and Tongan gods, for which see nn. 195 and 208 respectively. See also
my remarks in para. 99.

588. For the do ut abeas character of the offerings, see J. Cook, A Voyage to
the Pacific Ocean, ii. 163-4; B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti,
ii. 141, 259; J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, pp. 344-5;
W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 334-5.

The descriptions of the illness of Vehiatua in B. G. Corney, op. cit. ii. 328-47,
afford a good illustration of Tahitian methods.

The word vehiatua (which was a title, not a proper name) suggests that atua
was applied to living as well as to dead chiefs.

589. W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 375 ; J. Wilson, A Missionary Voyage to
the Southern Pacific, p. 349; J. Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, ii. 18-19, 167.

590. J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 240 (for tahowa as 'skilled person') ; G. Forster,
A Voyage Round the World, ii. 154 (for tata-o-rerro) ; B. G. Corney, The Quest and
Occupation of Tahiti, i. 335 ; ii. 328 (for tahuapure) ; W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches,
i. 369 (for faatere).

§59i

NOTES AND REFERENCES

593

As a rule tahua (tahozva) is translated 'priest'. W. Ellis is inconsistent: in one
, passage (op. cit. i. 258) he mentions paia, 'priest', in another passage (op. cit.
i. 371) taura or tairoiro is 'priest'. Ellis neither explains the difference between
the men nor elucidates the native terms.

Similarly, Ellis translates ubu, pure, and tarotaro as 'prayer'. Cp., e.g., op. cit.

! i. 234, 255, 342-3.

With tarotaro, cp. the Banks Islands tataro (n. 296).

According to Tati Salmon, fanau po meant 'priest', but see n. 585.

On returning to his native land, a Tahitian who had been taken away by Capt.
Cook on his second voyage was called 'Priest of the Sun'. See G. Forster, op. cit.
li. 388.

With tahua, cp. the Maori tohunga, for whom see nn. 188, 192.

i 591. L. de Bougainville, A Voyage Round the World, p. 271 ; J. Cook, A Voyage
to the Pacific Ocean, ii. 153; G. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, ii. 156-7;
B. G. Corney, The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti, ii. 260, 328-47; J. Wilson,
A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, pp. 347-8 (who is the only writer to
mention tahua marae).

The Tahitians seem to have had a great knowledge of surgery, but not of physic.
See J. Cook and G. Forster, I.e.; J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, i. 485.

592. For wizards, see W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 363-4; J. Wilson, A
Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific, p. 348. Body-clippings were burnt.

For the absence of tahua from weddings, see J. Hawkesworth, Voyages, ii. 241.

593. See, e.g., W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches, i. 27-8.

594. The Gilbert Islands were visited in 1765 by Commodore Byron, who
found the water too deep for anchorage. They were rediscovered in 1788 by
Captains Gilbert and Marshall, who were in the employ of the East India Com-
pany. See C. M. Woodford, 'The Gilbert Islands', The Geographical Journal,
vi (1895), pp. 325-42; A. Grimble, 'From Birth to Death in the Gilbert Islands',
J. R.A.I, li (1921), pp. 29 f., 49; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 294, 297; H. Hale, Ethno-
graphy and Philology of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, pp. 187-90.

The Gilbert Islands are known also as Kingsmill or Line Islands. Sometimes
;:he inhabitants are called Tarawas.

The population of the Gilbert Islands was mixed. A Samoan immigration may
bave taken place about seven hundred years ago; there is also a tradition which
suggests a Melanesian immigration ; and the drifting of canoes may have increased
:his admixture of peoples. The inhabitants of Makin (Pitt Island) seem to have
liffered from those of the other islands.

Many Samoan words existed in the language of the southern islands. Our most
eliable information seems to apply to these islands, and more particularly to
\.rorae (Hurd Island) and Peru (Francis Island).

595. I follow Tutuila, 'The Line Islanders', J.P.S. i (1892), pp. 266-7.

C. Wilkes, Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, v. 83, may be referring
o other islands of the group ; his description of the social classes differs from that
f Tutuila.

I do not place a high value on Commander Wilkes's evidence. Most of his in-
ormation concerning the Gilbert Islands was obtained from a certain John Kirby,
vho had lived as a native on Kuria (Woodle Island) for three years, and from Robert
iVood (alias Grey) who lived in Makin. The inhabitants of these islands cannot
Lave been closely in touch with one another, for neither of these men was aware
f the other's existence. See C. Wilkes, op. cit. v. 65, 72; H. Hale, Ethnography
nd Philology of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, p. 90.

Qq

594 NOTES AND REFERENCES §596

For other comments on the writings of Commander Wilkes, see nn. 195, 208,
and 597.

596. A. Grimble, 'From Birth to Death in the Gilbert Islands', J.R.A.I. li
( 1 921), pp. 31-3. The details of the ceremony differed on different islands.

The demand for the tokens is reported also by Tutuila, 'The Line Islanders',
J P.S. i (1892), p. 271. R. Parkinson, 'Beitrage zur Ethnologie der Gilbertinsulaner'
Intern. Archiv fur Ethnographie, ii (1889), pp. 38-9 does not mention them.
Among the people of whom Parkinson speaks a newly married pair seem to have
lived with their adoptive father and to have possessed no hut of their own. Perhaps
these were the customs of the rati.

597. C. Wilkes, Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, v. 91. The im-
perfect character of Commander Wilkes's knowledge is emphasized by A. Grimble,
'From Birth to Death in the Gilbert Islands', J.R.A.I. li (1921), P- 33, n. 1. It is
dangerous to rely upon the uncorroborated evidence of a sailor in reference to
native sexual regulations.

For the source of Commander Wilkes's information, see n. 595.

598. R. Parkinson, 'Beitrage zur Ethnologie der Gilbertinsulaner', Intern.
Archiv fur Ethnographie, ii (1889), p. 100; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 294, 298-9.

I doubt if the hand-washing can be regarded as indigenous.

599. For the scattered evidence, see H. S. Cooper, The Coral Islands of the Pacific,
p. 314; C. Wilkes, Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, v. 86-7, 103; H.
Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, pp. 98-9;
G. Turner, Samoa, p. 296 ; A. Featherstone, Social History of the Races of Mankind:
Oceano-Melanesians, p. 409.

It seems possible that tapu-ariki was a descriptive term which was applied to
Wanigain, an illustrious chief. Cp. W. Ellis's error (n. 582) in calling tabu-tabu-a-tea
the name of a Tahitian 'temple'. If tapu-ariki was a descriptive term, then we
should expect (as Commander Wilkes states) that the 'tutelary genius' of every
family would be the same 'god'. See further n. 625.

Tutuila, 'The Line Islands', J. P.S. i (1892), pp. 269, 272, confesses that it was
difficult to ascertain the nature of the old practices.

The word which is translated 'god' is atua. In view of the possible Samoan
origin of some of the immigrants (n. 594) this is important. The Samoan word
was aitu, but the Samoans also used atua. For some comments on the relation
between aitu and atua, see nn. 195, 582.

600. See R. Parkinson, 'Beitrage zur Ethnologie der Gilbertinsulaner', Intern.
Archiv fur Ethnographie, ii (1889), pp. 44, 100; A. Featherstone, Social History of
the Races of Mankind: Oceano-Melanesians, p. 409; C. Wilkes, Narrative of the
US Exploring Expedition, v. 87; H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the U.S.
Exploring Expedition, p. 98; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 294; A. Grimble, 'From Birth
to Death in the Gilbert Islands', J.R.A.I. li (1921), p. 36.

Hale conjectures that (t)ibonga can be equated with tufunga, but admits the

uncertainty.

601. This is reported by C. Wilkes, Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition,
v. 105, and possibly it is a matter on which we can confidently rely on the testimony
of Kirby and Wood, for whom see n. 595.

602. E. Stack and C. J. Lyall, The Mikirs, pp. 19 (for sexual conduct), 29-30,
34, 36 (for sickness), 28-9, 37"42 (for funeral ceremonies), 30-4 (for arnam). ?

The word arnam is said to have been 'a common form of address to human beings
Apparently the author refers to white men when he says 'human beings'.

§603

NOTES AND REFERENCES

595

Some Hindu and Khasi influence is evident ; e.g. one 'spirit' which caused
illness was a Khasi importation ; another 'spirit' caused cholera, which was regarded
as a British disease (ibid., p. 32).

603. A. Playfair, The Garos, pp. 67-8; E. T. Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of
Bengal, p. 64; J. Eliot, Asiatic Researches, ii. 27 f. (for inheritance of youngest
daughter).

604. A. Playfair, The Garos, pp. 87, 105-6, 113.

605. A. Playfair, The Garos, pp. 74 f., 92, 96-8, 100, 115 f. (for treatment),
1 16-17 (for witchcraft); E. T. Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 60-1
(for treatment).

The native word which is translated 'spirits' is not given.

The Garos erected certain bamboo 'altars' on which sacrifices were placed.

I do not know how much the facts have been coloured by inferences in the reports
concerning 'the spirits of the seasons'. Apparently the 'spirits' who did harm to
crops were easily outwitted. See A. Playfair, op. cit., pp. 87-96.

606. A. Playfair, The Garos, pp. 89-90.

607. P. R. T. Gurdon, The Khasis, pp. 76-7, 83-4, 127-30.

By 'monandrous' I mean that she confined herself to one man at one time.
Divorce was by mutual consent.

608. Ibid., pp. 109-11, 133-5, 140-4.

Col. Gurdon considers that the 'household deities', ka lei iing and ka ksaw ka
jirngam, were ka iawbei in another form.

In op. cit., p. 83, we are told that it was the duty of the youngest daughter 'to
perform the family ceremonies and propitiate the family ancestors'. In op. cit.,
p. 120, we read: 'The Khasis have no purohit or priest to perform the family cere-
monies ; such duties fall to the lot of the head of the family or clan, who carries
them out generally through the agency of the kni or maternal uncle.' The contra-
diction is not explained.

609. The nongkhan was a diviner, who took the omens, e.g. when a new house
was built, and when a man went on a journey; we are not told whether he was
also lyngdoh or sohblei (ibid., pp. 1 17-19).

The men who were lyngdoh belonged to one clan and seem to have been in charge
of the communal ceremonies ; their influence varied in different areas : e.g. in some
places they were the residuary legatees of all persons who died without heirs ; but
their position in society does not become clearer when we read that the people
'live in constant dread lest they should offend these avaricious men and so bring
! on themselves the wrath of the demons' (ibid., pp. 120-3).

In op. cit., pp. 120, 155, the sohblei is reputed to have been (1) the chief 'priestess'
whose deputy was the lyngdoh, (2) 'high priest' who assisted the head of the com-
1 munity in performing a ceremony in reference to the crops, the lyngdoh being called
'priest', simply.

The relation of the lyngdoh to the jingbih, 'an evil spirit', is mentioned only in
one passage (op. cit., p. 123). Was jingbih another term for the kataroh, 'she-devil',
of the Jaintia Hills (op. cit., p. 107)?

The Men practices (op. cit., pp. 99-100) seem to have been witchcraft of a
decorative kind.

It is difficult to separate inference from fact in the reports. The use of the same
English words (e.g. 'spirits', 'gods', 'godlings') to denote a number of different
native words has complicated them, it being impossible to know what native word
is being translated in any particular passage.

For blei, see op. cit., pp. 105-6, 1 14-16, 118 et saepe.

595 NOTES AND REFERENCES §610

610. Ibid., p. 9, n- l-

611 A R Brown, The Andaman Islanders, p. 70.

I rely exclusively on this valuable monograph. The information applies more
especially to the so-called Great Andaman Group, consisting of North, Middle, and
part of South Andaman. Our knowledge of the Little Andaman Group (including
the Jarawa tribe of South Andaman and the inhabitants of Little Andaman and
North Sentinel Island) is less extensive.

For these divisions, see A. R. Brown, op. cit., pp. 11-13-

612. A R. Brown, The Andaman Islanders, pp. 107, 1 12-13.

The same methods of disposal have been reported by E. H. Man, On the Abort-
ginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, pp. 76-7; M. V. Portman, A History of
our Relations with the Andamanese, i. 43.

613. See A. R. Brown, The Andaman Islanders, pp. 113, 126, 136-7, 176-8,
1 84.—^

Alternative terms for lau were in North and Middle Andaman dialects lao and
yau in the South Andaman dialect, cauga. Sez-lau werejurua, 'beings of the same
nature as the timiku-lau\ In the Aka-bea dialect the oko-jumu was called oko-paiad,
which meant also 'dreamer'. The reputation of an oko-jumu depended on results.
Sometimes a dead magician was bilik, 'not an ordinary lau' (ibid., p. 169).

Bilik 'beliefs' have been complicated by the methods which have been adopted
in translating the native word. Other forms of bilik were biliku and puluga. Pro-
fessor Radcliffe Brown discusses the subject at length in op. cit., pp. 147 n.

614 See A R. Brown, The Andaman Islanders, pp. 137-8 and 138, n. 1, who
remarks - 'To these aliens they gave the name of Lau, apparently regarding them
as visitors from the only other world they knew of, the world of spirits.' Professor
Radcliffe Brown adds that 'a similar custom is found in many savage tribes; thus,
in many parts of Australia the aborigines call white men by the same name that they

apply to the spirits of the dead'.

The inference is unacceptable. When the same word is applied to two different
phenomena, the only conclusion which we may draw is that the same quality or
nower was manifest in each case. All the assertions about white men being ghosts
seem to me to be false inferences due to our word 'spirits'. It would be interesting
to know if the word which some Australian aborigines applied to the dead and to
white men was applied also to anything unusual or beyond comprehension. Did
the Andamanese employ the word lau (or its equivalent) in that sense ?

615. J. Perham, in J. Str. Br. R.A.S., no. 8 (1881), p. 133, no. 10 (1882),
p. 213 ; H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, 1. 168,

616. H. Low, Sarawak, p. 195; H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and
British North Borneo, i. 109-10; E. H. Gomes, The Sea-Dyaks of Borneo p. 3.

J Perham, 'Petara or Sea-Dyak Gods', J. Str. Br. R.A.S., no. 8 (1881), p. 150,
says that 'immorality among the unmarried is supposed to bring a plague ot rain
upon the earth as a punishment from Petara*. If we omit the inference, we may
conclude that petara was manifest in places where sexual intercourse took place.
Cp the Lango idea (n. 360) thatjofc was manifest in similar places

The passage in Archdeacon Perham's paper is reprinted in H. Ling Roth, op.

cit. i. 180.

617. J Perham, 'Sea-Dyak Religion',.?. Str. Br.R.A.S., no. 14 (1885), pp. 290-7,
303 ; H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, 1. 204-10,

2IThe description of the gawei antu by E. H. Gomes, The Sea-Dyaks of Borneo,

§618 NOTES AND REFERENCES 597

p. 49, seems to be based on Archdeacon Perham's account which Ling Roth quotes
verbatim.

618. J. Perham, 'Sea-Dyak Religion', J. Str. Br. R.A.S., no. 14 (1885), p. 299;
idem, Tetara or Sea-Dyak Gods', J. Str. Br. R.A.S., no. 8 (1881), pp. 150-1;
E. H. Gomes, The Sea-Dyaks of Borneo, pp. 41-2; H. Ling Roth, The Natives of
Sarawak and British North Borneo, i. 179, 182, 185.

C. Hose and W. McDougall, The Pagan Tribes of Borneo, do not devote much
space to the Sea-Dyaks, whom they call Ibans. They doubt if the tribe had any
'religion'. According to their account, petara was 'a conception of the god having
many manifestations and functions, each special function being conceived vaguely
as an anthropomorphic deity'. See op. cit. ii. 26, 85. They are not very helpful.
H. Low, Sarawak, p. 174, merely states that 'the chief deity' was batara.

619. J. Perham, Tetara or Sea-Dyak Gods', J. Str. Br. R.A.S., no. 8 (1881),
PP- 135, H1 > J52 ; H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo,
i. 169, 173, 178, 273 ; E. H. Gomes, The Sea-Dyaks of Borneo, p. 38.

620. E. H. Gomes, The Sea-Dyaks of Borneo, p. 42; H. Ling Roth, The Natives
of Sarawak and British North Borneo, i. 287.

The power of petara was put into a child at the besant ceremony. See H. Ling
Roth, op. cit. i. 170.

621. See H. Low, Sarawak, p. 175; C. Hose and W. McDougall, The Pagan
Tribes of Borneo, ii. 116; E. H. Gomes, The Sea-Dyaks of Borneo, pp. 52 ff.;
H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, i. 179, 265-83 ;
J. Perham, Tetara or Sea-Dyak Gods', J. Str. Br. R.A.S., no. 8 (1881), p. 150.

622. For an example of a speculative theory which is based not on facts but on
inferences, see W. G. Ivens, 'The Place of Vui and Tamate in the Religion of Mota',
J. R.A.I, lxi (193 1 ), pp. 157-66. Dr. Ivens seems to appreciate that the translation
of vui as 'a spirit' is misleading, yet it is upon this English equivalent that he bases
his conclusions. For his purpose it is important that Kwat should be a vui, but
the fact appears to have been that just as among the Crow Indians (n. 529) Old
Man Coyote was maxpe, so among the Banks Islanders Kwat was vui, 'exceeding',
i.e. 'a great fellow'. It is no more legitimate to speak of Kwat as a vui than to
speak of Old Man Coyote as a maxpe.

The similarity between the meanings of such words as maxpe, wakan, and vui
has been obscured (1) by the translation of wakan as 'Great Spirit' and of vui as
'a spirit', (2) by the equation of wakan and mana, for which see n. 520. Dr. Ivens
has failed to perceive these errors. He has based his suggestions not upon the
native meaning of native words but upon the white man's interpretations of the
white man's translations of those words.

With Dr. Ivens 's comments on vui, oloolo, and tataro in the above-quoted essay,
cp. para. 72, and nn. 293-6.

623. I am inclined to think that the description of Purari 'beliefs' by J. H.
Holmes, which Sir J. G. Frazer has quoted in The Worship of Nature, pp. 7-8,
may contain this error. Possibly the native, who seems to have been in the employ
of white men, was repeating in his own language something which he had gleaned
from the white man's conversation or sermons.

For Bishop Callaway's warning against this danger, see para. 4.
The absurdity of translating imunu as 'soul' will be apparent from a perusal of
para. 76, in which I have quoted Mr. Williams's description of its native meaning.

624. In The Worship of Nature, pp. 154-6, Sir J. G. Frazer has repeated many
of M. Junod's inferences in regard to tilo. If the reader of that passage will remem-

598 NOTES AND REFERENCES . §625

ber that the word tilowas applied to strange, uncomprehended things, the fantastic
character of those inferences will be apparent. A man whose manner of birth
was abnormal was credited with the possession of magic power. Apparently that
is why the Baronga thought that twins possessed special powers over rain. See
also n. 409.

625. For an uncritical acceptance of the reports in regard to the alleged 'god'
tapu-ariki, see J. G. Frazer, The Belief in Immortality, iii. 55-7.

626. An excellent example of the manner in which some observers have read
their thoughts into the native minds is afforded by a comparison of the reports on
the Tannese. According to the Rev. W. Gray, the souls of the Tannese dead went
to Ipai, Hades. The more careful Mrs. Watt tells us that the word ipai meant
'far off'. It is probable that the missionary asked a Tanna man whither the souls
of the dead went, and that the native answered ipai, 'far off'. The missionary,
accustomed to thinking in terms of heaven and hell, concluded that ipai was the
Tannese Hades.

See W. Gray, 'Notes on the Tannese', Fourth Rep. Aust. Ass. Adv. Sc. (1892),
p. 650. A. C. P. Watt, Twenty-Five Years on Tanna, p. no.

627. Maybe the reports in regard to personification have sometimes been based
on the native application of proper names to certain districts or phenomena, such
as rocks ; but in my view these names were those of dead men.

628. Sometimes the attempt to express in the native language the conception
of the Christian God has produced the most ludicrous situations. I will quote one
example.

As their name for God the earliest missionaries among the Loyalty Islanders
adopted cahaze, ca 'one', haze 'spirit'. Not unnaturally this word was soon dropped,
for it must have been incomprehensible to the natives, to whom haze represented
not a 'spirit' but the quality manifest in stones of peculiar shape or of uncommon
type. Then the Roman Catholic priests used haze, simply, while the Protestants
employed akotesi, the equivalent of haze in the chiefly language. See E. Hadfield,
Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group, pp. 38, 143 ; S. H. Ray, 'The People and
Language of Lifu, Loyalty Islands', J.R.A.I. xlvii (1917), pp. 291, 295.

A separate language for addressing 'chiefs' was not uncommon in Oceania. Foi
some notes on the subject, see J. E. Newell and S. H. Ray, 'Chief's Language in;
Samoa', Transactions of the Ninth International Congress of Orientalists, ii (1892)
pp. 800-1.

629. I am not satisfied, however, that the Trobriand Islanders were not at a
dead level of conception. I am inclined to suspect that the word baloma may
have been applied to anything supernormal or incomprehensible.

Cp. n. 302.

630. See, for the customs of the Loyalty Islanders, E. Hadfield, Among the
Natives of the Loyalty Group, pp. 9, 216; for those of the Tannese, C. B. Hum-
phreys, The Southern New Hebrides, pp. 89, 90; F. Speiser, Two Years with the
Natives in the Western Pacific, p. 161.

631 . In such a context the word 'remember' should include not only the memory
of a past event but also the placing of that event in time, but I doubt if the evidence
is sufficiently reliable to justify our using it in that sense.

A sense of the past, of course, was one of the phenomena which distinguishec
the SE. Solomon Islanders from the Banks Islanders. Dr. Codrington noticec
and emphasized the fact. See para. 33.

§632 NOTES AND REFERENCES 599

632. All the evidence is in favour of the supposition that such changes are
introduced by individual men, particular instances being the inauguration of the
baigona-cult and of its successor the taro-cult in Papua (para. 79), and of the
Kairi ceremony among the Purari (para. 76). The fanaticism of individual men was
responsible for the revivals which took place among the American Indians after
the arrival of the white man, Ganeodiyo, the Iroquois, and Naydaklinni, the
Apache, being outstanding examples (para. 102). Messrs. Smith and Dale (n. 427)
have expressed the opinion that the establishment of new customs was due to
individual effort; the magicians, they think, were 'largely and probably mostly'
responsible. M. Junod (n. 41 1) says that the Ronga magicians attracted new patients
by the invention of new rites and by the discovery of new drugs.

Dr. W. G. Ivens (n. 84) considers it 'beyond belief that an individual man
should start a new rite. He does not state his reasons.

633. The theory of humility and disillusion is favoured by Sir J. G. Frazer and
Professor A. B. Cook. I note with satisfaction that both these scholars attribute
to the working of the power of reason such cultural advances as they hypothesize.

According to Sir J. G. Frazer, upon the awkwardness of whose terminology I
have commented in n. 4, the reliance on outside power is the line of demarcation
between religion and magic, religion being defined as the propitiation and concilia-
tion of powers superior to man. See his G.B., The Magic Art, i. 223 ff. Sir James
has stated his views more succinctly in The Early History of the Kingship, p. 127:
'As time goes on, the fallacy [of magic] becomes more and more apparent to the
acuter minds and is slowly replaced by religion. The magician gives way to the
priest who renouncing the attempt to control directly the processes of nature seeks
to attain the same end indirectly by appealing to the gods to do for him what he
no longer fancies that he can do himself.'

One of many objections to this statement is that by confining the word
'religion' to the culture of those who conceive of powers superior to man, and by
using the word 'god' to denote those powers, Sir James has not only introduced
the idea that religion consists of the worship of 'gods' but also implied that it
cannot consist in the worship of ghosts. Thus according to his terminology an
ancestral-cult must be 'religion', but he cannot include it as such because it does
not consist of the worship of 'gods'.

Professor A. B. Cook, while considering that 'the transition was the result
of conscious reflection upon the modus operandi of primitive magic', dissociates
himself from Sir James Frazer 's opinions. Professor Cook is speaking more
particularly of the Greek god Zeus, whom he regards as a heavenly Salmoneus :
'With the growth of intelligence it gradually dawned upon men that the magician,
when he caused a storm, did not actually make it himself by virtue of his own will-
power but rather imitated it and coaxed it into coming. If, then, the magician or
king imitated a storm made by Zeus, how did Zeus make it ? Zeus must be a Master
Image, a King supreme, beyond the clouds. The change was not made by any
despair of magic but rather by the discovery that magic, whether effective or not,
was a matter of imitation.' See A. B. Cook, Zeus, i. 12-13.

634. For Ndengei and Tanovu, see B. Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 1 12 f., 133 ff. ;
W. Deane, Fijian Society, pp. 39 ff., 47 ff-; T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians,
p. 183 f. ; A. M. Hocart, 'On the Meaning of kalou and the Origin of Fijian
Temples', J.R. A .1. xlii (1912), p. 448, n. 5.

Sir Basil Thomson speaks of Ndengei as a 'symbol of Creation and Eternity';
Williams calls Ndengei 'an impersonation of the abstract idea of eternal existence'.
Mr. Hocart is right in pouring scorn upon these 'impossible statements' which,
as he says, would not be intelligible to the natives, far less conceived by them.

600 NOTES AND REFERENCES §635

635. J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey and the Dahomans, p. 467; A. B. Ellis, The
Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, p. 90.

636. See S. and O. Johnson, The History of the Yorubas, p. 34; P- A. Talbot,
The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, ii. 30-1.

According to Sir A. B. Ellis, in The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast,
p. 50, the tradition of Shango as an earthly king is a later addition. Sir Arthur
does not state the evidence on which he relies. The opinion is contrary to those
expressed in the above-cited passages. The Johnsons are native writers. Probably
Mr. Talbot is repeating literally the native tradition.

637. T. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, pp. 184-6.

638. W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, pp. 9-10, i7°-84~
Recently (July 1933) this case of claustrophobia has received considerable

attention and has been publicly discussed. For some comments on the correspon-
dence in which it figured, see A. S. Russell in The Listener, x, no. 238 (2 August

1933), P- l62-

639. J. H. Van der Hoop, Character and the Unconscious, trans. E. Trevelyan,
pp. 9-1 1.

The first few chapters of this useful little volume contain a simple summary of
psycho-analytical origins.

640. Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psycho- Analysis, trans. J. Riviere,
pp. 235-6.

641. W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, p. 169.

642. Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psycho- Analysis, trans. J.
Riviere, p. 247 f.

643. J. H. Van der Hoop, Character and the Unconscious, trans. E. Trevelyan,
pp. 58-9, 61.

644. W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, pp. 10-11.

645. Trigant Burrow, The Social Basis of Consciousness, pp. 3, 17, 52, 70.

646. C. G. Darwin, The New Conceptions of Matter, pp. 101-2.

I accept the existence of the Uncertainty Principle merely for the sake of argu-
ment. I am not yet persuaded that the experimental evidence has been correctly
interpreted, and am not impressed by the arguments used by Sir James Jeans in
his The New Background of Science, pp. 212 fL, 220, 231 fT. Nor can I see that the
conclusion of Sir Arthur Eddington {The Nature of the Physical World, p. 220)
necessarily follows from the experimental premise. The Uncertainty Principle
seems to be deduced from our inability to measure exactly the velocity of an
electron and at the same time to locate its position exactly. The conclusions drawn
from this fact seem to be supported by the appearance of the electron sometimes
as a particle, sometimes as a wave. I myself do not feel competent, even if it were
advisable, to discuss those conclusions in detail, but I shall contemplate a more
extended defence of determinism (as I understand it) if in the opinion of competent
critics the Uncertainty Principle vitiates my conclusions in regard to the behaviour
of human societies. At present my point is that although we cannot prophesy
the future behaviour of a single electron, the behaviour of a mass of electrons can
be prophesied with assurance. In a similar manner the future behaviour of a single
individual man is uncertain, but the behaviour of a mass of individuals, that is, of
a human society, is determined. See also para. 175.

§646 NOTES AND REFERENCES 601

By determinism I mean simply that the behaviour of any event is dependent
on its inherent nature. Such determinism is not necessarily mechanical, in the
sense in which our Victorian forefathers used the word, but we cannot say that it
is not mechanical, because we do not know what we mean by mechanics. As
Professor A. N. Whitehead has said {Science and the Modern World, p. 21), 'What
is the sense of talking about a mechanical explanation when you do not know the
meaning of mechanics?' It seems quite possible that when wave-mechanics have
been perfected, the universe will once again be called mechanical, but in the mean-
time the word cannot be used, for it means nothing. Determinism, however,
remains, its doctrine denoting that in behaving in the observed manner the event
cannot help itself. Thus two molecules of hydrogen, when combined with one
molecule of oxygen, must produce water, and have no choice in the matter.
Similarly water, when heated to the requisite degree, cannot help becoming steam.
In each case the behaviour, and therefore the result, is determined. And it cannot
be too greatly emphasized that the final argument in favour of determinism is the
demonstrable truth of scientific predictions, based on observation and experiment.
An inability to predict, however, is not necessarily an argument in favour of
indeterminism ; it may merely be proof of our ignorance or incapacity. In the case
of the electron the latter appears to be the case.

We do not know what an electron is; nor do we know what forces maintain it
as an entity. All we know is that it is a vital, important, perhaps ultimate, constituent
of matter, and that it has a different appearance under different conditions. To ask,
concerning an electron, where in the wave the particle is, to conclude that it may
be anywhere, to call it 'a wave of probability', and then to credit it with free-will
and spontaneity, and then to treat this conclusion as a reason for dismissing
inevitability from the physical world — such arguments seem to me a betrayal of
the human reason.

Mathematics, once the handmaid of science, seems to have become its mistress,
and to be disturbing the whole scientific household. The question seems to arise
whether the electron, being known to exist, but incapable of direct or even indirect
measurement, and being smaller than the wave-length of light, comes within the
domain of physical science. Physics is the study of behaviour in the physical world,
but our very study of the electron alters its behaviour. How, then, can we discover
what that behaviour is ?

Some of the arguments of the indeterminists, as well as their methods of reason-
ing, have been well criticized by Professor H. Levy in his The Universe of Science
(London, 1932). Professor Levy's remarks on the use of mathematical symbols,
and on the dangers of 'false isolates', seem to deserve greater attention than they
have yet received. But it is pleasant to know that some mathematical physicists,
notably Sir James Jeans and Sir Arthur Eddington, having had the temerity to pass
from physics to metaphysics, from the study of Process to speculations about
Purpose and Reality, have been roughly handled not only in the philosophical
journals but also by C. E. M. Joad in his Philosophical Aspects of Modern Science
(London, 1932), and W. R. Inge in his God and the Astronomers (London, 1933).

I take it that when writing for laymen the physicists do not feel bound, and are
perhaps unable, to confine their phraseology within the limits of accuracy and
precision demanded by their fellow workers, so they think they can use with
impunity, may even think they are compelled to use, such phrases as 'the atom
chooses', 'the electron knows', &c. Yet I cannot help regarding such language as
a danger to clear thinking. Am I wrong when I mentally rewrite the first phrase,
and say, 'It is part of the inherent nature of the atom to . . .' ?

My suggestion, then, is that a deterministic conclusion in regard to the behaviour
of a human society is as valid as a deterministic conclusion in regard to a chemical
element (a comparison between them is by no means fanciful) and that the relation

602 NOTES AND REFERENCES §647

between an individual and the society of which it is a member is similar to the
relation between an electron and the element of which it forms a part. And
I believe that students of human affairs have overlooked the truth of the matter
because hitherto they have tended to study individuals instead of societies. The
result is that social science has made little headway. But where would physicists
be if they had begun to study the electron ? Surely they would have concluded
that there could be no such thing as physical science. At any rate they would
never have begun to conquer the physical world. It is the same, I submit, in
human affairs. Having begun by studying the individual we have either refused
to acknowledge the existence of social science or failed to take a single step in the
road that leads to the control of our cultural destiny. The correct method is the
converse of the one that is usually adopted. We must first study human societies
as organized units, and disregard the caprice of the individuals composing them.
In this manner we may hope to obtain some knowledge of, and then to be able to
control, some of the forces that are continually acting upon and within us.

It is necessary to add that my remarks in regard to the Uncertainty Principle
should not be understood as referring either to the Law of Entropy, which seems
to be a valid induction, or to the doctrine of emergence, which, so far as science is
concerned, is a convenient way of denoting a collection of observed data. Neither
of these affects the doctrine of determinism as stated above.

For entropy, see n. 712.

647. W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, pp. 38, 156-7; S. Freud,
Introductory Lectures on Psycho- Analysis, trans. J. Riviere, p. 17.

For regression, see W. H. R. Rivers, op. cit., pp. 65, 148, 155 ; S. Freud, op. cit.,
pp. 285-9.

Dr. Rivers employs the word 'suppression' in addition to 'repression', denoting
thereby the state which an act of repression produces. The distinction is nice, but
Dr. Rivers is not uniform in his use of the terms; e.g. he employs 'suppression' to
denote the act of repression in op. cit., p. 38, &c.

Dr. Freud's suggestions have been mentioned, apparently with approval, by
W. MacDougall, An Introduction to Social Psychology, pp. 34°-7-

648. J. G. Frazer, Lectures on the Early History of the Kingship, p. 86.

649. W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, pp. i57-8-

650. See C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious, pp. 145, J5o; J- H- Van der
Hoop, Character and the Unconscious, pp. 102-3 et saepe.

Cp. C. Lloyd Morgan, Instinct and Experience, pp. 50-1 . Professor Lloyd Morgan
defines instinct as congenital and intelligence as acquired behaviour. He considers
that intelligence is not operative unless there is some modification of instinctive
tendencies.

651. W. James, Pragmatism, p. 6.

652. In saying this I am relying not only upon the coincident facts presented
symbolically in the Chart of Evidence (Appendix I), but also upon the historical
evidence, some of which is summarized in paras. 169-73.

I have discussed some of the historical facts from two different points of view in
my 'Monogamy as a Condition of Social Energy', Hibbert Journal, xxv (1927),
pp. 662-77, and in my 'Marriage in Cultural History', Hibbert Journal, xxvi (1928),
PP. 695-706. There is much that I should like to alter in these youthful essays
but to their main theses I adhere. In some passages of the former essay I expressed
some opinions concerning the customs of uncivilized peoples. To these opinions
I can no longer subscribe. They were based upon a study of comparative social

§653 NOTES AND REFERENCES 603

anthropology, not upon the original sources. Subsequent research has persuaded
me that most of the conclusions reached by comparative methods are unsound.

653. Some students have maintained that climatic conditions, economic oppor-
tunity, and geographical situation are factors which exert a controlling influence on
any display of social energy. Thus Mr. Ellsworth Huntingdon, in Climate and
Civilisation, p. 387, considers that 'climate ranks with social inheritance and cul-
tural development as one of the three great factors in determining the conditions of
civilisation'. The passage is not notable for the precise character of its meaning,
and I do not know the definitions which Mr. Huntingdon attaches to such phrases
as 'cultural development' and 'conditions of civilisation'. If by the latter phrase he
refers to the variety within the cultural pattern (in my sense of the term) no one
would gainsay him ; but he may have intended to maintain that social energy can
be displayed only under certain climatic conditions. This opinion is untenable.
The geographical areas in which outbursts of social energy have taken place include
the valley of the Nile and that of the Euphrates, northern India, eastern China,
Mexico, northern Africa, Asia Minor, Persia, North America, and southern and
western Europe. In most of these areas social energy has been displayed in varying
degrees of intensity as century has succeeded century. There is no evidence that
the climate has undergone corresponding changes. Moreover, within the society
separate groups have displayed unequal energy, that of some groups increasing at
the time when that of other groups was decreasing. Furthermore, societies which
within living memory have lived in the same geographical area have exhibited
various degrees of social energy.

654. See J. H. Driberg, The Savage as he really is, pp. 9-10.

655. Dr. F. Galton, applying to the cultural process a conclusion based on the
study of the biological process, published a study in Hereditary Genius. The
numerous exceptions to his vague generalizations reveal the unreliable character
of his conclusions. My suggestion is that it may have been the character and
behaviour of the mother which decided whether or not a male child would be
as productively energetic as his father.

The preconceived notions of nineteenth-century students are especially apparent
in eugenist arguments, most of which are vitiated by a confusion between the
biological and cultural processes. Moreover, few eugenists have defined what they
mean by such phrases as 'good stock', 'fine man', 'genius', &c. They have never
inquired into the influence which a mother has upon the character of her children,
their outlook on the problem being limited by their apparent acceptance of the
feudal custom of primogeniture as a factor in the cultural process. If the facts
which Galton studied were considered from the point of view that I have suggested,
much that is puzzling might become clearer. The trouble is that, since most of our
Social history has been written by men whose minds were soaked with the idea of
Datrilineal heredity, the information is probably scanty. We may see, however, some
of the influence of the female if we examine the character of the sons of an energetic
!nan who, being a member of a monogamous society, married twice. In these
:ases the quality of the sons seems to have varied according to the character of their
nothers. I will mention a few cases which come within my knowledge. They
occurred in the dominant Roman families of the fourth century a.d.

Constantius Chlorus married, first, Helena, who is said to have been the daughter
)f an inn-keeper. At the bidding of Diocletian he divorced Helena, and married
itneodosia, the step-daughter of Maximian. Helena's son was the mighty Con-
tantine the Great; none of Theodosia's sons by Constantius Chlorus possessed any
trength of character. Constantine the Great also married twice, his first wife,
Vlinervina, being of lowly birth. His second wife, Fausta, was the youngest daughter

6o4 NOTES AND REFERENCES §656

of Maximian and half-sister of his own step-mother, Theodosia. Minervina's son j
was Crispus who in his short life revealed himself as a man of exceptional ability;
the character of Fausta's sons was very different from that of their father. A similar
result ensued from a similar situation in the next generation. The son whom Galla
bore to Julius Constantius was the incapable Gallus ; his son from Basihna was the
eminent, poetry-loving, yet warlike Julian, the great lover of Hellas and enemy of
Christianity. Again, the colourless Flacilla bore two incapable sons to Theodosius
the Great; Galla gave him the energetic, able Galla Placidia.

Attention has been drawn to these facts by G. F. Young, East and West through
Fifteen Centuries, i. 463-4, 57, but too much stress should not be laid upon them.

The explanation which occurs to my mind is this. When a woman has been
brought up in an atmosphere of sexual continence and compelled to check her early
sexual desires, her unsatisfied impulses are expressed in another way, first in cul-
tured occupations, secondly, in her care for her children, who represent to her one
of the few things that her life has afforded to her. There is no reason to think that
in a state of nature a woman retains any but an economic interest in her sons
after she has weaned them; indeed the evidence points the other way. If, however,
her natural instincts have been checked by her cultural environment, her innate
desires are 'sublimated' (para. 155), chief among these sublimatory methods of
expression being an attention to her sons after they are weaned. Usually any limita-
tion in the satisfaction of innate desires is imposed by the marriage laws, so usually
in the past fine men have been the sons of closely confined married women, whose
adolescent impulses were sternly checked. There is no virtue, however, in any
marriage law, as such. So far as the production of an energetic generation is con-
cerned the marriage law is only important because it reduces sexual opportunity.
For this reason many fine men have been bastards. In these cases, I believe the
mothers have been reared in an atmosphere of intense compulsory continence, have
broken loose on one occasion, and upon their sons, being born, they have spent
their sublimated energies. If these women had been members of a sexually free
society their energies would have been expressed in a direct sexual manner
Bastards are able and energetic only when their mothers are members of a social
group which suffers intense compulsory continence. Bastard sons of women reared
in an atmosphere of sexual freedom do not excel.

An extended inquiry on these lines would be valuable. Abundant evidence,
anthropological and historical, is readily accessible.

656. A. S. Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World, p. 20. See also op. cit.,
pp. 15, 61, 112, &c.

657. For the changes in Greek medical methods, see E. T. Withington, 'The
History of Greek Therapeutics', in W. H. S. Jones, Malaria and Greek History,
pp. 137 f., 182-4.

658. C. Lloyd Morgan, Instinct and Experience, pp. 1 18-19.

659. This is dangerous ground, yet it would be cowardly to shirk the issue.
Usually the physical attributes of a man are regarded as material for biology and
biochemistry. I accept the implication that there is a close relation between
the chemical structure of any human organism and its culture ; but the cultura
evidence conflicts with the idea that its mental energy is controlled by the chemical

constitution. _ . ,

A good example of alleged 'racial' characteristics being modified by cu^tural
influences is afforded by comparing two modern societies, those of the French and
Germans. By some scholars they are regarded as belonging to different races, the
Latin and Teutonic respectively. This supposed racial difference is accepted as the
'explanation' of their cultural differences. (The cultural differences, of course,

§660 NOTES AND REFERENCES 605

consist of a variety within the pattern.) Yet originally the French, like the Germans,
were Teutonic, for they are descended from the Teutonic Franks and Burgundians,
who 1,500 years ago were of the same racial stock as the Goths and the Allemanni.
The Franks, however, were early converts to Christianity, and preserved the
Catholic tradition in western Europe while the remainder of their Teutonic brethren
either remained pagan or assumed Arian Christianity. Thus for 1,500 years the
Teutonic Franks have been subjected to a Roman or Latin tradition. Now they
appear not as Teutons but as 'Latins'. The same is true of the Teutonic Lom-
bards. Cp. the excellent remarks of O. Spengler, The Decline of the West, ii. 117 ff.,
esp. 124.

Sometimes it is hard to resist the conclusion that sexual regulations influence the
physical type. Thus it is usual to regard the Baganda and the Bakitara as a product
of an intermixture between a negro race and the Bahima (n. no). Yet under the
same climatic conditions the racial admixture has had diverse results. Among
the Baganda the more delicate features of Bahima have been preserved ; among the
Bakitara a shorter and coarser type has appeared. The sexual regulations of the
Baganda were strict, and probably at one time more strict than they were at the time
to which our information applies (para. 166); among the Bakitara post-nuptial
sexual regulations were loose.

Other cases of such coincident divergence could be quoted. Thus among the
Maori the physical type varied between a refined lighter type and a coarser darker
type. The Maori sexual regulations appear to have become more lax in the years
which immediately preceded the white man's arrival in their country (para. 166),
and it is tempting to suggest that the refined physical types were produced by those
families which preserved the old tradition. Just as among the Bakitara (n. no)
there were still to be found some specimens akin to the Muhima type, so some
Maori clans may have continued to breed those types which were common before
the lax sexual regulations became part of the inherited tradition of the other clans.

660. In any discussion of incestuous relations, all reports of an alleged brother-
sister marriage must be received with caution.

In the first place, the words which are translated 'brother' and 'sister' may have
been classificatory, not descriptive. Thus a report that brother-sister marriage was
permissible may be due to a mistranslation of terms which were applied not only
to blood-brothers and blood-sisters but also to those whom we call first cousins.
Secondly, even if a brother-sister marriage, in our sense of those words, existed,
sually it was permitted only between children of the same father and different
lothers. This was the case among the ruling families of Ankole, Kitara, and
Uganda (nn. 117, 126, 131).

It seems possible that in all these cases the 'king' married his half-sister for
olitical reasons only. It is even possible that at one time they did not have sexual
elations. Even in recent times the courts of the Uganda kabaka and lubuga had to
e separated by a running stream. The 'queen' does not seem to have been the
king's' wife in our sense of the term.

We are careless in our use of such words as 'wife' and 'married'. We translate
1 native word by these English equivalents and then we credit the native words
vith the meaning which we attach to them. Yet often the native terms conveyed
.n idea which we cannot express. Thus among the Baganda (para. 39) a female
nedium, mandwa, when she was first possessed by the ghost, was said to be kuwasa.
This is said to have meant 'married to the god', but we cannot credit kuwasa with
he meaning which we attach to its alleged English equivalent.

I believe that many reports of women being the 'wives' of gods are vitiated by
imilar errors. Often they have been interpreted as implying that the women were
>rostitutes.

/

6o6

NOTES AND REFERENCES

661. The geometrical method of presenting these divergences was suggested to
me by a perusal of R. H. Towner, Philosophy of Civilisation, ii. 266-7. The second
volume of Mr. Towner's book contains many suggestive passages. The quality of
the first volume is uneven.

For a description of the group-consciousness of chimpanzees, see W. Kohler,
The Mentality of Apes, pp. 282 ff.

662. This applies to the African and Melanesian societies but not to all the
Polynesian societies. See Appendix IV. It is possible to suggest many reasons for
this difference between African and Polynesian culture, but they would have only
a conjectural value.

663. See J. H. Driberg, The Savage as he really is, pp. 66-9.

665. J. Roscoe, The Bakitara, p. 265.

666. H. H. Johnston, The Uganda Protectorate, p. 685. See also J. Roscoe, The
Baganda, p. 442-3.

667. J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 10, 261-3.

668. See J. Roscoe, The Baganda, pp. 83 (for ritualistic duties), 86-7 (for early
limitation to three wives and later extension of the number of wives).

669. See J. Roscoe, The Baganda, p. 10; H. H. Johnston, The Uganda Pro-
tectorate, p. 642; C. T. Wilson and R. W. Felkin, Uganda and the Egyptian
Soudan, i. 186.

The behaviour of the Uganda women is reminiscent of that of the Athenian
native-born women in the fifth century B.C. (para. 170). In each case the closely
confined wives, lacking satisfaction, broke bounds; in each case their husbands
received their satisfaction from other women.

670. In this connexion it is worth noting a few of the many explicit reports con-
cerning the loss of mental energy after puberty:

'A certain degree of precocity is apparent in young boys and is noticeably lost
when they arrive at the age of puberty when sexual excess seems to reduce them to j
a state of, in many cases, senile imbecility. From this they may recover, or on the
other hand they may remain certainly not so bright as when they were boys' (H. S.
Stannus, 'Notes on some Tribes of British Central Africa', J.R.A.I. xl (1910),

P- 295)-

'Up to the age of puberty black children educated with white show much the same
intelligence' (C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, The Great Plateau of Northern
Rhodesia, p. 132).

'The vivacity of mind and rapidity of comprehension decreases at the age of
fifteen or sixteen' (H. A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe, i. 99).

'Maori children show quite remarkable intelligence and aptitude at school, until
at a certain period of development their aptitude or application seems to decrease'
(E. Best, 'Maori Religion and Mythology', N.Z. Dom. Mus. Bull, No. 10, p. 17).

Best quotes Mr. A. H. Keane's suggestion that 'the growth of the brain is arrested
by the premature closing of the cranial sutures and lateral pressure of the frontal
bones'. This statement is typical of those who confuse the biological and the cul-
tural processes. In the first place, there is no evidence that the size of the brain
bears any relation to the mental energy of the organism. Secondly, before we can
even consider Keane's suggestion, we must be supplied with evidence that aptitude
and application depend upon the cranial structure and that the physiological
phenomena referred to have been observed among undeveloped societies and have
been absent among the cultivated members of advanced societies. No such evidence
has yet been forthcoming.

§671 NOTES AND REFERENCES 607

Keane's opinion is cited also by Messrs. Gouldsbury and Sheane, who express
their distrust of it, stating that in their opinion the 'strongest bar' to the continued
development of mental power is sexual indulgence.

671. For the effect of Christian teaching on the sexual regulations of uncivilized
peoples, see paras. 20, 29, 91, nn. 163, 460.

The closely confined nature of life among the lower classes during the so-called
Middle Ages is emphasized by G. M. Trevelyan in History of England, pp. 106-7.
But in spite of Professor Trevelyan's liberal manner of presenting the evidence,
the fact remains that, when one group of men dominates another, it is because the
first displays a greater energy than the second. Its dominion comes to an end when
either its own energy decreases or that of its subjects increases. The villeins were
victimized because they had less energy than their masters ; they continued to sub-
mit for so long as a more energetic group imposed itself upon them. There are
two parties to every contract and in every relationship.

The evidence in regard to monasticism is troubled and confused. For some
comments on the few data mentioned in the text, see G. C. Perry, History of the
Church of England, pp. 60, 76-7, 95, 136; J. M. Kemble, Saxons in England, ii.
45 1-3 I J- Thrupp, Anglo-Saxon Home, pp. 65-6, 212, 220 ; Eileen Power, Mediaeval
English Nunneries, pp. 4-6.

For the conduct of the ladies at the tourneys, see J. R. Green, A Short History
of the English People, p. 238.

The question of what constituted a valid Christian marriage was a matter of
debate. At first the Christians in Rome adopted later Roman usage: Nuptias non
concubinnatus sed consensus facit (Ulpian). Yet they could not admit that a union
created by mutual consent could be broken in the same way. When the rough
Teutons were converted, a new problem arose as to whether or not an unconsum-
mated marriage could be dissolved. If so, marriage was not indissoluble; if not,
mutual consent was not the sole criterion. The dilemma seems to have been solved
by the provision that an unconsummated marriage was null and void. See O. D.
Watkins, Holy Matrimony, pp. 1 17-19.

For some comments on the extent of the prohibited degrees, see H. D. Morgan,
The Doctrine and Law of Marriage, Adultery and Divorce, i. 136 ff.; G. E. Howard,
History of Matrimonial Institutions, ii. 36, 59; J. C. Jeaffreson, Brides and Bridals,
i. 108, ii. no, 309-10; W. E. H. Lecky, Democracy and Liberty, ii. 193-6; A. R.
Cleveland, Women under English Law, pp. 123, 145.

According to G. M. Trevelyan, History of England, p. 307, n. 2, 'there were never
more than about 2,000 nuns in mediaeval England'. These nuns, he says, 'were
to a large extent aristocratic and well to do in their origin and connections'. We
have no information concerning the number of such families, but I venture to think
that the estimate of 2,000 represents a large proportion of their womenfolk. For
further comments on this question, see my Sexual Regulations and Human Behaviour,
p. 104.

672. M. Jastrow, 'The Older and Later Elements in the Code of Hammurabi',
J.A.O.S. xxxvi (1917), p. 32. See also L. W. King, History of Babylon, p. 160;
H. R. Hall, The Ancient History of the Near East, p. 197 and n. 4, &c.

For a full bibliography of the enormous literature on the Hammurabi Code, see
C. H. W. Johns, 'The Laws of Babylonia and the Laws of the Hebrew Peoples',
Schweich Lectures (191 2).

For an analysis of the structure of the Code, see D. G. Lyon, 'The Structure of
the Hammurabi Code', J.A.O.S. xxv (1904), pp. 248-65.

The date of publication is given by Professor S. H. Langdon in 'The Sumerian
Law Code compared with the Code of Hammurabi', J.R.A.S. (1920), p. 489.

The early Babylonians regarded their laws as the word of their god, the ruler

6q8 NOTES AND REFERENCES §673

of the city being the mouthpiece of the god. Thus no law could be annulled; it
could merely be modified by later enactments which were of the same divine origin.
The idea is a familiar one throughout history.

673. See M. Jastrow, 'The Older and Later Elements in the Hammurabi Code',
J A.O.S. xxxvi (1917), p. 3; idem, The Civilisation of Babylonia and Assyria, pp.
302-3, 309; S. A. Cook, The Law of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi, p. 129;
C. H.'w. Johns, Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters, pp. 41-2,
134, 148; L. Delaporte, Mesopotamia, pp. 76, 80.

674. Code of Hammurabi, sections 117, 151 (for limitation and cancellation of
marital power), 141 (for prosecution by husband), 142, 143 (for wife's Power t0
withhold conjugal rights). .

I have used the translation of C. H. W. Johns in Babylonian and Assyrian Laws,

Contracts and Letters, pp. 44-68.

By Neo-Babylonian times seriktu and nudunnu had exchanged meanings. See
C. H. W. Johns, op. cit., p. 131 ; L. Delaporte, Mesopotamia, p. 75.

675. Code of Hammurabi, sections 168-9; M. Jastrow, 'The Older and Later
Elements in the Hammurabi Code', J.A.O.S. xxxvi (1917), P- 3°-

676. Code of Hammurabi, sections 138-40, 148-9, 171-*. r77- We cannot always
tell if every divorced woman was allowed to remarry. In early days the husband's
permission may have been necessary, as in the case of Shamash-rabi, quoted in
The Cambridge Ancient History, i. 525. Later remarriage seems to have been taken
for granted, as in the example given by S. A. Cook, The Law of Moses and the Code
of Hammurabi, p. 123, where a woman remarried during the lifetime of her former
husband.

The situation brought about by a childless marriage was met by a custom
whereby a barren wife gave her husband a handmaid whose children, having been
acknowledged by him, were his legal heirs. Their mother was still a slave, however;
she was not allowed to place herself on a level with her mistress. If a barren wife
refused to give her husband a handmaid, he was permitted to bring another woman
into the house. This second but inferior 'wife' was a free woman. No husband could
introduce a second woman if his wife gave him a handmaid.

There is some confusion in the translation of the Code between the 'concubine'
and the 'handmaid', and between the 'wife' and the 'votary'. Votaries were women
who were attached to the temple. There seem to have been various grades within
the order; the votaries in some of the grades were not allowed to bear children.
For a discussion of their status and duties, see D. D. Luckenbill, 'The Temple-
Women of the Code of Hammurabi', A.J.S.L. xxxvi (1917), PP- 1-12 5 D- G-
Lyon 'The Consecrated Women of the Hammurabi Code', Studies in the History
of Religion Presented to C. H. Toy, pp. 341 *?. It is impossible to say how far the
regulations in regard to 'concubinage' applied only to men who married votaries.
Nor can an exact opinion concerning concubinage be expressed by any one
unfamiliar with the subtleties of cuneiform. Two things are certain; first, m their
early days the Babylonians were absolutely monogamous; secondly, in later days
a second marriage invalidated the first.

See also A. H. Sayce, Babylonian and Assyrian Life and Customs, p. 27 ; E. Wester-
marck, The History of Human Marriage, iii. 41. Both these writers emphasize the
monogamous character of Babylonian marriage. ?

The case of bigamy mentioned in n. 25 was unique. Sir James Frazer s inter-
pretation of it is inadmissible.

677. Code of Hammurabi, sections 15 1-2.

The contract is quoted in The Cambridge Ancient History, i. 524. It is the custom

§678 NOTES AND REFERENCES 609

among historians to translate these contracts very literally. The result is a some-
what archaic rendering of what was a civilized document. I have presumed to
simplify the English.

678. See (1) for the old Sumerian Family Laws, C. H. W. Johns, Babylonian and
Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters, pp. 39-43.

(2) for the Sumerian Code, S. H. Langdon, 'The Sumerian Law Code com-
pared with the Code of Hammurabi', J.R.A.S. (1920), p. 493 ; A. T. Clay, 'Sumerian
Prototype of the Hammurabi Code', Yale Oriental Series, Babylonian Texts, i. 18-27.

(3) for a case in which a son departed of his own will, taking his share of the
estate, S. A. Cook, The Law of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi, p. 135, the incident
taking place in the time of Rim-sin.

(4) for social conditions in Ur, F. Pelagaud, 'Jurisdiction in the days of the
Kings of Ur', Babyloniaca, iii. 83 ff.

The Sumerians seem to have dealt with the situation created by a childless
marriage in the same way as the Babylonians. Here also difficulties (referred to in
n. 676) arise in connexion with the words translated 'wife', &c.

Sections 12, 13, and 15 of Professor Langdon's translation appear to correspond
to sections 167, 171, and 175 of the Hammurabi Code.

679. L. W. King, History of Sumer and Akkad, pp. 183-4.

680. E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, iii. 318.

681. L. Beauchet, Histoire du droit prive dans la republique athenienne, i. 34-6,
112 f., 120, 132-4, 157, 379; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitatum Romanorum
quae supersunt, i. 30, 35; Aristotle, Politics, ii. 8; A. E. Zimmern, Greek Common-
wealth, pp. 69-72; W. A. Becker, Charicles, trans. F. Metcalfe, pp. 475-6; J.
Donaldson, Woman: her position and influence in ancient Greece and Rome, p. 51;
W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals, ii. 294-5.

682. See (1) for Agarista, Herodotus, vi. 126-30.

(2) for the dowry, G. Glotz, La Solidarite de la famille dans le droit criminel en
Grece, p. 35; L. Beauchet, Histoire du droit prive dans la republique athenienne, i.
127-8, 289, 317, 331.

Also G. Grote, History of Greece, ii. 83 n.; W. E. H. Lecky, History of European
Morals, ii. 293; E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, ii. 420, 427-8;
L. T. Hobhouse, Morals in Evolution, p. 204.

Sometimes some authors tend to confuse the bride-price and the dowry. Perhaps
the confusion is due to the fact that e8va was used in both senses. I rely chiefly
on Beauchet.

683. Plutarch, Solon, xx-xxiii; idem, Cimon, iv; J. P. MahafTy, Social Life in
Greece, pp. 141, 146, 151, 215 f.

The facts about the wives and mistresses of Pisistratus can be gleaned from
Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, xvii; Thucydides, i. 20; Herodotus, i. 61.

Our comparative ignorance of Athenian law compels us to search for odd scraps
f evidence in the native writings. None of the more detailed histories of Greece
an indisputable authority concerning the social conditions prevailing in any class
)f society. Either it reveals a political bias or the author makes a moral judgement.
Thus both Gillies and Mitford rail against the evils of democracy, while the erudite
jrote wrote his voluminous work with the express intention of dispelling these
mpressions and of upholding the blessings of that form of government. In present-
g their ideas these historians were reflecting, in an undue measure, the cultural
pisodes of their own time. Similarly a twentieth-century writer who adopted the
ame technique would lay less emphasis on the social and more emphasis on the
conomic conditions, for now economic considerations are uppermost in our minds.

R r

6io NOTES AND REFERENCES §684

The miserable picture of the fourth century painted by Curtius (History of Greece,
trans. A. W. Ward, iv. 69 ff., v. 115 ff.) is criticized by Holm (History of Greece,
trans. F. Clarke, iv. 57, 156, &c), but the controversy seems forced. It is a matter
of opinion, not of fact, whether or not one decade is more immoral than another,
for all moral judgements are relative to the standards of the judge. See further
para. 159-

684. L. Beauchet, Histoire du droit prive dans la re'publique athe'nienne, i. 388;
W. A. Becker, Charicles, trans. F. Metcalfe, pp. 465, 473~4, 476ff.; Xenophon,
Econ. iii. 13, vii. 5; J. Donaldson, Woman: her position and influence in ancient
Greece and Rome, pp. 51-2; A. E. Zimmern, Greek Commonwealth, pp. 328-30 (for
discussion of infanticide); H. Blumner, Home Life of the Ancient Greeks, trans.
A. E. Zimmern, pp. 170 ff., &c.

685. For divorce, see L. Beauchet, Histoire du droit prive dans la re'publique
athe'nienne, i. 378, 381, 387; G. E. Howard, History of Matrimonial Institutions, i.

239. .

We do not know the exact formalities in the case of an application on the part of

the wife. It seems that she took her case to the "Ap^ojv, who judged the adequacy
of the plea ; but it is not clear whether the wife pleaded on her own behalf or whether
her Kvpcos pleaded for her. Apparently she could secure a divorce if her husband
lost his civic rights, or brought a harlot into the house. A successful action for
81*77 KOLKOJoecos also enabled her to file her petition. See L. Beauchet, op. cit. i. 227-
32. There is reason to believe that a wife could obtain a separation from a homo-
sexual husband, but the date of the first legal decision to that effect is uncertain.

It is possible that divorce was by mutual consent. For two special cases see
Plutarch, Pericles, xxxiv; idem, Alcibiades, viii.

For some comments on and summaries of the general conditions, see J. P. Mahaffy,
Social Life in Greece, 141-2; E. Bulwer, Athens, Its Rise and Fall, ii. 377; H.
Blumner, Home Life of the Ancient Greeks, trans. A. E. Zimmern, p. 173.

686. For the decree see A. E. Zimmern, Greek Commonwealth, pp. 336-7- The
decree was repealed in 411 B.C. and re-enacted in 403 B.C.

Translations of the speeches of Demosthenes in which the family data can be
found have been published by G. W. Botsford and E. H. Sihler in Hellenic
Civilization, pp. 510 ff.

687. G. Glotz, La Solidarite de lafamille dans le droit criminel en Grece, p. 336;
L. Beauchet, Histoire du droit prive dans la re'publique athe'nienne, i. 393 ; R. C. Jebb,
Attic Orators, ii. 318.

688. Some extracts have been translated by G. W. Botsford and E. H. Sihler,
Hellenic Civilization, pp. 471 ff. The quotations have been culled from E. F. M.
Benecke, Women in Greek Poetry, pp. 224-40.

The Middle Comedy was erotic in flavour.

689. Gaius, i. 109, 112; J. H. Muirhead, Roman Law, p. 107 (for confarreatio);
W. A. Hunter, A Historical and Systematic Exposition of Roman Law, pp. 188 ff.
(for potestas), 222 ff. (for manus), 835-6 (for agnation); R. Sohm, Institutes, trans.
J. C. Ledlie, pp. 449-50 (for agnation), 474 (for confarreatio) ; E. Poste, Institutions
Gaii, pp. 39-40 (for potestas); W. E. Hearn, Aryan Household, pp. 84 ff., 209 ff.;
C. W. L. Launspach, State and Family in Early Rome, pp. 36-7, &c.

These references are representative, not exhaustive. Most of the legal com-
mentaries contain all the necessary information.

Potestas was the power over males and females ; manus related to property and
to females. Probably in earliest times there was no difference between potestas and

§69° NOTES AND REFERENCES 611

absolute proprietorship, but by the fifth century the law of potestas had been
humanized and modified.

Gaius, i. 108, claims that manus was peculiar to Roman citizens. So far as a wife
was concerned this may have been the case, but W. E. Hearn, op. cit., pp. 143 ff
seems to disagree. Gaius, i. 155, also maintains that potestas was peculiar to the
Romans, but this must be false, for the marital and parental power which it entailed
is a common feature of absolute monogamy. Nor was the exercise of potestas by the
paterfamilias peculiar to Rome. Hearn considers that the same conditions prevailed
among all Aryan' peoples.

Apparently at one time it was common to sell a son, but a check seems to have
been placed on this practice by the XII Tables, wherein it was enacted that a father
lost his potestas if he sold his son into bondage three times. See R. Sohm op cit
p. 482. The language in which the commentators discuss this subject is 'obscure'

Por a later reference to ancient practice, see Tacitus, Annals, 13. 32

Within any period reached by historical documents a patrician husband does not
seem to have possessed over his wife the same power as over his slaves and children
A fictitious sale may have been a means of relieving a woman of manus, but from
the Roman evidence alone it is impossible to say if the fiction represented an ancient
tact. I his, however, is suggested by the comparative evidence.

Adultery and wine-drinking on the part of a wife were the least pardonable of all
offences. It seems that among the patricians a woman's relations had a voice in her
punishment. Perhaps we are to understand that the social position of women had
risen, but the commentators and historians are not helpful. First, they tend to
confuse the social position of a woman with her legal status. Secondly, they assume
that the conditions which prevailed in one century (concerning which we possess
evidence) were characteristic of the preceding or of the succeeding century (of
which there may be no direct evidence). Thirdly, they are inclined to take it for
granted that the evidence concerning the habits of one social stratum applies to the
whole society. Both these assumptions are false, the truth being that in those days
social conditions were changing as they are changing here now, the habits of the
various social strata being diverse at any particular period. Cp. para. 170 and nn
701, 702.

Adultery, use of false keys, and attempted poisoning were regarded as grounds
for repudiation. Plutarch credits the regulations to Romulus.

690. See Gaius, i. 56, 113; E. Poste, Institutiones Gaii, p. 70; J. H. Muirhead
Roman Law, pp. 60, 80, 105; R. Sohm, Institutes, pp. 454, 456; W. A. Hunter A
Historical and Systematic Exposition of Roman Law, pp. 19, 25, 225-6.

Sohm seems to think that marriage by usus introduced rnarriage without manus
Doubtless Lord Bryce, in Studies in History and Jurisprudence, ii. 388 (and, follow-
ing him, L. T. Hobhouse, Morals in Evolution, p. 208), based his conclusions on
:hose of this commentator. I am unable to agree, for the argument implies the
dentification of marriage by usus with the 'free' marriage of the ius gentium. These
wo forms of union were of a totally different character. Fundamentally usus was
lot a form of marriage but a method of obtaining, or incurring, manus. Under the
narnage regulations of the ius gentium, manus did not exist. The idea that the
>atricians of the fifth century were prepared to sanction marriage without manus is
>reposterous.

My description of the manner in which usus, as applied to a sexual union, came
0 be included in the XII Tables, is the one which seems to suit the facts best. The
tnportant point, however, is not the manner of its appearance but that usus was
nee in operation as a means of incurring manus and then became defunct. It is
be latter fact which Sohm, Bryce, and their followers have disregarded.
W. Ihne, History of Early Rome, pp. 167-8, supports the view of B. G. Niebuhr,

6l2

NOTES AND REFERENCES

§691

History of Rome, ii. 332, in regard to the ius conubium, and gives a convincing
explanation of the structure of the XII Tables. The reported delay in, and con-
troversy which attended, the work of the Decemvirate, and the later addition of the
last two Tables, can be explained only by the supposition that the Decemvirs tried
to introduce intermarriage between the orders and were prevented from doing so
by the patricians.

G. C. Lewis, On the Credibility of Early Roman History, ii. 202, puts forward
a most remarkable theory that the prohibition of intermarriage was introduced by
the XII Tables. He makes specious but unhappy references to Cicero (de Rep. ii.
36-7) and to Livy (iv. 6).

691. If I were asked to cite the evidence, I should point to:

(1) The story of Virginia, as told by Livy, iii. 44-6, and, in a slightly different
form, by Dionysius, xi. 28 ff. Niebuhr (History, i. 208, ii. 348) accepts it as
it stands; Arnold (History, i. 295) considers it 'in the main sufficiently worthy of
belief; Mommsen (History of Rome, i. 283) includes it in a recital of fact; Ihne
(History of Rome, iv. 239) considers the father's action to have been 'characteristic'
of the times, and compares the similar cases of Maenius and Pontius. Even G. C.
Lewis, On the Credibility of Early Roman History, ii. 242, maintains that the basis
of the story is real.

(2) The statements concerning the divorce of L. Antonius in 308 B.C. as described
by Niebuhr (op. cit. iii. 354) and Ihne (op. cit. iv. 229). The point is that, if the
case of L. Antonius was as stated, it was the first known example of a repudiation
by a husband without reference to the family council. He merely did as his fancy
dictated. Lord Bryce, Studies in History and Jurisprudence, ii. 413, has a rational
explanation in regard to the native statements concerning the divorce of Sp.
Carvilius Ruga, 231 B.C., which is traditionally reputed to have been the first which
occurred in Rome. L. T. Hobhouse, Morals in Evolution, p. 209, follows Lord
Bryce without comment. He does the same in regard to usus (n. 690).

(3) The story of the poisoning by the matrons in 331 B.C., as told by Livy, viii. 18.
Cases of poisoning occurred also at the beginning of the second century, and
W. Warde Fowler, Social Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero, p. 149, considers that
the women may have murdered their husbands because they were tired of their
habitual infidelity. I do not see why the same cause should not have been in opera-
tion in 331 B.C.

I do not place a high value on this evidence, and for that reason have excluded
it from the text.

692. Livy, x. 23, 31; B. G. Niebuhr, History of Rome, iii. 10-11; W. Ihne,
History of Rome, iv. 239.

For a reference to, and description of, the manner in which young children were
reared, see Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory, xxviii.

693. J. H. Muirhead, Roman Law, pp. 215 ff.; W. A. Hunter, A Historical and
Systematic Exposition of Roman Law, pp. 35-6; R. Sohm, Institutes, trans. J. C.
Ledlie, pp. 64 ff.

694. J. H. Muirhead, Roman Law, pp. 217, 223; R. Sohm, Institutes, trans.
J. C. Ledlie, pp. 457 ff. ; Lord Bryce, Studies in History and Jurisprudence, ii. 94,
39o.

695. Tacitus, Annals, iv. 16; E. Poste, Institutiones Gaii, p. 49; W. A. Hunter,
A Historical and Systematic Exposition of Roman Law, pp. 694, 727-9; R. Sohm,
Institutes, trans. J. C. Ledlie, p. 475; Lord Bryce, Studies in History and Juris-
prudence, ii. 395 ff., 413; W. Warde Fowler, Social Life at Rome in the Age of
Cicero, pp. 147 ff.

§696 NOTES AND REFERENCES 613

696. Gaius, i. 156, 157, 190; J. H. Muirhead, Roman Law, pp. 275, 312 ff.;
W. A. Hunter, A Historical and Systematic Exposition of Roman Law, pp. 66, 191 ff.,
292, 690-1.

Under the Lex Julia, the husband of an adulteress could retain one-sixth of the
dowry, the wife of an adulterer retaining the dos in its entirety.

The whole subject of the dos is very obscure, and I have avoided all reference to
it. We do not know how and when it was introduced. If and when Sp. Carvilius
Ruga repudiated his wife, a law seems to have been mooted, perhaps enacted, that
collateral security should be given by the husband, so that in the event of a dis-
solution of the marriage the dos remained the property of the wife's people.
Augustus made the provision of a dos a compulsory item for a well-to-do parent.
In the early Empire the husband was merely a trustee for the property, enjoying
its usufruct while his marriage lasted. A donatio ante nuptias was common after the
reign of Constantine. Unlike the Babylonian nudunnu (para. 169) the donatio seems
to have remained the husband's property. Justinian ordered that if the wife
brought dos the husband must provide donatio, any increase or decrease in the one
being accompanied by a corresponding increase or decrease in the other. See
J. H. Muirhead, op. cit., pp. 106, n. 4, 223, n. 1, &c; W. A. Hunter, op. cit.,
pp. 295-7, 308-9.

697. S. Dill, Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. 39.
A full discussion of the social and economic conditions which prevailed in the

second and third centuries a.d. is to be found in M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and
Economic History of the Roman Empire, pp. i8off. The rise of the provincial
bourgeoisie is well stated in such passages as op. cit., pp. 99, 176-9, 330, 332-3,
343-4, &c.

It is hard to dismiss Dr. RostovtzefT's mighty volume in such a short note as
this.

698. See Tacitus, Germania, xvi-xviii; G. E. Howard, History of Matrimonial
Institutions, i. 159, 258-61 ; O. Schrader, art. 'Family, Teutonic', Enc. Rel. Eth.,
ed. J. Hastings, v. 749-53 ; F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, History of English Law,

ii. 399-40°.

According to Tacitus, some of the Teutonic kings possessed more than one wife,
1 not from sexual motives (non libidine) but as the result of political marriages. When
pre-nuptial chastity has been introduced into any society concerning which we have
full information, monogamy (or a limited polygamy) seems to have been usual at
first, the possession of more than one wife being a later custom. Cp. the original
monogamy of the Bakitara and the later increase of polygamy among the Baganda
(para. 166).

Most authorities agree that at one time capture was a favourite method of obtain-
ing a wife, and that marriage by purchase succeeded it. For an example of the
blood-feud which followed the capture of a woman, see Tacitus, Annals, i. 55.

In historical times the person of a woman was not purchased, only the rights
(mund) over her. The distinction is nice, and to a modern white man important;
but I doubt if there was any difference in the minds of the fifth-century Teutons.
If a man possesses the right of life and death over a woman, he would seem to
possess her person.

699. Ethelberht 75, 77, 82, 83, and Alfred 12, in B. Thorpe, Ancient Laws and
Institutes of England, i. 21, 23, 25, 47.

For the method of obtaining a wife and for the sale of the mund, see also F. Pollock
and F. W. Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 364, 444; J. C. Jeaffreson, Brides
and Bridals, i. 12 ff.; J. Thrupp, The Anglo-Saxon Home, p. 22 ; T. Wright, History
of Domestic Manners and Sentiments, p. 54; A. R. Cleveland, Women under English

6i4 NOTES AND REFERENCES §700

Law, p. 61 ; E. Young, Essays on Anglo-Saxon Law, pp. 157, 163 ; G. E. Howard,
History of Matrimonial Institutions, i. 258.

700. For beweddung and weotuma, see E. Young, Essays on Anglo-Saxon Law,
pp. 168, 172; F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 365-6.

For the rights of kindred, see F. Seebohm, Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Law,
pp. 69-72; E. Young, op. cit., pp. 124-6, 139, 144, 149; F. Pollock and F. W.
Maitland, op. cit. ii. 242.

The law of Ine (Ine 31) is translated by B. Thorpe in Ancient Laws and Institutes

of England, i. 1 1 .

701. Alfred 12 in B. Thorpe, Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, i. 47;
F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 426; E. Young, Essays
on Anglo-Saxon Law, pp. 174-5 •

The custom of morgen-gifu was practised by the Jutes in the sixth century, but
among them at that time a widow only retained her morgen-gifu if she had borne
a child. Similarly a barren wife had no claim on the estate of her deceased husband.
See Ethelberht 78, 81 in B. Thorpe, op. cit. i. 23, 25.

In the study of Anglo-Saxon law the same difficulty arises as in the study of
Hellenic institutions (para. 170) and Roman law (n. 689). The legal commentators
seem to take it for granted that a law which was in operation in the eighth century
was operative also in the sixth century. Sometimes an author will speak of Ine
(seventh century) and Cnut (eleventh century) as if they were contemporaries ; and
throughout the literature there is an underlying assumption that in the so-called
Dark Ages everything was static and primitive. J. Thrupp, The Anglo-Saxon Home,
p. 2, rightly criticizes these methods. Speaking of the social conditions under which
the Anglo-Saxons lived, he says: 'To describe them generally, without reference
to any particular period, is to portray a social state which, existing partly in one
age and partly in another, had as a whole no existence at all.'

See further n. 702.

702. Edmund 1-7, Cnut 75, in B. Thorpe, Ancient Laws and Institutes of
England, i. 255, 417; G. E. Howard, History of Matrimonial Institutions, i. 278.

For an alternative reading of Cnut's law, in reference to the sale of the mund, see
E. Young, Essays on Anglo-Saxon Law, p. 174. For a comment on the translations,
see B. Thorpe, op. cit. i. 416.

For the emancipated condition of the women, see F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland,
History of English Law, ii. 437; J. Thrupp, Tlie Anglo-Saxon Home, p. 2; A. R.
Cleveland, Women under English Law, p. 63 ; E. Young, op. cit., pp. 180-2.

A husband enjoyed the usufruct of his wife's property. In some places, or at
some time, a husband could limit his wife's enjoyment of her morgen-gifu and of
her weotuma to a life-interest. His power of alienation also seems to have varied.
It is impossible to state in what century these powers were possessed or cancelled,
for the legal historians seldom give the date of any particular ordinance. In all
probability the slight discrepancies which are apparent in their accounts arise from
the fact that they are speaking of different centuries. Messrs. Pollock and Maitland
(op. cit. ii. 399) say that the law 'amazes and bewilders', but at least some of the
bewilderment is due, I think, to the assumption that the law never changed, the
truth being that it was changing constantly.

Cp. para. 170, and nn. 689, 701.

703. For the Anglo-Saxon terminology, see J. Thrupp, The Anglo-Saxon Home,
p. 43 f. If we may judge from O. D. Watkins, Holy Matrimony, p. 108, n. 1, the
offending words were not immediately excised.

704. Ine 26, in B. Thorpe, Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, i. 119;
F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 426, 437; E- Young,

§705 NOTES AND REFERENCES 615

Essays on Anglo-Saxon Law, pp. 23-6; G. E. Howard, History of Matrimonial
Institutions, i. 281.

Tacitus, Germania, xiii, states that sons were free from the mund of their father
when they were capable of bearing arms. So far as I know, the conferment of arms
before the assembled populace has not been reported of the Anglo-Saxons in
Britain, at any rate in connexion with the cancellation of the paternal authority.

705. Even if the records were complete, a full discussion of these complicated
problems would be impossible here.

For the pagan regulations, see F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, History of English
Law, 11. 366; G. E. Howard, History of Matrimonial Institutions, i. 291, ii. 34, 39;
J. Thrupp, The Anglo-Saxon Home, pp. 62, 64; A. R. Cleveland, Women under
English Law, p. 143.

The law of Cnut (Cnut 54) is translated by B. Thorpe in Ancient Laws and
Institutes of England, i. 407.

In the matter of post-nuptial regulations, as well as in that of the position of
women (n. 701), the Jutes seem to have modified their absolute monogamy at an
earlier date than did the Anglo-Saxons. Thus Ethelberht ordained that 'if a wife
wish to go away with her children, let her have half the property; if the husband
wish to have them, let her portion be as one child'. This seems to imply a divorce
(or separation ?) by mutual consent. We do not know for how long or over what
area the law prevailed. In the following century the men of Kent were converted
to Christianity. Howard thinks that the financial penalties prevented many divorces.
See G. E. Howard, op. cit. ii. 39.

For Theodore, Howel the Good, and the Laws of the Northumbrian Priests, see
O. D. Watkins, Holy Matrimony, pp. 396-7, 400, 418, 423-5, 431-2; H. M.
Luckock, History of Marriage, pp. 195 ff.

706. For the state of affairs in the last half of the sixteenth century, and for the
'licentious' opinions of the advanced Reformers, see G. E. Howard, History of
Matrimonial Institutions, ii. 71 ff.; W. E. H. Lecky, Democracy and Liberty, ii. 200;
J. C. Jeaffreson, Brides and Bridals, ii. 315 ff.; and authorities cited in n. 671.

For the recommendation of the Commission appointed by Henry VIII to prepare
a new ecclesiastical, and therefore also matrimonial, code, see also H. D. Morgan,
The Doctrine and Law of Marriage, Adultery and Divorce, ii. 227-9 ; H. M. Luckock'
History of Marriage, p. 175. Among its recommendations the Commission sug-
gested that an adulterous husband should surrender one half of his property.

The Reformers defended their extreme views by citing and re-translating appro-
priate passages in the Bible, by recalling the laws of the Christian Roman Emperors,
'and by reverting to the principle of self-divorce, which, they maintained, did not
J contravene the teaching of the Galilean. They rendered Malachi ii. 15-16 as fol-
lows: 'Take heed to your spirit, and let none deal injuriously with the wife of his
[youth. If he hate, let him put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel.'

707. See A. R. Cleveland, Women under English Law, pp. 75, 77, 117, 135-40,
169.

' 708. Ibid., pp. 168, 232.

709. Ibid., pp. 121-2, 171, 173, 210.

710. For a discussion of the intricate facts, see H. D. Morgan, The Doctrine and
Law of Marriage, Adultery and Divorce, ii. 237 ff. ; G. E. Howard, History of Matri-
monial Institutions, ii. 102-9; H. M. Luckock, History of Marriage, pp. 178-81;
|J. C. Jeaffreson, Brides and Bridals, ii. 332 ff.; N. Geary, Marriage and Family
Relations, p. 18, &c; W. E. H. Lecky, Democracy and Liberty, ii. 200-2.

Morgan speaks of the 'accelerated ratio of increase' in the number of divorces.

6^ NOTES AND REFERENCES §711

He emphasizes the 'strength of the prejudices' against divorce, and the 'facility with
which parliamentary divorces were sought and obtained when those prejudices
were relaxed and overcome'. After the institution of parliamentary divorces, he
says, there were eight divorces in the first forty-five years, fifty in the next sixty
years, and seventy-four in the next twenty-five years. Between 1796 and 1800
twenty-nine bills were passed, and five rejected. In 1799 ten were passed, two
rejected.

According to JeafTreson, seventy divorces were granted between 1800 and 1837.
Geary says that there were sixty between 17 15 and 1775, fourteen between 1775
and 1780, and one hundred and ten between 1800 and 1852.

In every case, of course, the divorces were granted only to nobles or to landed
gentry. No one else could afford the necessary expenditure.

711. These well-known facts have been well summarized by A. R. Cleveland in
Women under English Law, pp. 219-20, 277, 281, &c.

712. By derivation (Gk. rpoTrrj) entropy denotes a change, transformation, or
turning-point. The word is used by physicists in reference to an important item
in the universal process, revealed by the second law of thermodynamics. This law
appears to give Direction to the Universal Process, and this fact has persuaded me
to use the term human entropy to denote an item which appears to show the Direc-
tion of the Cultural Process. If I have read the evidence correctly, this Direction is
towards refinement and elegance. A change of cultural condition, of course, may
be in or away from that Direction. See para. 175.

Hitherto the refinement, or transformation, of a cultural condition (together with
many other details of the cultural process) has been called 'evolution'. The vague
use of this word has severely handicapped the study of human affairs and, for the
sake of lucidity and exactitude, it is better avoided. If it had never been applied in
a pseudo-technical manner to the cultural process, the cultural process could never
have been confused with the biological process. For this confusion, noted in para.
149, Herbert Spencer and his followers cannot escape some responsibility. Each
process, of course, is an evolving one, but that only means that changes continually

occur in them. .

Herbert Spencer's conclusion in regard to the cultural process, which is still
extant in many ideas about 'progress', has been well criticized by W. R. Inge, God
and the Astronomers, pp. 23, 133 ff.

For other comments on the confusion between the biological and cultural pro-
cesses, see nn. 655, 670.

713. J. Gray, Presidential Address before Section D (Zoology), Brit. Ass. Adv.
Sc. (1933), reprinted in Nature, 28 October 1933, pp. 661-4.

714. Sometimes it is said that the leaders of the Russian revolution have banished
religion by force. In all such statements there is a confusion between religion
and a form of religion. If the new Russian oligarchy has compelled some of its
subjects to refrain from certain public religious observances, it may safely be pro-
phesied that the men and women of Russia will still manifest their inherent nature
in a manner appropriate to their case. If they are prevented from doing so in public
temples, they will conduct their rites in the privacy of their homes or in other secret
places, the nature of those rites depending on their cultural condition.

For the importance of distinguishing between religion and a form of religion,

see n. 4.

715. For Mohammed's advice in regard to wives and women, see Koran,
Sura iv. I quote from the Rev. J. M. Rodwell's translation (Everyman's Library).
Mohammed did not place a limit on the number of wives that a man could possess;

§7i5 NOTES AND REFERENCES 617

a man's course of action was left to his own sense of what was equitable. Until a
late period of his career, Mohammed himself had only one wife (Chadijah). In
taking other wives at a later date he seems to have been actuated by a desire for
male offspring.

The events alluded to in Sura iv fall between the third and fifth years after the
Flight to Medina, i.e. c. 625-7. Presumably, therefore, Mohammed's advice in
regard to wives was given at that time.

For the replacement of mot' a marriage by baal marriage, and for the introduction
of 'a doctrine of chastity' among the Semites of Arabia, see W. Robertson Smith,
Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, pp. 94, 112, 128, 167-9.

Professor Robertson Smith states that just before the time of Mohammed 'a
Meccan woman of good birth piqued herself on her chastity ; the restraint which was
originally imposed on women by their lords had come to be accepted by the wife
herself as a point of honour'. This is the manner, of course, in which chastity has
always come to be regarded as a virtue. See also para. 168.

APPENDIX I
CHART OF EVIDENCE

Society

MELANESIA

Loyalty Islanders .
Tannese
New Britons
SE. Solomon
Islanders (Ulawa
and Sa'a) .

5. Banks Islanders .

6. Fijians

7. Trobriand

Islanders .

NEW GUINEA

8. Kiwai Papuans

9. Mafulu

10. Purari

1 1 . Koita .

12. Mailu

13. Orakaiva

AFRICA

14. Shilluk

15. Dinka

16. Lango

17. Bakitara

18. Baganda

19. Banyankole

20. Akikuyu

2 1 . Akamba

22. Nandi

23. Masai

24. Wayao

25. Anyanja

26. Awemba

27. Baila .

28. Baronga

29. Amazulu

30. Basuto

31. Ibibio

32. Yoruba

33. Dahomans

34. Ashanti

c

o

3

o
o

"3

Ut

3

•!->

"3

O

M
Z
D

Z
Z

z
z
z

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

o

• — <

tc

M

M

M

D

D

M

M

M

M

Z

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

D

D

D

u

0

tj
G

03
U

Si

U ■ —

,<u o

2 O
£ x

Z

Z +
M I +

+
+
+

+

+
+
+

M? +

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+
+
+

+

+
+
+

• 1
Ui

3

03

bo

03

+ ?

=F
+

=F

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+

+

C/3
Oh

to

03

-3

u

3

O

U

7

o
2

03
T3

3
h

8

+ =F

- +

+
o

+

+
+
+
+

+

+
I -

- +

+
+

3

+
+

=F

+

+
+
+
+

- +

+
+

+
+
+
+
+
o

- +

- +

- I +

o

+

o I +

=F?

+
+

=F
+
+
+
=F
=F
=F

+
+

*c

a-
3

03

V)

03

u

■u>

a

3

3
1

0)
Ui

10

+

+ =F

+
+
+
+

+
+
=F

+
+

_ ?

+
+

1 1

.#

I *

+ +
+ I +
_#

#

#

#

#

#

#

,3

3
3
3

03
Ui
60
03
u
03

12

26, 30 I
26, 31
1 27, 32

-* 28,33
72

I 29, 341

73

74
75
76

77
78
79

+ +
+ +
+ +

82
83
84

36, 38
36, 39
36, 37
85

-* 186

87
88

97, 98 1
97, 98

91
92
93
94
95

4i,42|

4I>42|

99
100

CHART OF EVIDENCE 619

Society

Cultural condition

Treatment
of

affliction

Method

of
weather
control

Treatment
of
ghosts

Temples and priests

Pre-nuptial chastity

Paragraph numbers

Magic

Transference and /or
exorcism

Priest

Magician

Priest

Controlled by magic

Tendance

Cult

AMERICA

1

2

3

4

1

5

6

7

8

Q

10

1 1

12

-jr Tlincn't

J5 • -1 "-"git •

Z

+

—

—

0

0

—

—

—

—

—

103

if) l~Taida

Z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

—

104

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

0

105

1 8 Shim wan

\ \J • I'll 14. 0 VV CI I ' ■ •

z

+

—

—

0

0

—

—

—

—

0

106

-jo Tyillooet

z

+

—

—

0

0

—

—

—

—

0

107

ao Coast Salish

z

+

—

—

0

0

—

—

—

—

0

108

41. Klallam

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

—

109

42. Nez Perces .

z

+

—

—

+

—

+

—

—

—

—

110

ai l~)prie

*+ 1 • -L> v 1 1L • • •

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

—

in

aa Oiihwa

■ ' 1 X K-S VV CI • •

z

+

+

—

—

—

—

113

ac Rlarkffpf

»7
Lt

1

t

1

-r

114

a6 Aranaho

7

/J

1

\J

(J

T T C

ai Troouois

z

_1_
\

\J

r\
\J

t t6

1 1 U

48. Dakota

7

1

O

T T *7

117

49. Omaha

7J

J_

co Hidatsa

z

4-

1

4-

1

1 10

X X

ct lYTanflan

"\ X • 1* iclllViill I • •

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

119

ci Prow

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

119

ci. Winnebaco .

z

+

—

—

0

O

—

—

—

—

—

I20

ZA Honi

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

123

cc Znni

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

124

c6 Sia

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

125

c*7 Navahn

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

126

58. Apache

*J Mr

z

+

—

—

+

—

—

—

—

—

126

59. Chickasaw .

z

+

+

—

—

127

60. Creek

»7

£j

1

~r

1

1 40

61. Natchez

7

1

ion

62. Pima .

7

/j

4-

T ICl

63. Aztecs

T\

1

\J

1

43

OCEANIA

64. Maori

M

4-

1

4-

1

1

=P

1

#

T J > 1/

65. Tongans

D

_ ?

+

+

?

+

+

47, 5i

66. Samoans

D

+

+

+

=F

?

+

+

46, 5o

67. Tahitians

M

+

O

0

+

#

i33

68. Gilbert Islanders .

D

+

O

0

+

+

+

i34

ASSAM

60 An lMaaaQ

Z

+

+

_ ?

53, 54

70. An garni Nagas

Z

+

=F

+

53> 54

71. Lhota Nagas

Z

+

+

53, 54

72. Sema Nagas

M?

+

T

+

?

_#?

53, 54

; 73. Mikirs

Z

+

0

0

135

74. Garos

Z

+

?

+

136

75- Khasis

M

+

O

0

+

?

?

137

MISCELLANEOUS

76. Andaman Islanders

Z

+

+

138

77. Sea-Dyaks .

M?

+

+

O

0

+

=F?

_#?

139

, 78. Chukchee .

Z

+

O

0

55, 56

79. Koryak

Z

_I_

1

O

0

55, 56

80. Yukaghir

z

+

O

0

55, 56

APPENDIX II
The Cultural Scale

(para. 142)

Here the Eighty Uncivilized Societies have been
arranged on a Cultural Scale according to the
pattern of their Cultural Behaviour.

For definitions of deistic, monistic, and zoistic,
see paras. 7-8.

There was an intense variety within these
patterns.

With the entries on this Cultural Scale, com-
pare the entries on the Scale of the Limitation
of Sexual Opportunity (Appendix III).

DEISTIC

MANISTIC
CULT

MELANESIA NEW GUINEA

AFRICA

APPENDIX III

The Scale of the Limitation of
Sexual Opportunity

(para. 143)

Here the Eighty Uncivilized Societies have been
arranged on a Scale according to their Pre-nuptial
Sexual Opportunity.

For definitions of Pre-nuptial Freedom, Ir-
regular or Occasional Continence, and Pre-nuptial
Chastity, see paras. 16-19.

There was some variety within the pattern
'Irregular or Occasional Continence'.

Definite evidence exists that the regulations
of No.4,SE. Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a),
and No. 14, Shilluk, afforded a more limited
pre-nuptial sexual opportunity than those of their
neighbours, but there is no basis on which the
sexual opportunity of these two societies may be
compared.

The 'Pre-nuptial Chastity' Societies enjoyed a
varied Post-nuptial Sexual Opportunity.

With the entries on this Scale, compare the
entries on the Cultural Scale (Appendix II).

PRE-NUPTIAL
CHASTITY

IRREGULAR

OR

OCCASIONAL
CONTINENCE

PRE-NUPTIAL
FREEDOM

7^T

I

Nandi

<

a

Anyania

n

bO

3

-3

n

Akam

Masai

>

I
<

n

%
M

Baron

1

Basuti

1 1

• 1

i.

NO
ri

00

(S

fS

0

cr,

f
§

£

>oet

1

to

§

Perces

%

kfeet

>abo

uois

0

Cod'

2

8

V-

Den

Ojib

Blac

Aiaj

Iroq

Dak

w

6
5*

4

3

vo

r-

00

-r

O

1

8

5

q

i

Navah

Apjch

Chick

Creek

Natch

Pima

8
1

Maori

Tong;

8

CO

(A

VI

00

ON

%

NO

NO

-0

NO

vn
NO

r

no

MELANESIA NEW GUINEA

AFRICA

AMERICA

POLYNESIA
& MICRONESIA

APPENDIX IV
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF NATIVE TERMS

oociety

i ne

power

Word
denoting
something

Word
translated as
or applied
to 'ghost'
or 'the
dead'

source or

Para-

or powers

111 trie

unusual
or beyond

magical and
priestly power

graph
nos. 1

universe

compre-
iicnsion

MELANESIA

T i . T 1 J

i. Loyalty Islanders

haze

No definite

haze

haze

30

statement

.r roDaDly

haze

2. 1 allllcSc

unngen

unngen

7

unngen

7

unngen

3i

^5 • J. ^1 C W Ul 1 ILJIlo

T f>r\ stt/t

leuurcin

No report

tebaran

tebaran

32
33

OJC/. OUIOIIIOII

akalo

r akalo

1 akalo

7 7

akalo

ibidiiu.erb ^ kj idWa

dim i m d 1

5. rsariKS isianaers

a

VUl

tamate

vui

72

r\ t-i inn 0

D. JFlJlanS

kalou

1 7

kalou

kalou

1 7

kalou

34

/• X 1 kJUx lallU

p

No report

oaloma; kos

\r 1 1

Knowledge

73

JLoldlllicrd

(balomal)

of spells

NEW GUINEA

8. Kiwai Papuans

ebihare

ebihare

oboro

Knowledge

74

usually re-

vealed in

dreams

n TVTafnln

inol given ,

XT

JNot given,

XT

Not given

'spirits'

75

appneu

but trans-

only to

lated

something

'spirit'

unusual

10. Purari

imunu

imunu

a avaia

imunu

76

T T Km t~o

tabu}

No report

? 5wa

No report

77

12. iviaiiu

r

XT

No report

Doubtful

Possession of

78

13. Orakaiva

spens

• «\

sovai t

XT

JNJo report

•

sovai, &c.

Jrossession or

79

specinc

AFRICA

14. Shilluk

jwok

jwok

£//>o; jwok}

jwok

82

15. Dinka

jok

No report

atiep : jok

jok (of f/t?£)

81

16. Lango

jok

jok

tipo; jok

jok

84

17. Bakitara

muchwezi

No report

mizimu (pi.)

Possession of

38

mayembe or
by muzimu or

1 8. Baganda

by muchwezi

lubare

No report

mizimu (pi.)

Possession by

39

lubare

19. Banyankole

Not given

No report

mizimu (pi.)

No definite

37

20. Akikuyu

report

ngai

ngai

ngoma

ngai

85

21. Akamba

(= wgm)

( ngai

( ngai

aimu

ngai

86

\ mulungu

\ mulungu

(— ngai-

{mulungu)

22. Nandi

mulungu)

asis, 'the
sun'

No report

oiik (pi.
oiindet)

No report

87

622 COMPARATIVE TABLE OF NATIVE TERMS

Society

The
power
or powers

in the
universe

Word
denoting

something
unusual

or beyond
compre-
hension

Word
translated as
or applied
to ghost
or the
dead

Source of
magical and
priestly power

Para-
graph
nos.

AFRICA (cont.)

23. Masai

ngai

ngai

menengai

ngai

88

24. Wayao (Ajawa)

mulungu

mulungu

mulungu

? mulungu

98

lisoka (pi.

masoka)

25. Anyanja

mulungu

No report

mulungu

No report.

98

mizimu (pi.)

'Medicine'

associated

with the

unusual

26. Awemba

milungu

No report

mipashi

No report ;

9i

sometimes

'possession'

27. Baila

( leza

No report

muzhimo

musamo

92

\ musamo

(pi. mizhimo)

28. Baronga

[ shikwembu

? tilo

shikwembu

Inherited ;

93

\ tilo

(pi. psik-

tilo

wembu)

29. Amazulu

?

No report

itongo (pi.

Inherited ;

94

amatongo)

revealed in

idhlozi (pi.

dreams ;

amadhlozi)

possession

by idhlozi

30. Basuto

molimo

No report

balimo (sing.

Learnt from

95

molimo)

other prac-

titioners

31. Ibibio

1 ndemm

No report

Not given

No report

42

\ mbiam

32. Yoruba

orisha

? orisha

orisha

Priests

• 42

trained in

seminaries

33. Dahomans

vodu

? vodu

j noli

Priests and

99

\ abonsa

priestesses

trained in

seminaries.

Possession

by vodu

"7 A AQnJiritl
^) -f- • ilolldl 111

UUUj ill ft

1 > U ICLJUIL

Prt f*ct"Q CPfVPn
i. 1 IC0L0 oti VtU

t 00

(bohsum)

1 sasa

a three years*

I J W V 1 U(UV .

Possession of

or by obosum

AMERICA

or of $11171(111

35. Tlingit

yek

yek

kinayek =

yek

IO3

dead

'braves'

36. Haida

( sgana

( sgana

? sgana

sgana

IO4

\ skil

\ skil

37. Thompson

? kwalus

? kzvalus

? kzvalus

? kzvalus

I05

38. Shuswap

Native terms not quoted: culture same as that of

106

39. Lillooet

Thompson

snam

snam

snam

snam

I07

ao C^oast Salish

sulia

sulia

Not given

sulia

108

41. Klallam

tamanous

? tamanous

Not given

tamanous

109

42. Nez Perces

The native terms are not quoted

I 10

43. Dene

The native terms are not quoted

III

44. Ojibwa

munedoo

munedoo

Not given

munedoo

113

45. Blackfeet

-

The reports are confused. See n. 510

114

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF NATIVE TERMS 623

Sociptv

The
power
or powers

Word
denoting
something
unusual

w oru
translated as
or applied
to 'ghost'
or 'the
dead'

0 r

bource 01
magical ana

Para-
grapn

in the

or beyond

priestly power

nos.

universe

compre-

hension

AMERICA {cont.)

46. Arapaho

The reports are confused. See

n. 514

lie;

47. Iroquois

The native

terms are not quoted. The word orenda

116

has been translated 'magic power'. The source of

magic power is not given

48. Dakota

wakan

wakan

wagp.

wakan

117

49. Omaha

wakonda

wakonda

Not given

wakonda

118

50. Hidatsa

mahopa

mahopa

Not given

hopa

1 10

51. Mandan

mahopini

mahopini

Not given

hopini

I IQ

52. Crow

maxpe

maxpe

Not given

maxpe

119

53. Winnebago

Winnebago qopine (xopini

) = Hidatsa hopa = Mandan

120

54. Hopi

hopini = Crow maxpe.

But see para.

120.

The native terms are not quoted

12^

55. Zuni

The native terms are not quoted

124.

56. Sia

The native terms are not quoted

57. Navaho

The native terms are

confusing

126

58. Apache

See n. 553

The native terms are not quoted

126

59. Chickasaw

The native terms are not quoted

1 27

60. Creek

The native terms are not quoted

128

61. Natchez

The native terms are not quoted

129

62. Pima

The native terms are not quoted

I30

63. Aztecs

The native terms are not quoted

Priests

43

trained in

seminaries

OCEANIA

64. Maori

atua

atua

atua

atua

49

65. Tongans

otua

otua

otua

otua

50

66. Samoans

aitu

aitu

aitu

aitu

67. Tahitians

atua

No report

atua; tii

atua (of

1 ^

68. Gilbert Islanders

diviner)

atua

No report

aniti

No reliable

J34

report. Abil-

ity to recite

spells

ASSAM

69. Ao Nagas ^

tsungrem (Ao), terhoma (Angami), teghami (Sema), and

54

70. Angami Nagas 1

tsandramo (and others, e.g. potso, Lhota) have been
translated 'spirits'; these were the source of magic
power. Further elucidation is impossible

71. Lhota Nagas j

72. Sema Nagas 1

73. Mikirs

arnam

arnam

Not given

Instruction ;

135

experience ;
'spirits'

74. Garos

(arnam})

The native terms are not quoted

Knowledge of

136

75. Khasis

spells

blei

No report

Not given

One class of
magician was
sohblei

137

MISCELLANEOUS

76. Andaman Islanders

lau

? lau

lau

lau

138

77. Sea-Dyaks

( petara

( petara

i petara

(petara

139

\ antu

\ antu

\ antu

antu

78. Chukchee]

The Chukchee words vairgin ('substance'), kele ('evil spirit'),

79. Koryak >

etin ('owner of a large

natural feature'), and enen ('magic

80. Yukaghir j

power') were confused by the Chukchee, but are distinguished
by our authorities. Inferences have been presented as facts in

the reports

on the Koryak and the Yukaghir

BIBLIOGRAPHY

This Bibliography is not an exhaustive list of the publications to which
reference has been made in the Notes or from which appropriate passages
have been quoted. It is simply a list of the original authorities on which
I have relied in my study of the Eighty Uncivilized Societies. Studies in
comparative social anthropology, critical commentaries, and all similar
publications, as well as the authorities cited in connexion with the customs
of the civilized societies, have been excluded.

The Eighty Uncivilized Societies are arranged in the same order as
that in which they appear in Appendixes I-IV.

i. LOYALTY ISLANDERS

A. Cheyne. A Description of Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. London, 1852.

E. Hadfield. Among the Natives of the Loyalty Group. London, 1920.

S. H. Ray. 'The People and Language of Lifu, Loyalty Islands', Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute, xlvii (1917). PP- 239-322.

2. TANNESE

A. Cheyne. A Description of Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. London, 1852.
W. Gray. 'Notes on the Tannese', Fourth Report of the Australian Association for

the Advancement of Science (1892), pp. 645-80.
W. Gray and S. H. Ray. 'Some Notes on the Tannese', Internationales Archiv fiir

Ethnographie, vii (1894), pp. 227-41.
C. B. Humphreys. The Southern New Hebrides. Cambridge, 1926.

F. Speiser. Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific. London, 191 3.
R. Steel. The New Hebrides. London, 1880.

A. C. P. Watt. Twenty-five Years on Tanna. Paisley, 1896.

3. NEW BRITONS
(Bismarck Archipelago)

G. Brown, (i) 'Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain and New Ireland',

Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, xlvii (1877), pp. i37_5°-
(ii) Melanesians and Polynesians. London, 1910.

B. Danks. 'Marriage Customs of the New Britain Group', Journal of the Anthropo-

logical Institute, xviii (1889), pp. 281-94.
W. Powell. Wanderings in a Wild Country. London, 1883.

H. H. Romilly. (i) 'The Islands of the New Britain Group', Proceedings of the

Royal Geographical Society, N.S. ix (1887), pp. 1-18.
(ii) The Western Pacific and New Guinea. London, 1887.

4. SE. SOLOMON ISLANDERS

(Ulawa and Sa'a)

R. H. Codrington. The Melanesians. Oxford, 1891.

F. Coombe. Islands of Enchantment. London, 191 1.

A. I. Hopkins. In the Isles of King Solomon. London, 1928.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

625

W. G. Ivens. (i) Melanesians of the S.E. Solomon Islands. London, 1927.

(ii) A Dictionary of the Language of Saya and Ulawa, S.E. Solomon Islands.
Oxford, 1929.

5- BANKS ISLANDERS
R. H. Codrington. The Melanesians. Oxford, 1891.

R. H. Codrington and J. Palmer. Dictionary of the Language of Mota. S.P.C.K.,

London, 1896.
IF. Coombe. Islands of Enchantment. London, 191 1.

,W. H. R. Rivers. History of Melanesian Society. 2 vols. Cambridge, 1914.
ML 6. FIJIANS

D. Blyth. * Notes on the Traditions and Customs of the Natives of Fiji in relation
to conception, pregnancy and parturition', Glasgow Medical Journal, xxviii
(1887), pp. 176-86.

R. H. Codrington. The Melanesians. Oxford, 1891.

W. Deane. Fijian Society. London, 1921.

L. Fison. (i) 'Notes on Fijian Burial Customs', Journal of the Anthropological

Institute, x (1881), pp. 137-49.
r (ii) 'Land Tenure in Fiji', Journal of the Anthropological Institute, x (1881),

PP- 332-52-

' (iii) 'The Nanga, or Sacred Stone Enclosure of Wainimala, Fiji', Journal of the

Anthropological Institute, xiv (1885), pp. 14-30.
(iv) 'The Classificatory System of Relationship', Journal of the Anthropological

Institute, xxiv (1895), pp. 360-71.
D. Hazlewood. A Feejeean and English Dictionary. Vewa, 1850.
A. M. Hocart. (i) 'On the meaning of kalou, and the Origin of Fijian Temples',

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xlii (191 2), pp. 437-9.

(ii) 'The Fijian Custom of Tauvu', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute,
xliii (1913), pp. 101-8.

(iii) 'On the meaning of the Fijian word turanga\ Man, 191 3, No. 80.

(iv) 'Note on the Dual Organisation of Fiji', Man, 1914, No. 2.

(v) 'More about Tauvu\ Man, 1914, No. 96.

(vi) 'The Dual Organisation in Fiji', Man, 191 5, No. 3.

(vii) 'Ethnographical Sketch of Fiji', Man, 191 8, No. 43.

(viii) 'Chieftainship and Sister's Son in the Pacific', American Anthropologist,
N.s. xvii (1915), pp. 631-46.

(ix) 'Early Fijians', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xlix (1915),
pp. 42-51.

(x) 'Fijian Chiefs — a Recantation', Man, 1915, No. 50.

(xi) 'The Uterine Nephew', Man, 1923, No. 4.

(xii) 'Limitations of the Sister's Son Right in Fiji', Man, 1926, No. 134.

(xiii) 'The Dual Organisation', Man, 1927, No. 164.

A. B. Joske. 'The Nanga of Viti-Levu', Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie, ii

(1889), pp. 254-71.

W. H. R. Rivers. The History of Melanesian Society. 2 vols. Cambridge, 19 14.
P. Rougier. 'Maladies et medicins a Fiji, autrefois et aujourd'hui', Anthropos, ii
(1907), pp. 68-79, 994-1008.

B. Thomson, (i) 'The Kalou-vu (Ancestor-gods) of the Fijians', Journal of the

Anthropological Institute, xxiv (1895), pp. 340-59.

(ii) 'Concubitancy in the Classificatory System of Relationship', Journal of the
Anthropological Institute, xxiv (1895), pp. 371-87.

(iii) Art. 'Ancestor-worship (Fijian) ', Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Edited
by J. Hastings.

s s

626 BIBLIOGRAPHY

(iv) The Fijians, a Study in the Decay of Custom. London, 1908.
T. Williams. Fiji and the Fijians. 3rd ed. Extended by James Calvert. Edited by
G. S. Rowe. London, 1870.

7. TROBRIAND ISLANDERS

B. Malinowski. (i) 'Baloma, or the Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands',
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xlvi (191 6), pp. 353_43°-

(ii) Sex and Repression in Savage Society. London, 1924.

(iii) Crime and Punishment in Savage Society. London, 1926.

(iv) Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London, 1922.

(v) The Sexual Life of Savages in North-West Melanesia. London, 1929.

•

8. KIWAI PAPUANS

Gunnar Landtman. The Kizvai Papuans of New Guinea. Introd. by A. C. Haddon.
London, 1927.

E. B. Riley. Among Papuan Headhunters. London, 1925.

9. MAFULU I

R. W. Williamson. The Mafulu, Mountain People of British New Guinea. Introd.
by A. C. Haddon. London, 1912.

10. PURARI M

F. E. Williams. The Natives of the Purari Delta. Introd. by J. H. P. Murray.

Anthropological Report No. 5, presented to the Papuan Government. Port
Moresby, 1924.

11. MAILU

B. Malinowski. 'The Natives of Mailu', Transactions of the Royal Society of South

Australia, xxxix (191 5), pp. 494-706.
W. J. V. Savile. In Unknown New Guinea. Introd. by B. Malinowski. London,

1926.

12. KOITA

C. G. Seligman. Melanesians of British New Guinea, pp. 4I~I93- Cambridge, 1910.

13. ORAKAIVA

F. E. Williams, (i) Orakaiva Magic. Anthropological Reports Nos. 6, 7, and 8,
presented to the Papuan Government. Foreword by R. R. Marett. Oxford,
1928.

(ii) Orakaiva Society. Anthropological Report No. 10, presented to the Papuan
Government. Introd. by Sir Hubert Murray. Oxford, 1930.

14. SHILLUK 1

P. W. Hoffmeyr. 'Religion der Schilluk', Anthropos, vi (19"), PP- 120-32.

D. S. Oyler. (i) 'Nikawg and the Shilluk Migration', Sudan Notes and Records, 1

(1918), pp. 145-52.

(ii) 'Nikawg's Place in the Shilluk Religion', Sudan Notes and Records, 1 (1918),
pp. 283-92.

(iii) 'The Shilluk's Belief in the Evil Eye; The Evil Medicine Man, Sudan
Notes and Records, ii (191 9), PP- 122-37.

(iv) 'The Shilluk's Belief in the Good Medicine Men', Sudan Notes and Records,

iii (1920), pp. 1 10-16.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 627

(v) 'Shilluk Notes', Sudan Notes and Records, ix (1926), pp. 57-68.

C. G. Seligman. (i) Art. 'Shilluk', Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Edited

by J. Hastings.

(ii) 'The Cult of Nyakang and the Divine Kings of Shilluk', Fourth Report of the
Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratory, vol. B, pp. 216-38. Gordon Memorial
College. Khartoum, 1911.

D. Westermann. The Shilluk People. Philadelphia, 19 12.

My thanks are due to the Rev. Dr. D. S. Oyler for sending me a large typewritten
manuscript in answer to a small questionnaire. The document is referred to as
'Oyler MS.', followed by the number of the section and the subsection of the
questionnaire in answer to which the statements were made. Dr. Oyler's covering
letters are dated 20/6/30 and 25/6/30.

, 15. DINKA

S. L. Cummins. 'Sub-Tribes of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Dinkas', Journal of the Anthro-
pological Institute, xxxiv (1904), pp. 149-66.

C. G. Seligman. Art. 'Dinka', Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Edited by
J. Hastings.

H. O'Sullivan. 'Dinka Laws and Customs', Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute, xl (19 10), pp. 174-91.

16. LANGO

J. H. Driberg. (i) 'Rain-making among the Lango', Journal of the Royal Anthropo-
logical Institute, xlix (1919), pp. 52-73.
(ii) The Lango. London, 1923.

17. BAKITARA

H. H. Johnston. The Uganda Protectorate. 2 vols, (numbered consecutively).

London, 1902.
J. Roscoe. (i) The Northern Bantu. Cambridge, 1915.
(ii) The Bokhara. Cambridge, 1923.

18. BAGANDA

: H. H. Johnston. The Uganda Protectorate. 2 vols, (numbered consecutively).
London, 1902.
J. Roscoe. (i) The Baganda. London, 191 1.

(ii) 'Immigrants and their Influence in the Lake Region of Central Africa',
Frazer Lecture, 1923. Cambridge, 1924.

C. T.Wilson and R.W. Felkin. Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan. 2 vols. London
1882.

19. BANYANKOLE

J. A. Meldon. 'Notes on the Bahima of Ankole', Journal of the African Society, vi

(1907), pp. 136-53, 234-49.
J. Roscoe. (i) 'The Bahima', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xxxvi

(1907), pp. 93-118.

(ii) The Banyankole. Cambridge, 1923.

(iii) The Northern Bantu. Cambridge, 191 5.

20. AKIKUYU

P. Cayzac. 'La Religion des Kikuyu', Anthropos, v (1910), pp. 309-19.
R. Crawshay. 'Kikuyu: Notes on the Country, People, Fauna and Flora', Geo-
graphical Journal, xx (1902), pp. 24-49.

628 BIBLIOGRAPHY

C. Dundas. 'The Organisation and Laws of some Bantu Tribes of East Africa',
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xlv (1915), PP- 234-306.

C. W. Hobley. Bantu Beliefs and Magic. London, 1922.

W. S. and K. Routledge. With a Prehistoric People. London, 1910.

H. R. Tate. 'Notes on the Kikuyu and Kamba Tribes; Further Notes on the
Kikuyu Tribe of British East Africa', Journal of the Anthropological Institute,
xxxiv (i9°4)> PP- I3°_48, 255-65.

21. AKAMBA

C. Dundas. (i) 'History of Kitui', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute,

xliii (1913), PP- 48o-549- r ^ K£ . ,

(ii) 'The Organisation and Laws of some Bantu Tribes of East Africa , Journal

of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xlv (1915), PP- 234-306.
C. W. Hobley. (i) Ethnology of Akamba and other East African Tribes. Cambridge,
1910.

(ii) Bantu Beliefs and Magic. London, 1922.
G. Lindblom. The Akamba. Uppsala, 1920.

22. NANDI

A. C. Hollis. The Nandi, their Language and Folk-lore. Oxford, 1909.
G. W. B. Huntingford. (i) 'Miscellaneous Records relating to the Nandi and Kony
Tribes', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, lvii (1927), PP- 417-61.

(ii) 'Ghosts and Devils in East Africa', Man, 1928, No. 55.

(iii) 'Notes on some names for God', Man, 1928, No. 138.

Sir A. C. Hollis has published also a paper on 'The Religion of the Nandi' in
Transactions of the Third International Congress for the History of Religions (Oxford,
1908), vol. i, pp. 87-91. The contents of this paper, so far as they concern the
Nandi, are reprinted almost verbatim in The Nandi, pp. 15, 35, 37, 40-8, 65.
I have not thought it worth while to give the double reference.

23. MASAI

S. L. and H. Hinde. The Last of the Masai. London, 1901 .

A. C. Hollis. The Masai, their Language and Folk-lore. Introd. by Sir Charles

Eliot. Oxford, 1905.
L. S. B. Leakey. 'Some Notes on the Masai of Kenya Colony , Journal of the

Royal Anthropological Institute, lx (1930), pp. 185-209.
J. Thomson. Through Masai-Land. London, 1885.

24. WAY AO

A. Hetherwick. 'Some Animistic Beliefs among the Yaos of British Central Africa',

Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxxii (1902), pp. 89-95.
H. H. Johnston. British Central Africa. 3rd ed. London, 1906.
Duff MacDonald. Africana. 2 vols. London, 1882.

H. S. Stannus. 'The Wayao of Nyasaland', Harvard African Studies, 111 (1922),
pp. 229-372.

C H Stigand. 'Notes on the Natives of Nyasaland, N.E. Rhodesia and Portuguese
Zambesia', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xxxvn (1907),
pp. 119-32.

A. Werner. The Natives of British Central Africa. London, 1906.

25. ANYANJA

H. Barnes. Nyanga— English Vocabulary. Enlarged and Revised by M. W.
Bulley. London, 1929.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 629

A. Hetherwick. (i) Art. 'Nyanjas', Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Edited
by J. Hastings.

(ii) Dictionary of the Nyanja Language. Enlarged ed. Religious Tract Society,

n.d., Preface dated 1929.
H. H. Johnston. British Central Africa. 3rd ed. London, 1906.
L. T. Moggridge. 'The Nyasaland Tribes, their customs and their poison ordeal',

Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxxii (1902), pp. 467-72.
R. S. Rattray. Some Folk-lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanja. London, 1907.
D. C. Scott. Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the Manganja Language. Edinburgh, 1892.
H. S. Stannus. 'Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa', Journal of the

Royal Anthropological Institute, xl (1910), pp. 285-336.
A. Werner. The Natives of British Central Africa. London, 1906.

26. AWEMBA

J. C. C. Coxhead. 'The Native Tribes of North Eastern Rhodesia : their Laws and
Customs', Royal Anthropological Institute Occasional Papers, No. 5.

C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane. The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia. London,

1911.

J. H. West Sheane. 'Some Aspects of the Awemba Religion and Superstitious
Observances', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xxxvi (1906),
pp. 150-8.

27. BAILA

E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale. The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia.
2 vols. London, 1920.

28. BARONGA

H. A. Junod. The Life of a South African Tribe. 2nd ed. 2 vols. London, 1927.

29. AMAZULU

A. T. Bryant. Zulu-English Dictionary. Maritzberg, 1905.

H. Callaway. The Religious System of the Amazulu. London, 1868.

A. F. Gardiner. Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country. London, 1836.

J. Y. Gibson. The Story of the Zulus. New ed. London, 191 1.

N. Isaacs. Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa. 2 vols. London, 1836.

D. Leslie. Among the Zulus and Amatongas. Edinburgh, 1875.

J. Macdonald. 'Manners, Customs, Superstitions and Religions of the South
African Tribes', Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xix (1889), pp. 264-96.
J. McLean. A Compendium of Kafir Law and Custom. London, 1906.
J. Shooter. The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country. London, 1857.

My thanks are due to Mr. J. Y. Gibson, of Pietermaritzburg, for supplying me
with a holographic manuscript in answer to a small questionnaire which, through
the kind offices of Mr. R. U. Sayce, I was privileged to send him. The manuscript
is dated 13 December 1929, and is referred to as 'Gibson MS.', followed by the
number of the section and subsection of the questionnaire in answer to which the
statements were made.

30. BASUTO

E. Casalis. The Basutos. London, 186 1.

H. E. Mabille. 'The Basutos of Basutoland', Journal of the African Society, v

(1906), pp. 233-51, 351-76.
J. Macdonald. 'Manners, Customs, Superstitions and Religions of the South

African Tribes', Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xix (1889), pp. 264-96.
M. Martin. Basutoland. London, 1903.

630

BIBLIOGRAPHY

My thanks are due to Mr. F. H. Dutton, of Maseru, Director of Education for
Basutoland, Bechuanaland, and Swaziland, for supplying me with a large type-
written manuscript in answer to a small questionnaire which, through the kind
offices of Mr. R. U. Sayce, I was privileged to send him. The manuscript is dated
13 February 1930, and is referred to as 'Dutton MS.', followed by the number of
the section and subsection of the questionnaire in reply to which the statements
were made.

31. IBIBIO

D. A. Talbot. Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People. London, 191 5.
P. A. Talbot, (i) Life in Southern Nigeria. London, 1923.

(ii) The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, vols, ii and iii (numbered consecutively).
Oxford, 1926.

32. YORUBA

A. K. Ajisafe. The Laws and Customs of the Yoruba People. Lagos and London,
1924.

R. E. Dennett. Nigerian Studies. London, 1910.

A. B. Ellis. The Yoruba- speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa.
London, 1894.

S. and O. Johnson. The History of the Yorubas. London, 1921.
P. A. Talbot. The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, vols, ii and iii (numbered consecu-
tively). Oxford, 1926.

33. DAHOMANS 1

W. Bosman. The Coast of Guinea (London, 1705), reprinted in Pinkerton's Voyages,

vol. xvi. London, 18 14.
R. F. Burton. Mission to Gelele. 2 vols. London, 1864.
A. Dalzel. The History of Dahomey. London, 1793.

J. Duncan. Travels in Western Africa in 184$ and 1846. 2 vols. London, 1847.

A. B. Ellis. The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa. London,

1890.

F. E. Forbes. Dahomey and the Dahomans. 2 vols. London, 185 1.
J. A. Skertchley. Dahomey as it is. London, 1874.

34. ASHANTI

J. Beecham. Ashantee and the Gold Coast. London, 1841.
T. E. Bowdich. Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee. London, 1873.
J. G. Christaller. Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Languages. Basel, 1881.
R. M. Connolly. 'Social Life in Fanti-land', Journal of the Anthropological Institute,
xxvi (1897), pp. 128-53.

B. Cruickshank. Eighteen Years on the Gold Coast. 2 vols. London, 1853.

A. B. Ellis. The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa. London,
1887.

A. ffoulkes. 'Fanti Marriage Customs', Journal of the African Society, viii (1909),
pp. 31-48.

R. S. Rattray, (i) Ashanti Proverbs. Oxford, 1916.

(ii) Ashanti. Oxford, 1923.

(iii) Religion and Art in Ashanti. Oxford, 1927.

(iv) Ashanti Law and Constitution. Oxford, 1929.

35. TLINGIT

W. H. Dall. Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870.

H. J. Holmberg. 'Ethnographische Skizzen iiber die Volker des russischen
Amerika', Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae, iv (1856), pp. 281-421.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 631
A. Krause. Die Tlingit Indianer. Jena, 1885.

I. Petroff. 'Report on the Population, Industries and Resources of Alaska', Tenth

Census of the United States, 1880. Washington, 1884.
L. and F. Shotridge. 'Indians of the north-west; Chilkat houses; the life of a

Chilkat girl', University of Pennsylvania Museum Journal, iv (1913), pp. 71-103.
J. R. Swan ton. 'Social Conditions, Beliefs and Linguistic Relationships of the

Tlingit Indians', Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American

Ethnology, 1904-5 (Washington, 1908), pp. 391-486.

36. HAIDA

E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. xi. Cambridge, Mass., 191 6.

G. M. Dawson. 'On the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands', Geological

Survey of Canada, Report of Exploration and Survey, i8y8-g.
C. Harrison. Ancient Warriors of the North Pacific. London, 1925.

F. Poole. Queen Charlotte Islands. London, 1872.

J. R. Swanton. 'Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida', The Jesup North
Pacific Expedition, vol. v, part i. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural
History, vol. viii. Leyden and New York, 1905.

37. THOMPSON

J. Teit. 'The Thompson Indians of British Columbia', The Jesup North Pacific
Expedition, vol. i, part iv. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural
History, vol. ii. Leyden and New York, 1900.

38. SHUSWAP

F. Boas. 'The Shushwap', Sixth Report of the Committee on the N.W. Tribes,
Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 18 go, pp.
632-47.

J. Teit. 'The Shuswap', The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. ii, part vii.
Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. iv. Leyden and
New York, 1905.

39. LILLOOET

F. Boas. 'The Salish Tribes of the interior of British Columbia', Annual Archaeo-
logical Report, 1905 (Toronto, 1906), pp. 219-25.

C. Hill-Tout. 'Report on the Ethnology of the Stlatlumh of British Columbia',
Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxxv (1905), pp. 126-218.

J. Teit. 'The Lillooet Indians', The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. ii, part v,
Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. iv. Leyden and New
York, 1905.

40. COAST SALISH

F. Boas. 'The Lkungen', Sixth Report of the Committee on the N.W. Tribes, Report
of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1890, pp. 562-82.

C. Hill-Tout, (i) 'Report on the Ethnology of the Siciatl of British Columbia',
Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxxiv (1904), pp. 21-91. (Cited as
'The Siciatl'.)

(ii) 'Ethnological Report on the Stseelis and Skaulits Tribes on the Halokmelem
Division of the Salish of British Columbia', Journal of the Anthropological
Institute, xxxiv (1904), pp. 311-76. (Cited as 'The Stseelis and Skaulits'.)

(iii) 'The Salish Tribes of the Coast and the Lower Fraser River', Annual
Archaeological Report, 1905 (Toronto, 1906), pp. 225-35.

(iv) 'Some Features of the Language and Culture of the Salish', American
Anthropologist, N.s. vii (1905), pp. 674-87.

632 BIBLIOGRAPHY

(v) The Far West, the Home of the Salish and the Dene. London, 1007-
For a comment on the literature see n. 493.

41. KLALLAM J

Myron Eells. (i) 'The Religion of the Clallam and Twana Indians', American
Antiquarian, ii (1879-80), pp. 8-14.

(ii) 'Twana, Chemakum and Klallam Indians of Washington Territory',
Smithsonian Report, 1887, pp. 605-81.

(iii) 'The Indians of Puget Sound', American Antiquarian, ix (1887), pp. 1-9,
97-104, 211-18, 271-5; x (1888), pp. 26-36, 174-8.

G. Gibbs. 'Tribes of Western Washington and N.W. Oregon', Contributions to

North American Ethnology (U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey), i (1887),
pp. 157-241.

Erna Gunther. 'Klallam Ethnography', University of Washington Publications in

Anthropology, vol. i, no. 5, pp. 171-314.
Horatio Hale. The Chinook Jargon. London, 1890.

42. NEZ PERCYS

E. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. viii. Cambridge, Mass., 191 1.

H. J. Spinden. 'The Nez Perce Indians', Memoirs of the American Anthropological

Association, vol. ii, part iii (1908), pp. 171-274.
The Nez Perces are also known as the Shahaptin, Saptin, Sapetan, Shawpati,
Chohoptin, Shawhaptin and Chopunnish. Professor Spinden has attached a full
bibliography to his essay.

43. DENE

S. Hearne. A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern

Ocean in 1769, 1770, 1771 and I772- London, 1795.
A. G. Morice. (i) 'The Western Denes', Proceedings of the Canadian Institute,

3rd series, vol. vii (1888-9), pp. 109-74.

(ii) 'Notes on the Western Denes', Transactions of the Canadian Institute, iv
(1892-3), pp. 1-222.

(iii) 'The Great Dene Race', Anthropos, i (1906), pp. 229-78, 483-509, 695-730;
ii (1907), pp. 1-34, 181-96; iv (1909), PP. 582-606; v (1910), pp. 113-42,
419-43, 643-53, 969-90.

(iv) 'The Canadian Denes', Annual Archaeological Report, 1905 (Toronto, 1906),

pp. 187-219.

44. OJIBWA

W. J. Hoffman. 'The Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibway', Seventh Annual
Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1885-1886 (Washington, 1891),
pp. 149-300.

E. James (Editor). Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner.
London, 1830.

Peter Jones. History of the Ojibway Indians . London, 186 1.

W. H. Keating. Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River.

2 vols. London, 1825.
A. Skinner. 'Political and Ceremonial Organisation of the Plains Ojibway',

Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, xi (1916),

PP- 475-51 1.

45. BLACKFEET j

G. Catlin. Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Condition of the North
American Indians. 2 vols. London, 1876.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 633

E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. vi. Cambridge, Mass., 191 1.
G. B. Grinnell. Blackfoot Lodge Tales. London, 1893.
W. McClintock. (i) The Old North Trail. London, 1910.

(ii) Old Indian Trails. Boston and New York, 1923.
J. W. Schultz. My Life as an Indian. London, 1907.

Clark Wissler. (i) 'Material Culture of the Blackfoot Indians', Anthropological
Papers, American Museum of Natural History, v (1910), pp. 1-176.

(ii) 'Social Organisation and Ritualistic Ceremonies of the Blackfoot Indians',
Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, vii {1912),
pp. 1-298.

(iii) 'Societies and Dance Associations of the Blackfoot Indians', Anthropological
Papers, American Museum of Natural History, xi (1916), pp. 359-460.

46. ARAPAHO

E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. vi. Cambridge, Mass., 191 1.

G. A. Dorsey. 'The Arapaho Sun-Dance', Field Columbean Museum, Anthropo-

logical Series, iv (1903), pp. 1-228.

A. L. Kroeber. 'The Arapaho', American Museum of Natural History, Bulletin
No. 18, parts i, ii, and iv.

J. Mooney. 'The Ghost-Dance Religion', Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau
of American Ethnology, 1892-3 (Washington, 1896), pp. 655-1102.

47- IROQUOIS
Horatio Hale. The Iroquois Book of Rites. Philadelphia, 1883.
J. N. B. Hewitt, (i) Troquoian Cosmology', Twenty-first Annual Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology, 1899-igoo (Washington, 1903), pp. 127-339.
(11) 'Orenda and a Definition of Religion', American Anthropologist, N.s. iv
(1902), pp. 33-46.

L. H. Morgan. League of the Iroquois. Rochester, 1851.

F. Parkman. The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century. Boston,

1870.

H. R. Schoolcraft, (i) Notes on the Iroquois. New York, 1846.

(ii) Historical and Statistical Information respecting the History, Condition and
Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. 6 vols. Philadelphia, 185 1-60.
(Cited as Indian Tribes.)
The edition of H. R. Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois to which the references
have been made should be distinguished from the publication of the same book
in Albany, 1847. The matter is the same, but the pagination is different.

Contrarily, the pagination is the same in the two editions of F. Parkman 's The
Jesuits in North America, one of the editions containing an extra title-page which
reads France and England in North America.

48. DAKOTA

J. Carver. Travels through the Interior Parts of North America. London, 1778.

W. H. Keating. Narrative of an Expedition to the Sources of St. Peter's River.
2 vols. London, 1825.

J. O. Dorsey. (i) 'A Study of Siouan Cults', Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau
of American Ethnology, 1889-90 (Washington, 1894), PP- 361-544.
(ii) 'Siouan Sociology', Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, 1893-4 (Washington, 1897), pp. 213-44.

W. J. McGee. 'The Siouan Indians', Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, 1893-4 (Washington, 1897), pp. 157-204.

S. R. Riggs. (i) 'Dakota-English Grammar and Dictionary', Smithsonian Con-
tributions to Knowledge, vol. iv. Washington, 1852.

634 BIBLIOGRAPHY

(ii) 'Mythology of the Dakotas', American Antiquarian, v (1883), pp. 147-9.

(iii) 'Dakota-English Dictionary', Contributions to North American Ethnology
(U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey), vol. vii. Washington, 1890.

(iv) 'Dakota Grammar, Texts and Ethnography', Contributions to North American
Ethnology (U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey), vol. ix. Washington,

1893.

H. R. Schoolcraft. Historical and Statistical Information respecting the History,
Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. 6 vols.
Philadelphia, 1851-60. (Cited as Indian Tribes.)
For reference to the copious literature on the Dakotan zvakan see n. 520.

49. OMAHA I
J. O. Dorsey. (i) 'Omaha Sociology', Third Annual Report of the Bureau of American

Ethnology, 1881-2 (Washington, 1884), pp. 211-370.
(ii) 'A Study of Siouan Cults', Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, 1889-90 (Washington, 1894), pp. 361-544.
A. C. Fletcher and F. La Flesche. 'The Omaha Tribe', Twenty -seventh Annual
Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1905-6 (Washington, 191 1),
pp. 15-672.

A. C. Fletcher. 'A Study of the Omaha Tribe: the Import of the Totem', Smith-
sonian Report, 1897, pp. 577-86-

50. HIDATSA ■
G. Catlin. Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Condition of the North

American Indians. 2 vols. London, 1876.
J. O. Dorsey. 'A Study of Siouan Cults', Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of

American Ethnology, 1889-90 (Washington, 1894), pp. 361-544.
A. L. Kroeber. 'Ethnology of the Gros Ventres', Anthropological Papers, American

Museum of Natural History, i (1908), pp. 145-281.
R. H. Lowie. 'Notes on the Social Organisation and Customs of the Mandan,

Hidatsa and Crow Indians', Anthropological Papers, American Museum of

Natural History, xxi (1917), pp. i-97-
Washington Matthews. 'Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians,

U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Publications, no. 7.
G. H. Pepper. 'An Indian Shrine', University of Pennsylvania Museum Journal,

iv (1913), PP- 104-6.

51. MANDAN

G. Catlin. Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Condition of the North American

Indians. 2 vols. London, 1876.
E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. v. Cambridge, Mass., 1909.
R H. Lowie. 'Notes on the Social Organisation of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Crow

Indians', Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, xxi

(1907), pp. i-97- . , „ , ,

G. F. W7ill and H. J. Spinden. 'The Mandans: a Study of their Culture , Peabody
Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology , Papers, iii (1906), pp. 81-219.

52. CROW

E S Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. iv. Cambridge, Mass., 1909-
R. H. Lowie. (i) 'Social Life of the Crow Indians', Anthropological Papers, Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History, xvi (1921), pp. i79~248-
(ii) 'Notes on the Social Organisation and Customs of the Mandan, Hidatsa
and Crow Indians', Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural
History, xxi (191 7), pp. i"97-

BIBLIOGRAPHY 635

(mV Religion of the Crow Indians', Anthropological Papers, American Museum

of Natural History, xxv (1922), pp. 309-451.
(iv) Primitive Religion. London, 1925.

53- WINNEBAGO

P. Radin. (i) 'The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian', University of Call-
forma Publications m American Archaeology and Ethnology, xvi (1920) pp
381-473. v y'

(ii) 'The Winnebago Tribe', Thirty- Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, 191 5-16 (Washington, 1923), pp. 35-560.
H. R. Schoolcraft. Historical and Statistical Information respecting the History
Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. 6 vols'
Philadelphia, 1851-60. (Cited as Indian Tribes.)

54- HOPI

A. F. Bandelier. In Bulletin of the Archaeological Institute of America i (1883)
PP- 13-33.

E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. xii. Cambridge, Mass 1922
T. Donaldson 'The Moqui Pueblo Indians of Arizona', Extra Census Bulletin
Eleventh Census of the United States. Washington 1893

G. A Dorsey and H. R. Voth. 'The Oraibi Soyal Ceremony', &c, Field Columbean

Museum, Anthropological Series, "i (1901-3), pp. 1-358.
J. W. Fewkes. (i) 'The Oraibi Flute Altar', Journal of American Folk-Lore, viii
no. 81 (separate reprint).

(ii) 'The Group of Tusayan Ceremonies called Katchinas', Fifteenth Annual
Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1893-4 (Washington, 1897)
pp. 251-313.

(iii) 'Tusayan Snake Ceremonies', Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, 1894-5 (Washington, 1897), PP- 273-311.

(iv) 'Hopi Katchinas', Twenty -first Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, 1899-1900 (Washington, 1902), pp. 13-126.

(v) 'Sun-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smithsonian Report, 1918 (Washington,
1920), pp. 493-526.

(vi) 'Fire-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smithsonian Report, 1920 (Washington,
1922), pp. 589-610.

(vii) 'Ancestor-worship of the Hopi Indians', Smithsonian Report, 1921
(Washington, 1923), pp. 485-506.

(vin) 'The Use of Idols in Hopi Worship', Smithsonian Report, 1922 (Washing-
ton, 1924), pp. 377-97-

(ix) 'The Katchina Altars in Hopi Worship', Smithsonian Report, 1926 (Washing-
ton, 1927), pp. 469-86.

H. R. Voth. (i) 'The Oraibi Oaquol Ceremony', &c, Field Columbean Museum,

Anthropological Series, vi (1912), pp. 1-13.

(ii) 'The Oraibi Marau Ceremony, Field Columbean Museum, Anthropological
Series, xi (1912), pp. 1-88.

(iii) 'Brief Miscellaneous Papers', Field Columbean Museum, Anthropological
Series, xi (191 2), pp. 99-149.

(iv) 'Oraibi Marriage Customs', American Anthropologist, N.S. ii (1900),
pp. 238-46.

55- ZUNI

E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. xvii. Cambridge, Mass., 1926.

F. H. Gushing. 'Zuni Fetiches', Second Annual Report of the Bureau of American

Ethnology, 1880-1 (Washington, 1883), pp. 9-44.

636 BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. L. Kroeber. 'Zuni Kith and Clan', Anthropological Papers, American Museum
of Natural History, xviii (1917), PP- 4r-2°4-

E. S. Parsons. 'Notes on Zuni', Memoirs of the American Anthropological Associa-
tion, iv (1917), PP- i5I_225-

M. C. Stevenson, (i) 'The Religious Life of a Zuni Child', Fifth Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology, 1883-4 (Washington, 1887), pp. 539~55-
(ii) 'The Zuni Indians', Twenty-third Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, 1 go 1-2 (Washington, 1904), pp. 1-608.

56. SIA

M. C. Stevenson. 'The Sia\ Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, 1889-90 (Washington, 1894), pp. 9-1 57-

57. NAVAHO

E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. i. Cambridge, Mass., 1907-
Washington Matthews, (i) 'The Mountain Chant, a Navajo Ceremony', Fifth

Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1883-4 (Washington,

1887), pp. 385-467.

(ii) 'Some deities and demons of the Navajo', American Naturalist, xx (1886),
pp. 841-50.

(iii) 'The Night Chant, a Navajo Ceremony', Memoirs of the American Museum
of Natural History, vol. vi. New York, 1902.

Washington Matthews and P. E. Goddard. 'Navaho Myths, Prayers and Songs',
University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology,

V (I907), PP- 21-63. t -/qx

L. Ostermann. 'Navajo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona , Anthropos, 111 (1908),
pp. 857-69.

G. A. Reichard. 'Social Life of the Navaho Indians', Columbia University Con-

tributions to Anthropology, vol. vii. New York, 1928.

H. R. Schoolcraft. Historical and Statistical Information respecting the History,

Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. 6 vols.
Philadelphia, 1851-60. (Cited as Indian Tribes.)
R. W. Shufeldt. 'Mortuary Customs of the Navajo Indians', American Naturalist,

xxv (1891), pp. 303-6- ,
A. M. Stephen. 'The Navaho', American Anthropologist, vi (1893), pp. 345"62-

58. APACHE

J. G. Bourke. (i) 'Medicine-men of the Apache', Ninth Report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, 1887-8 (Washington, 1892), pp. 443-595-
(ii) 'Notes on the Religion of the Apache', Folk-Lore, ii (1891), pp. 4J9-54-

E. S. Curtis. The North American Indian, vol. i. Cambridge, Mass., 1907.

A. B. Reagan. 'Notes on the Indians of the Fort Apache Region', Anthropological
Papers, American Museum of Natural History, xxxi (i93°)> PP- 283_345-

59. CHICKASAW
J. Adair. History of the American Indians. London, 1775-

J. R. Swanton. 'Social and Religious Beliefs and Usages of the Chickasaw Indians',
Forty-fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1926-7
(Washington, 1928), pp. 169-273. (Cited as 'The Chickasaws'.)

60. CREEK

J. Adair. History of the American Indians. London, 1775.

H. R. Schoolcraft. Historical and Statistical Information respecting the History,

BIBLIOGRAPHY 637

Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. 6 vols.
Philadelphia, 1851-60. (Cited as Indian Tribes.)

J. R. Swanton. (i) 'Early History of the Creek Indians and their Neighbours',
Bulletin 73 ', Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 1922.

(ii) 'Social Organisation and Social Usages of the Indians of the Creek Con-
federacy'; 'Religious Beliefs and Medical Practices of the Creek Indians',
Forty-second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1924-5
(Washington, 1928), pp. 23-672. (Cited as 'The Creeks'.)

61. NATCHEZ

J. R. Swanton. 'Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley', Bulletin 43,
Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 191 1.
Mr. Swanton 's valuable paper consists of copious extracts from the old chroni-
clers. I have thought it better to confine my references to his collection of material
than to cite those books which are less readily accessible. See further n. 558.

62. PIMA

F. E. Grossman. 'The Pima Indians of Arizona', Smithsonian Report, i8yi,
pp. 407-19.

Frank Russell. 'The Pima Indians', Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau
of American Ethnology, 1904-5 (Washington, 1908), pp. 3-389.

.63. AZTECS

Joseph de Acosta. The Natural and Moral History of the Indies. 2 vols. Trans.

by E. Grimstone. Edited by C. R. Markham. London, 1880.
H. H. Bancroft. The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America. 5 vols.

New York, 1875-6.

F. S. Clavigero. The History of Mexico. 2 vols. Trans, by Charles Cullen. London,

1787.

Zelia Nuttall. 'Sorcery, Medicine and Surgery in Ancient Mexico', The Johns

Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, xiii, no. 133 (April 1902) (separate reprint).
Lewis Spence. (i) The Civilization of Ancient Mexico. London, 191 1.
(ii) The Gods of Mexico. London, 1923.

64. MAORI

G. F. Angas. Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, vol. ii. Lon-

don, 1847.

Elsdon Best, (i) 'Omens and Superstitions and Beliefs of the Maori', Journal of
the Polynesian Society, vii (1898), pp. 1 19-36, 233-43.

(ii) 'Notes on Maori Mythology', Journal of the Polynesian Society, viii (1899),
pp. 93-121.

(iii) 'Spiritual Concepts of the Maori', Journal of the Polynesian Society, ix
(1900), pp. 173-99.

(iv) 'Maori Magic', Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, xxxiv (1901),
pp. 68-98.

(v) 'Maori Marriage Customs', Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, xxxvi
(1903), PP- 14-67-

(vi) 'Maori Medical Lore', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xiii (1904), pp.
213-37.

(vii) 'Maori Medical Lore', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xiv (1905),
pp. 1-23.

(viii) 'Maori Eschatology', Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, xxxviii
(J905), pp. 148-239.

638 BIBLIOGRAPHY

(ix) 'Maori Religion', Twelfth Report of the Australian Association for the
Advancement of Science (1909), pp. 457-64.

(x) 'Maori Genius for Personification', Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,
liii (1921), pp. 1-13.

(xi) 'Notes on the Customs, Ritual and Beliefs pertaining to Sickness, Death,
Burial and Exhumation among the Maori of New Zealand', Journal of the
Polynesian Society, xxxv (1926), pp. 6-30.

(xii) 'Maori Religion and Mythology', Bulletin No. 10, Nezv Zealand Dominion
Museum. Wellington, 1924.

(xiii) 'The Whare Kohanga', Bulletin No. 13, New Zealand Dominion Museum.
Wellington, 1929.

(xiv) The Maori. 2 vols. Memoirs of the Polynesian Society, vol. v. Wellington,
1924.

(xv) 'Some Aspects of Maori Myth and Religion', Dominion Museum Mono-
graph, no. 1. Wellington, 1922.

(xvi) 'Spiritual and Mental Concepts of the Maori', Dominion Museum Mono-
graph, no. 2. Wellington, 1922.

W. Brown. New Zealand and its Aborigines. London, 1845.

R. E. M. Campbell. 'Cremation among the Maori', Journal of the Polynesian

Society, iii (1894), pp. 134-5.
T. F. Cheeseman. 'Notes on the Carved Maori Burial Chests', Transactions of

the New Zealand Institute, xxxix (1906), pp. 45 1-6.
W. Colenso. (i) 'On the Maori Races of New Zealand', Supplementary essay to

Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, i (1869) (paged separately),
(ii) A Maori-English Lexicon. Part I. Wellington, 1898.
W. H. Goldie. 'Maori Medical Lore', Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,

xxxvii (1904), pp. 1-120.
W. E. Gudgeon, (i) 'Mana Tangata', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xiv (1905),

pp. 49-66.

(ii) 'Maori Religion', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xiv (1905), pp. 107-30.

(iii) 'Maori Superstition', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xiv (1905), pp.
167-92.

(iv) 'The Tipua Kura' , Journal of the Polynesian Society, xv (1906), pp. 27-57.

(v) 'The Tohunga Maori', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xvi (1907), pp.

63-97-

A. Hamilton. 'Notes on the Carved Burial Chests', Bulletin No. J, New Zealand

Dominion Museum, pp. 1 10-12.
T. G. Hammond, (i) 'Atua Maori', Journal of the Polynesian Society, viii (1899),

pp. 89-92.

(ii) 'The Tohunga Maori', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xvii (1908), pp.
162-5.

Hare Hongi. (i) 'On Ariki, and incidentally tohunga', Journal of the Polynesian
Society, xviii (1909), pp. 84-9.
(ii) 'The Gods of Maori Worship', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xxix (1920),
pp. 24-8.

F. E. Maning (Pakeha Maori). Old New Zealand. London, 1876.
J. S. Polack. Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders . 2 vols. London,
1840.

Edward Shortland. (i) Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders . 2nd ed.

London, 1856.
(ii) Maori Religion and Mythology . London, 1882.
H. J. Skinner. 'Mummification among the Maori', Journal of the Polynesian

Society, xxvi (191 7), pp. 188-9.
R. Taylor. Te Ika a Maui. 2nd ed. London, 1870.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 639

E. Tregear. (i) 'The Maori of New Zealand', Journal of the Anthropological
Institute, xix (1890), pp. 97-123.

(ii) Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington, 1891.

(iii) The Maori Race. Wanganui, 1904.

H. W. Williams. A Dictionary of the Maori Language. Wellington, 1917.

The above list is as short as is consistent with an adequate study. Mr. Elsdon
Best's most extensive work (xiv) is somewhat discursive, and its popular character
prevents it from being accepted as a standard work. In his later days Mr. Best
changed his mind concerning certain aspects of Maori life, and even concerning
the meaning of certain words. His earlier work is therefore important.

A full bibliography relating to New Zealand and its inhabitants has been edited
by T. M. Hocken (Wellington, 1909), a supplementary volume being published
in 1927, edited by T. M. Johnston. A Hand-List of Books and Papers was issued in
May 191 1 by the Dominion Museum, Wellington. It is a very useful collection.

Canon J. W. Stack published in 1898 a volume on The South Island Natives,
which I have not seen. It is not readily accessible.

65. TONGANS

Le Pere A. C, Dictionnaire toga-francais . Pari, 1890.

E. E. V. Collacott. (i) 'Notes on Tongan Religion', Journal of the Polynesian
Society, xxx (1921), pp. 152-63, 227-40.
(ii) 'Marriage in Tonga', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xxxii (1923), pp. 221-9.
James Cook. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean in the Years 1776-1780. 2nd ed. 3 vols.
London, 1785.

S. Farmer. Tonga and the Friendly Islands. London, 1855.

W. Lawry. (i) Missionary Visit to the Friendly and the Feejee Islands. London,
1850.

(ii) A Second Visit to the Friendly and the Feejee Islands. London, 1851.
B. G. Mahoney. 'A Tongan Tradition', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xxv
(1916), pp. 68-70.

W. Mariner. An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands. 2 vols. London,
1817.

J. E. Moulton. Art. 'Tongans', Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Edited by
J. Hastings.

B. Thomson, (i) 'Notes of the Antiquities of Tonga', Journal of the Anthropological

Institute, xxxii (1902), pp. 81-8.

(ii) Diversions of a Prime Minister. London, 1894.

(iii) The Fijians. London, 1908.

G. Vason. An Authentic Narrative of Four Years' Residence at Tongatabu. London,
1810.

T. West. Ten Years in South Central Polynesia. London, 1865.
R. W. Williamson. The Social and Political Systems of Central Polynesia. 3 vols.
Cambridge, 1924.

James Wilson. A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, in the Years
1796-7-8, in the Ship 'Duff'. London, 1799.

66. SAMOANS

G. Brown. Melanesians and Polynesians. London, 19 10.

H. S. Cooper. Coral Islands. 2nd ed. London, 1880.

H. Hale. Ethnography and Philology of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 18 38-18 42.

Philadelphia, 1846.
M. Mead. Coming of Age in Samoa. London, 1929.

C. Phillips. Samoa, Past and Present. London, 1890.

64o BIBLIOGRAPHY

G. Pratt. Samoan Grammar and Dictionary. London, 1878.

W. T. Pritchard. (i) 'Notes on certain matters respecting the South Sea Islanders',
Memoirs of the London Anthropological Society, i (1863-4), pp. 322-6.
(ii) Polynesian Reminiscences. London, 1866.

E. Schultz. 'The Most Important Principles of Samoan Family Law', Journal of
the Polynesian Society, xx (1911), pp. 43~53-

j g Stair, (i) 'O Le Fale-o-le-Fe'e, or Ruin of an old Samoan Temple', Journal of
the Polynesian Society, iii (1894), pp. 239-44.

(ii) 'Mythology and Spirit-Lore of old Samoa', Journal of the Polynesian Society,

v (1896), pp. 33-57-

(iii) Old Samoa. London, 1897.

E. Tregear. Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington, 1891.
G. Turner. Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago and Long Before. London, 1884.

C. Wilkes. Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, vol. ii. London,
1845.

67. TAHITIANS j
Ari'itaimai. The Memoirs of An' itaimai. Paris, 190 1.

L. de Bougainville. A Voyage Round the World, in the years 1776-1779. Trans,
by J. R. Forster. London, 1772.

F. W.Christian. Eastern Pacific Islands: Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands . London,

1910.

James Cook. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, in the years 1776-1780. 2nd ed. 3 vols.
London, 1785.

B. G. Corney. The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti by Emissaries of Spain, i772~
1776. Trans, by B. G. Corney. Hakluyt Society. London, 1913, 1915, J9i9-
WT. Ellis. Polynesian Researches. 2nd ed. 4 vols. London, 183 1.

G. Forster. A Voyage Round the World, commanded by Captain James Cook, in
1772-177 5. 2 vols. London, 1777.

J. Hawkesworth. An Account of the Voyages for making discoveries in the Southern
Hemisphere {Commodore Byron in 1764-1766; Capt. Wallis in 1766-68; Capt.
Carteret in 1766-69; Capt. Cook in 1768-71). 3 vols. London, 1773. (Cited

as Voyages.) .
T. Henry, (i) 'More on the Ari'is of Tahiti', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xx

(1911), pp. 4-9- , „ 7

(ii) 'The Tahitian Version of the name Ra'iatea and Tapu-tapu-atea , Journal

of the Polynesian Society, xxi (1912), pp. 77~8-

(iii) 'The Oldest Tahitian Marae' , Journal of the Polynesian Society, xxn (1913).

pp. 25-7. .
A. Leverd. 'The Tahitian Version of TafaiT, Journal of the Polynesian Society,

xxi (1912), pp. 1-12. t
Tati Salmon. 'On the Ari'is in Tahiti', Journal of the Polynesian Society, xix (1910),

S. Perc^SnSth. (i) 'The Tahitian Hymn of Creation', Journal of the Polynesian

Society, i (1892), pp. 31~z- „ , . „ . • • • / o \

(ii) 'The Polynesian Sojourn in Fiji', Journal of the Polynesian Society, 111 (1894),

pp. 145-52. . __

James Wilson. A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, in the Years

j796-7-8, in the Ship lDujf \ London, 1799.

68. GILBERT ISLANDERS
H S Cooper. The Coral Islands of the Pacific. New ed. London, 1882.
A. Featherstone. Social History of the Races of Mankind: Oceano-Melanesians.
London, 1888.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 641

A. Grimble. 'From Birth to Death in the Gilbert Islands', Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute, li (1921), pp. 25-54.

H. Hale Ethnography and Philology of the U.S. Exploring Expedition. Phila-
delphia, 1846.

R. Parkinson. 'Beitrage zur Ethnologie der Gilbertinsulaner', Internationales Archiv

fur Ethnographie, ii (1889), pp. 31-48, 90-106.
G. Turner. Samoa: a Hundred Years Ago and Long Before. London, 1884
Tutuila. 'The Line Islanders', Journal of the Polynesian Society, i (1892), pp. 263-

72.

C.Wilkes. Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1 8 38-1 8 42. 5 vols London
1845.

C. M. Woodford. 'The Gilbert Islands', The Geographical Journal, vi (1895)
PP- 325-50. J/'

69. AO NAGAS
J. P. Mills. The Ao Nagas. London, 1926.

70. ANGAMI NAGAS
J. H. Hutton. The Angami Nagas. London, 1921.

71. LHOTA NAGAS
J. P. Mills. The Lhota Nagas. London, 1922.

72. SEMA NAGAS
J. H. Hutton. The Sema Nagas. London, 1921.

xTFOrx?n >Ntga TribCS in gGneraI See also J- **• Hutton, 'Leopard-Men in the
Naga Hills , Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1 (1920) pp 41-51 •
idem 'Carved Monoliths at Jumuguri in Assam', Journal of the Royal Anthropo-
logical Institute, liii (1923), pp. 150-9.

The statements in the Census of India must be accepted with reserve for as
Dr. Hutton has pointed out {The Angami Nagas, p. 334), reports which apply to
one tribe are not necessarily true of another tribe. Unless it is explicitly so stated
a report need not apply to any Naga tribe in particular.

Bibliographies are given by J. H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas, pp. 333-6, and
G. Gnerson, Linguistic Survey of India, iii, pt. i, pp. 205-6.

f 73- MIKIRS

E. Stack and C. J. Lyall. The Mikirs. London, 1908.

74- GAROS
A. Playfair. The Garos. London, 1909.

E. T. Dalton. Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal (Calcutta, 1872), pp. 58-69.

J. Eliot. 'Observations on the Inhabitants of the Garrow Hills', Asiatic Researches

(London, 1799), iii. 17-37. (In the Calcutta edition of the same date the pages

are 21-45.)

75. KHASIS
P. R. T. Gurdon. The Khasis. London, 1914.

76. ANDAMAN ISLANDERS
A. R. Brown. The Andaman Islanders. Cambridge, 1922.

E. H. Man. On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands. London, n.d.
(preface dated Nov. 1883).

M. V. Portman. A History of our Relations with the Andamanese. 2 vols. Calcutta
1899.

Tt

642 BIBLIOGRAPHY

77. SEA-DYAKS

E. H. Gomes. The Sea-Dyaks of Borneo. 3rd ed. London, 1917.

C. Hose and W. McDougall. The Pagan Tribes of Borneo. 2 vols. London, 191 2.

Hugh Low. Sarawak. London, 1848.

J. Perham. (i) 'Petara or Sea Dyak Gods', Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society, no. 8 (1881), pp. 133-52.

(ii) 'Sea-Dyak Religion', Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society, n. 10 (1882), pp. 213-43.

(iii) 'Sea-Dyak Religion', Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society, no. 14 (1885), pp. 287-304.

H. Ling Roth. The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo. 2 vols. London,
1896.

78. CHUKCHEE I

W. Bogoras. 'The Chukchee', The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. vii (pt. i,
Material Culture; pt. ii, Religion; pt. iii, Social Organisation), Memoirs of the
American Museum of Natural History, vol. xi. Leyden and New York, 1907,
1909.

79. KORYAK J

W. Jochelson. 'The Koryak', The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. vi (pt. i,
Religion and Myths; pt. ii, Material Culture and Social Organisation), Memoirs
of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. x. Leyden and New York,
1909.

80. YUKAGHIR I

W. Jochelson. 'The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirised Tungus', The Jesup North
Pacific Expedition, vol. ix (pt. i, Social Life; pt. ii, Religion; pt. iii, Material
Culture), Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. xiii.
Leyden and New York, 1910, 1924, 1926.
M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia (Oxford, 1914), has summarized some of
the evidence. For a comment on her work, see n. 233. Her study of Yukaghir
customs was confined to their social life, for the second and third parts of Mr.
Jochelson's monograph were not published when she wrote.

See also W. Bogoras, 'Chukchee Mythology', J.N.P.E., vol. viii, pt. i (Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xii), and 'The Folk-Lore of N.E. Asia as compared
with that of N.W. America', Ami nam AntJiropologist, N.s. iv (1902), pp. 577-°83-

INDEX

abila

The references are to numbered paragraphs and notes.
val. ev. = analysis and valuation of the evidence concerning
add. val. ev. = additional valuation of the evidence concerning

s.o. = sexual opportunity

aitu (cont.)

translations and
195, 198, 204
its relation to atua, nn

Lango hut for offerings, paras. 84, 151
See also ot jok
Abortion

among some uncivilized peoples, paras.
19, 26, 36, 72, 73, 76, 77, 78, 86, 88,
109, 113, 124, 130, nn. 40, 46, 165,
216, 333, 382, 397, 485

See also Contraception
Absolute Monogamy

definition of, para. 161

unequal bargain for females, para. 161

behaviour produced by, paras. 167, 175

Pauline form of, para. 167

described, para. 168

inevitable downfall of, paras. 168, 175
Absolute Polygamy

definition of, para. 161

behaviour produced by, para. 167
adi

taboo placed on betrothed girl in SE.

Solomon Islands, para. 28
Cp. mata-mata, taumou, vahine pahio,

webat

Adultery and Divorce

among uncivilized peoples, val. ev.,
paras. 20, 21, 167
Affliction

among uncivilized peoples, comments on
reported causes of, paras. 9, 73, 148

among uncivilized peoples, different
method of treating, paras. 9, 148

among Hellenes, changes in treatment
of, para. 159

See also Sickness
Africa

comments on ethnography of, paras. 61,
81, 91, 98

Area of Profound Mystery in, paras. 60,
96

aimu

recipients of some Kamba offerings,
para. 86

another form of mizimu, para. 86
confused with ngai (mulungu), paras. 86,
149

manifest in fig-trees, paras. 86, 150
aitu

word used by Maori as Samoans used

atua, n. 195
used also by Tahitians, n. 582
aitu

power manifest in Samoan temple,

paras. 50, 150
native usage of, paras. 63, 64, 65, 146,

148, 150

interpretations of, nn.

195, 582

Ajawa, another name for Wayao, q.v.
akalo

power manifest to SE. Solomon Islanders,
para. 33

native usage of, paras. 63, 65, 146, 149,
nn. 72, 74, 81, 83
Akamba (Kenya Colony)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 86

huts erected under sacred trees by, paras.
86, 151

val. ev., paras. 89, 90, 141, 145, 148, 149
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
burial customs of, para. 149, n. 371
memory of, para. 149
sacred places decorated by, para. 151
convergence of, with Akikuyu, nn. 362,

368

comment on reports concerning 'beliefs'

of, n. 369
See also ngai, mulungu, aimu, ithembo
Akikuyu (Kenya Colony)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 85
val. ev., paras. 89, 90, 141, H5, 148, 149
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
burial customs of, para. 149, n. 364
scanty information concerning sacred

places of, para. 151
with Akamba, convergence of, nn. 362,
368

causes of sickness among, val. ev., n. 365

See also ngai, ngoma, ngwiko
Alfred, King of Wessex

sexual regulations made by, para. 172
Amazulu (Area of Profound Mystery)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 94

val. ev., para. 96, 141, 145, 146, 149

burial customs of, para. 96, n. 417

methods of weather-control not fully
shown in App. I, para. 141

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

incomplete information concerning source
of magic power among, para. 147

little information concerning sacred
places of, para. 151

644 INDEX

Amazulu (cont.)

alleged 'Supreme Being' among, n. 415
no spirit of inquiry among, n. 415
See also idlilozi, isituta, itongo, hlobonga,

nyanga, unkulunkulu, wisondo
American Indians

comments on evidence concerning, paras.

102, 122, 131, 166, nn. 468, 518
messianic character of some post-

Columbean rites of, para. 102
mental capacity of, para. 70
possible degeneracy of, para. 166
our ignorance concerning pre-Colum-

bean rites of, paras. 102, 150
See also Great Spirit, Peyote Cult,

Ghost Dance Religion, San-Dance
Ancestor-worship

vague meaning of the word, paras. 7, 81,

123, 149

analysis of rites described as, para. 8

reported disappearance among Yoruba,
para. 42, among Samoans, para. 50

in Africa, comments on, para. 81

val. ev., para. 149, nn. 65, 72, 81, 175, 177,
225, 296, 394. 434, 460, 586, 609
Andaman Islanders (Bay of Bengal)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 138

burial customs of, para. 138, 140

val. ev., paras. 140, 145, 149

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

divisions of, n. 61 1

See also lau
Angami Nagas (Assam)

pre-nuptial conduct of, para. 53

cultural condition of, para. 54

add. val. ev., paras. 62, 90, 141, 145,
146, 149

treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.

141, n. 230
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also terhoma
Angles, movements of, para. 172

See also Anglo-Saxons
Anglicized Plurals of Native Terms

examples of, paras, 5, 32, 113, 139, 148,
149, nn. 179, 222, 230, 335, 428, 507,
544, 581, 583, 585
Anglo-Saxons

women emancipated among, paras. 161,
168, 172

absolute monogamy of, para. 167
effect of celibacy among, para. 167
relations between the sexes among, para.
172

effect on sexual regulations of conversion
to Catholic Christianity, paras. 167,
172

false inferences in study of, n. 701
Animal-cult

comments on reports concerning, nn. 86,

97, 180, 363, 585
See also Reincarnation

Animism

criticism of theory of, paras. 4, 32, 62,

143, 148, 152
erroneous reports of, paras. 5, 49, 112, 148
influence of theory of, paras. 54, 61, 74,
91, 116, 121, nn. 309, 356, 475, 484,
500, 518, 531
inferences due to theory of, paras. 63,

74, 137, 146-8
criticism of hypothesis that polytheism

replaced, paras. 148, 152
See also Spirit, Nature- Spirits
Animistic

an unacceptable technical term, para. 4
aniti

recipient of some Gilbert Island offer-
ings, para. 134

antu

power manifest to Sea-Dyaks, para. 139
confused with petara (q.v.), para. 139
native usage of, paras. 141, 146
Anyanja (British Central Africa)
pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 97
cultural condition of, para. 98
add. val. ev., paras. 101, 145, 149, nn. 445-7
methods of weather-control not fully

shown in App. I, para. 141
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
only probable evidence concerning source

of magic power among, para. 147
sacred places decorated by, para. 151
grave-huts erected by, paras. 98, 151
application of the term, n. 428
causes of sickness among, n. 447
See also mulungu, muzimu, kachisi
Ao Nagas (Assam)

pre-nuptial conduct of, para. 53
summary of reports on cultural condition

of, para. 54
add. val. ev., paras. 62, 90, 145, 146, 149
probably zoistic, paras. 54, 141
treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.

141, nn. 227, 230
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also tsungrem
aomata, Gilbert Island nobility, para. 134
Cp. rau

Apache Indians (Arizona and New Mexico)
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 126
paucity of our knowledge of, para. 126
add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146, 149
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of
magic power among, para. 147
Aparoke

another name for Crow Indians, q.v.
Arabs

seem to have proceeded direct from
zoistic to deistic condition, para. 145
ba'al marriage of, paras. 167, 175
expansive energy of, para. 175
See also Moors, mot a, baal

Arapaho Indians (Plains)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 115

burial customs imperfectly known, paras.
H5, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 148
conflicting reports concerning, n. 511
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
alleged to have regarded sickness as

intrusive, paras. 115, 148
See also baataana
Area of Profound Mystery
defined, para. 60

confusing and scanty nature of evidence

concerning, paras. 96, 149
See also Amazulu, Awemba, Baila,
Baronga, Barotse, Basnto, Bushmen,
Hottentots
Ari'itaimai

on early Tahitian society, para. 133
Aristocracy

factors responsible for dominance of,
paras. 159, 167
arnam

power manifest to Mikirs, para. 135
native usage of, paras. 135, 140, 146,
n. 602

translations of, para. 147
Arreoi Society

band of strolling players in Tahiti,
paras. 133, 166, n. 574

original celibacy of, paras. 133, 166
Asclepius

unacceptable comparisons with, para. 43,

nn. 151, 187
in Hellenic therapeutics, position of, para.

159

Ashanti (West Africa)

lack of early information concerning,
para. 100

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 100

add. val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 150, 166,
167

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of priestly power among, para.

147

organized as monarchy, para. 167

no spirit of inquiry among, n. 459

the temples of, val. ev., n. 462

contradictory evidence concerning reci-
pients of offerings made by, para. 150,
n. 466

burial customs of, n. 466
causes of sickness among, para. 148, n.
467

See also ntoro, bohsum, nyame, nyame dua
Assam

Hindu influence in, n. 213
Assinniboin

subdivision of Dakota, n. 521
ataro

term for ghost in San Cristoval (Solomon
Islands), para. 33, n. 296

INDEX 645
Athenians

productive social energy of, paras. 155,
170

native-born women not emancipated

among, para. 161, 168, 170
absolute monogamy of, para. 167
post-nuptial regulations of, para. 170
human entropy among, para. 174
our comparative ignorance of laws of,
nn. 1, 683
Atida

Lango heroine, para. 89, n. 359

atiep

recipient of some Dinka offerings, paras.
83. 149

atua

as used by Samoans, nn. 195, 582
A. M. Hocart on Rotuman use of, n. 195

atua

power manifest to Gilbert Islanders,

paras. 134, 150
native usage unknown, paras. 146, 150
atua

power manifest to Hawaiians, n. 195
native usage of, n. 195
atua

power manifest to Maori, para. 49
translations of, paras. 5, 49, 148, nn. 178-
80, 194

anglicized plural of, paras. 5, 149, n. 179
native usage of, paras. 49, 63, 64, 65,

141, 146, 148, 149
meaning of, confused with phenomena
to which it was applied, para. 49, n. 180
E. Best on, n. 180
its relation to aitu, nn. 195, 582
atua

power manifest to Tahitians, para. 133
native usage of, paras. 140, 146, 149
Australian Aborigines

mental capacity of, para. 70
Avebury, Lord

on the definition of marriage, n. 17
Awemba (Area of Profound Mystery)
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 91
sexual freedom of royal females among,
para. 91

val. ev., paras. 96, 141, 145, 149
grave-huts erected by, paras. 91, 96, 151
burial customs of, para. 96
methods of weather-control not fully

shown in App. I, para. 141
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
sacred places decorated by, para. 151
See also milungu, mafuba, leza, mipashi
Aztecs (Mexico)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural

condition of, para. 43
val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 150, 166, 167
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of
priestly power among, para. 147

646 INDEX

Aztecs (cont.)

organized as monarchy, para. 167
value of comparisons between Pueblo
Indians and, nn. 158, 160

baal

a later form of Arabian marriage, paras.

167, 175, n. 715
See also mot'a

baataana

power possibly manifest to Arapaho

Indians, para. 115
native usage of, paras. 115, 121, 131, 146,
n. 514
Babylonians

expansive energy of, paras. 155

women emancipated among, paras. 161,

168, 169

absolute monogamy of, para. 167
changes in post-nuptial regulations of,
para. 169

no sororal polygamy among, nn. 25, 676
when a marriage was childless, steps

taken by, n. 676
regarded laws as having divine origin,

n. 672
bachzvezi

pi. form of muchwezi, q.v.
Baganda (Uganda)

sexual regulations of, para. 36
cultural condition of, para. 39
val. ev., paras. 61, 90, 141, 145, 146, I5°>
166

rationalism among, para. 70
sexual freedom of royal females among,
para. 91

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of priestly power among, para. 147
extension of sexual opportunity among,

para. 166

probable degeneracy of, paras. 166, 167
organized as monarchy, para. 167
physical type of, n. 1 10
towards nakedness, prudish attitude of,
n. 115

dual personnel of temples among, n. 130
preserved relics of 'kings', n. 131
See also mandwa, lubare, malalo, muzimu,
Mutes a
Bahima

pastoral immigrants into Uganda, n. no
baigona-cult

its rise and fall in Papua, para. 79
Baila (Area of Profound Mystery)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural
condition of, para. 92

grave-huts erected by, para. 92, 96, 151

sacred groves of, paras. 92, 148

val. ev., paras. 96, 145, 146, 149

burial customs of, para. 96

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

only probable evidence concerning source
of magic power among, para. 147

sacred places decorated by, paras. 151

post-nuptial arrangements among, n. 397

Baila {cont.)

causes of sickness among, n. 405
See also leza, mulongo, lubambo, mizhimo,
mabzvabzva, musamo, hvanga
Bakitara (Uganda)

sexual regulations of, para. 36
cultural condition of, para. 38
val. ev., paras. 61, 90, 141, 145, 146,

148, 149, 150, 151, 166, 167
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
only probable evidence concerning source

of magic power among, para. 147
apparent extension of sexual opportunity

among, para. 166
probable degeneracy of, para. 166, 167
organized as monarchy, para. 167
less energetic than Baganda, paras. 40,
167

physical type of, n. 1 10
social strata among, n. no
sexual freedom of royal females among,
para. 91

See also mandwa, muchwezi, ruhanga
baloi

Suto flying wizards, n. 423
Cp. mulukwaisi, karaveni, baloti
balorna

power manifest to Trobriand Islanders,
para. 73, nn. 302, 629
baloti

Ronga flying witches, n. 411
Cp. mulukwaisi, karaveni, baloi
Baluba

possibly considerable compulsory con-
tinence among, n. 399
sacred huts erected by, n. 402
Bandelier, A. F.

on Pueblo culture, para. 122
Banks Islanders (Melanesia)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 72
unacceptable statements concerning be-
liefs of, para. 5, n. 292
val. ev., paras. 90, 141, 145, I49-5I.
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
possible degeneracy of, para. 166
confused reports concerning exogamic

regulations of, n. 291
causes of sickness among, n. 295
See also marana, oloolo, sogoi, tataro,
veve, vui
Bantu (lit. 'people' — Africa)
mental capacity of, para. 70
confusing terminology among southern,
para. 96
Banyankole (Uganda)

sexual regulations of, para. 36
cultural condition of, para. 37
val. ev., paras. 61, 90, 141, I45>

148, 149 . . ,

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
no information concerning source ot
magic power among, para. 147

Banyankole (cont.)

sacred places decorated by, para. 151
contradictory statements concerning

alleged beliefs of, n. 116
causes of sickness among, n. 119
See also mandwa, mayembe, mizimu,
kagondo, ruhanga
Baronga (Area of Profound Mystery)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 93
val. ev., para. 96, 141, 145, 148, 149
possible erection of grave-huts by, paras.

96, 151, n. 408
mental capacity of, para. 70
burial customs of, para. 96, n. 408
treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.
141

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
only probable evidence concerning source

of magic power among, para. 147
scanty information concerning sacred

places of, para. 151
See also shikwembu, nkonola, tilo
Barotse

inhabited part of Area of Profound
Mystery, para. 60
Bastards

suggested explanation of outstanding

ability of some, n. 655
Basuto (Area of Profound Mystery)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural

condition of, para. 95
val. ev., paras. 96, 145, 146, 149
burial customs of, para. 96, n. 423
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
incomplete evidence concerning source

of magic power among, para. 147
little evidence concerning sacred places

of, para. 151
no spirit of inquiry among, n. 423
F. H. Dutton on degeneracy of, para. 96
See also molimo
Behaviour

as basis of classification, para. 6

of material substance, dependent on

inherent nature, para. 160, n. 646
See also Human Behaviour, Inherent

Nature, Necessity, Rites
Beliefs

criticism of classifications based on,

paras. 4, 65, 99
unacceptable character of many reports

concerning, paras. 5, 52, 54, 56, 91,

148; nn. 116, 122, 133, 134, i75> 180,

195, 207, 241, 246, 356, 369, 408, 445,

446, 462, 548, 552, 635
unacceptable inferences in reports of,

paras. 63, 74, 137, 145, 146, 148, nn.

177, 179, 309, 362, 371, 377, 39i, 614,

616, 626

personality of observer reflected in re-
ports of, paras. 4, 15, 102, 139, 148,
nn. 116, 122, 180, 292, 445, 451, 585

apparent confusion between rites and,
para. 148, nn. 4, 158

2X 647

Beliefs {cont.)

not diffused, n. 195

See also Ideas, God, Supreme Being,
Ghost, Spirit
Best, Elsdon

on native brains, para. 70
comments on his description of Maori
'beliefs', nn. 175, 180, 189, 190, 191,
192, 194
Betrothal

sexual limitations after, paras. 19, 163,
n. 162

sexual opportunity limited by, in New
Britain, para. 27; in SE. Solomon
Islands, para. 28 ; among Maori, para.
45; among Ibibio, para. 41; among
Baila, para. 92 ; among Wayao, para.
97 ; among Tahitians, para. 133 ; among
Gilbert Islanders, para. 134
beweddung

Anglo-Saxon betrothal ceremony, para.
172

Biological Fitness

for the display of social energy, paras,
156, 160, 175
Biological Process
distinguished from cultural process, paras-
159, 175

often confused with cultural process,
paras. 159, 175, nn. 655, 670, 712
Blackfeet (Siksika) Indians (around head-
waters of Missouri R.)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 114

burial customs of, paras. 114, 149, n.
509

add. val. ev., paras. 121, 131, 145, 148
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also natosio
blei

power manifest to Khasis, para. 137
native usage of, paras. 140, 146, 147
Bogoras, W.

on affinity of Palaeo-Siberians with in-
habitants of NW. America, n. 231
bohsum (obosum)

power manifest in Ashanti temple, para.
100

equated with orisha and vodu, para. 99
discussed, para. 146
Breuer, J.

his treatment of mental disturbances,
para. 153
Bride-price

often associated with reservation of girl's
sexual qualities, paras. 91, 97, 100, 152
changes in custom of, para. 168
sometimes confused with dowry, n. 682
among Teutons, mund secured by pay-
ment of, para. 172, n. 698
Briffault, R.

on the censure of pre-nuptial pregnancy,

para. 15, n. 112
on sororal polygamy, para. 21
on the definition of marriage, n. 17

648

INDEX

Briffault, R. (cont.)

comments on writings of, nn. 112, 155,

163, 172, 382, 421, 470
on the pre-nuptial regulations of the
Iroquois, n. 519
Brother-sister Marriage

method of appraising reports concerning
alleged, n. 660
Brown, Professor A. R.

on the Andaman Islanders, para. 138
Brown, G.

comments on writings of, paras. 32, 141,
150, nn. 62-5, 163
Bryce, Lord
on usus, n. 690

on the divorce of Sp. Carvilius Ruga,
n. 691

buor

Dinka place of offering, para. 83
Burial, Methods of

See Supernormal Men
Burrow, Trigant

on the social character of the Uncon-

154

scious, para.
Bushmen

inhabited part of Area
Mystery, para. 60

of Profound

Callaway, H.

on danger of direct questioning, para. 4
Cause

three kinds of, para. 156
in this treatise, use of the word, paras.
156, 158

as indispensable contributory factor,

paras. 156, 160
Cayuga Indians

members of Iroquoian confederacy, para.

116

Chaka (Tshaka)

Zulu chieftain, paras. 60, 94, 96
reforms of, n. 412

Charondas

Sicilian law-giver, para. 170

Chart of Evidence (Appendix I)
analysis of, paras. 11, 24, 141
summary of contents of, para. 24
some methods of controlling the weather
not shown in, para. 141

Chastity

use of the word, paras. 15, 46, 47. 53 > 97>

nn. 19, 115, 234, 236, 508, 524
becomes a virtue in some societies, para.

168, n. 714
Chastity, Pre-nuptial
definition of, para. 18
often falsely inferred from censure of

pre-nuptial pregnancy, paras. 15, 55,

90, 114

when compulsory, accompanied by deistic
behaviour, paras. 24, 58, 152, 158

when compulsory, produces deistic be-
haviour, paras. 164, 175

among some uncivilized societies, ap-
parent relaxation of demand for,
paras. 51, 166, n. 156

uncut hair as sign of, para. 29, nn. 44, 169

Chickasaw Indians (Mississippi)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 127
paucity of our knowledge of, para. 127
add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146, 149
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
perversions of, n. 554
Chief

in anthropological literature, use of the
word, paras. 3, 80, 167, nn. 163, 207
Childhood

effect of experiences during, para. 153
Chinnery, E. W. C.

on baigona-cuh, n. 337
Chippewa, another name for Ojibwa

Indians, q.v.
Chitimukulu

legendary founder of Awemba, para. 91
Choctaw Indians

our ignorance concerning, n. 534
Christian Marriage

cultural effect of different kinds of, para.
167

uncertainties in definition of, para. 167

comments on, n. 671
Christianity

influence of, on sexual conduct of un-
civilized people, paras. 20, 29, 91, 166,
167, nn. 163, 460, 671

influence of, on burial customs, para. 149

cult of the great dead in some forms of,
para. 167

different forms of, para. 167

See also Christian Marriage
Chukchee (NE. Siberia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 55

cultural condition of, para. 56

val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 149

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

incomplete information concerning
source of magic power among, para.

comments on alleged conceptions of,

nn. 241, 246
See also enen, etin, kele, vairgin
chyen (Lango)

a malevolent tipo, para. 84
Civilized, in this treatise, meaning of,

para. 12
Civilized Societies
named, para. 12

divided into cultural strata, para. 143
some strata of, in same cultural condition
as uncivilized societies, paras. 70, 143
energy of some, paras. 167-73
human entropy among some, paras. i74~5
Climate

does not affect display of social energy,
n. 653
Clan-brother

sexual rights of, paras. 20, 36
Cnut, King of England

sexual regulations made by, para. 172

INDEX

649

Coast Salish Indians (SW. British Colum-
bia)

cultural condition of, para. 108

our ignorance concerning pre-nuptial

regulations of, para. 108
our ignorance concerning burial customs

of, paras. 112, 149
val. ev., paras. 112, 131, 145
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also sulia
Codrington, R. H.

comments on the writings of, para. 5,

n. 292

preconceptions of, paras. 33, 146, n. 292
akalo and IV oa confused by, para. 33,

n. 72
genius of, para. 81
on the meaning of 'sacrifice', n. 86
on exogamy of veve, n. 291
on tataro, n. 296

on a sense of the past among the SE.
Solomon Islanders, para. 33, n. 631
coemptio (Roman)

a Plebeian form of marriage, para. 171
comitia centuriata (Roman)

increase and decrease in power of, para.
171

Comparative Method

difficulties inherent in, paras. 140, 141

value of conclusions reached by, n. 652
Compulsory Celibacy

on cultural condition, effect of, paras. 58,
167
confarreatio

a Roman form of marriage, para. 171
Confusion between the One and the Many

definition of, para. 67
Continence, Compulsory

a condition of social energy, para. 160

various degrees of, para. 161
Continence, Irregular or Occasional

definition of, para. 19

accompanied by manistic behaviour,
paras. 24, 58, 152, 158

uneven in intensity, paras. 143, 152, 158,
163

produces manistic behaviour, paras. 163,
175

Contraception

among some uncivilized peoples, paras.
72, 76, 78, 117, 124, n. 40

See also Abortion
Controlled by Magic

technical term, meaning of, para. 8

evidence of rites included as, para. 141
Cook, Professor A. B.

term zoistic borrowed from, n. 12

on the loss of faith in unassisted magic,
n. 633
Cook, Captain J.

on the value of his own writings, n. 569
Creek Indians (Alabama and Georgia)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural
condition of, para. 128

paucity of our knowledge of, para. 128

Creek Indians (cont.)

diverse burial customs of, para. 128,
149

add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146

only inferential evidence concerning
ideas of, para. 145

no information concerning source of
magic power among, para. 147

perversions of, n. 556
Crooke, W.

on tendance, para. 8
Crow Indians (Plains)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 119

recent changes in burial customs of,
paras. 119, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 102, 121, 131, 145

indisputable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

See also maxpe
Cult

a subdivision of the manistic pattern,

defined, para. 8
always hero-cult, paras. 8, 33, 149
inauguration of, due to mental energy,

paras. 150, 152, 158, 163, 175
Cultural Advance

never uniform throughout a society,

paras. 39, 70, 143, 148, 154, 175
due to human energy, paras. 149, 152, 175
produced by reduction of s.o., paras. 155,

175 ,

extension of memory an item in, paras.
69, 89, 101, 149, 150, 175
Cultural Behaviour

reveals cultural condition, paras. 3, 6, 7

dependent on ideas, para. 143

controlled by s.o., para. 160
Cultural Change

nature of, paras. 61, 143, 152, 175

not complete in less than three genera-
tions, paras. 157, 162, 167, 175

hard to bear, paras. 167, 175

from zoistic to manistic, paras. 150, 163,

from zoistic to deistic, paras. 164, 175
from manistic to deistic, paras. 150, 164,

from deistic to manistic, paras. 166, 175
from manistic to zoistic, paras. 166, 175
from deistic to rationalistic, paras. 168,

Cultural Condition

definition of, paras. 3, 6, 7, 158, 166

not to be confused with religion, para. 3

dependent on amount of energy, paras.

160, 175
fundamental basis of, para. 146
not affected by geographical environ-
ment, paras. 58, 90, 159
See also zoistic, manistic, deistic, rational-
istic

Cultural Pattern

intense variety within the, paras. 11, 90,

122, 142, 174
another term for cultural condition, q.v.

650

INDEX

Cultural Process

defined, paras. 159, 175
not a one-way street, paras. 13, 145, 158
reversible events in, para. 175
deterministic conclusion concerning, not

vitiated by existence of individual

free will, paras. 154, 158, 175
direction of, paras. 174, 175, n. 712
pre-conceptions in study of, para. 159
egocentricity in study of, paras. 159, 175
impressionistic picture of, paras. 159, 175
can be controlled by men, paras. 160, 175
distinguished from biological process,

paras. 159, 175
often confused with biological process,

paras. 159, 175, nn. 655, 670, 712
Cultural Scale (Appendix II)

definitions employed in, paras. 7, 8, 13
explained, para. 142
Culture

use of the word, para. 3
See also Cultural Condition
Czaplicka, M. A.

on the 'Supreme Beings' of the Palaeo-

Siberians, para. 56, n. 237
comments on the writings of, nn. 233,

237, 238

Dag, Shilluk hero, para. 82
Dahomans (West Africa)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 99
val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 150, 166, 167
sexual freedom of royal females among,
para. 91

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of priestly power among, para. 147
organized as monarchy, para. 167
tribute paid to Yoruba by, n. 1 54
conflicting reports concerning area of

influence of 'gods' among, n. 451
Yoruba influence among, nn. 453, 457
poor quality of evidence concerning

Grand and Annual Customs of, n. 455
See also vodu, mawu
Dakota Indians (Plains)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 117
burial customs of, paras. 117, 149
add. val. ev., paras. 121, 131, 145, 148
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also wakan
Darwin, Professor C. G.

on the Uncertainty Principle, para. 154
Dead, The

difficulties in understanding reports on

word applied to or translated as, paras.

66, 67, 149, 162
val. ev., paras. 89, 141, 149
remembered and conciliated for varying

lengths of time, paras. 69, 89, 149
Dead Level of Conception

definition of, paras. 66, 149, 158, 162
rational character of, para. 149

Dead Level of Conception (cont.)

basis of zoistic, manistic, and deistic
ideas, para. 149, 152, 162, 163, 164, 175

Definition of

absolute monogamy, para. 161
absolute polygamy, para. 161
Area of Profound Mystery, para. 60
biological process, paras. 159, 175
confusion between the One and the

Many, para. 67
cult, para. 8

cultural condition, para. 3
cultural process, paras. 159, 175
dead level of conception, paras. 66, 149,
162

deistic, para. 7

determinism, n. 646

diviner, para. 9

expansive energy, para. 155

human energy, para. 175

indisputable evidence, para. 144

inferential evidence, para. 144

irregular or occasional continence, para.

manistic, para. 7

marriage, para. 14

matrilineal, para. 59

medicine-man, para. 9

modified monogamy, para. 161

modified polygamy, para. 161

permanent distinction between the One

and the Many, para. 69
pre-nuptial chastity, para. 18
pre-nuptial freedom, para. 18
probable evidence, para. 144
productive social energy, para. 155
rationalistic, paras. 155, 167
sexual freedom, para. 17
sexual opportunity, para. 16
social energy, paras. 155, 175
sophist, para. 174
temple, para. 7

temporary distinction between the One
and the Many, para. 68

tendance, para. 8

wizard, para. 9

zoistic, para. 7
Degeneracy

among uncivilized peoples, para. 166

use of the word, para. 175
Deistic

one of the four cultural patterns, para. 6

subdivisions of, para. 164

definition of, para. 7

accompanies pre-nuptial chastity, paras.

24, 44, 58, 152, 158
produced by pre-nuptial chastity, paras.

164, 175

invariably accompanied by monarchy,

paras. 91, 167
position in cultural scale, paras. 13, 142
founded on conception of the 'unusual',

paras. 149, 152
change from manistic to, paras. 149-52,

158, 164, 175
change from zoistic to, paras. 164, 175
change to manistic form, para. 166

INDEX

Dene (Alaska; Yukon and McKenzie R.'s)
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para, in
our ignorance concerning burial customs

of, paras. 112, 149
add. val. ev., paras. 112, 131, 145, 146
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of
magic power among, para. 147
Deng-dit

Dinka hero, paras. 83, 89, 151
confused with jok, paras. 83, 149, 151
Determinism

in human affairs, paras. 154, 159, 160
comments on and definition of, para. 175,
n. 646

See also Uncertainty Principle
Dinka (Sudan)

some reported beliefs of, para. 5

pre-nuptial regulations of, compared
with those of Shilluk, para. 82

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 83

val. ev., paras. 89, 90, 145, 146, 149, 151

sacrificial huts erected by, paras. 83, 151

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

memory of, para. 149

importance of, n. 354

See also jok, atiep, buor
Direct Questions

in the study of uncivilized peoples,
danger of, para. 4, nn. 227, 234, 445,

459, 464, 53i, 582
Bishop Callaway's opinion concerning,

para. 4, n. 623
examples of misunderstandings due to,

paras. 5, 55, 65
information apparently the result of,

nn. 292, 445, 464, 509
Diviner

difference between wizard, medicine-man,

and, para. 9
analysis of some native terms for, para. 65
Dorsey, The Rev. J. O.

on the 'Great Spirit' fallacy, paras. 102, 117
valuable contributions to American

ethnology, para. 102

dos

Roman dowry, n. 696
Dowry

manner in which in some historical
societies custom grew up, para. 168

sometimes confused with bride-price,
n. 682
Driberg, J. H.

on uncivilized beliefs, para. 3

important contributions to African
ethnology by, paras. 61, 84, 151

examples of errors avoided by, n. 356
dsilyi

an interesting Navaho word, n. 553
Dundas, C.

comments on the writings of, nn. 361,
37o, 37i

Dupuis, J.

on native brains and direct questions,

n. 459
Durkheim, E.

on uncivilized religion, n. 4
on orenda, n. 518
on zvakan, n. 520

ebihare

power manifest to Kiwai Papuans, para.
74.

animistic interpretation of, paras. 74, 148
native usage of, paras. 74, 146, 148, 149

Eddington, Professor Sir A. S.
on egocentricity, para. 159
on the Uncertainty Principle, n. 646

Education

mentality cannot be developed solely by,
para. 70
Eells, The Rev. Myron

on the impossibility of translating some
native terms, para. 109
Egocentricity

in study of cultural process, paras. 159,

175
Egyptians

our comparative ignorance concerning,
n. 1

ehlose

another form of idhlozi, q.v.
ekkpo

power manifest to Ibibio, para. 42
Electron

alleged free-will of, paras. 154, 175,
n. 646

relation to its chemical element compared
to relation of individual human being
to its society, paras. 154, 175, n. 646

See also Uncertainty Principle
Eliot, Sir C.

on our knowledge of the Nandi, para. 87

on the reports on the Masai ngai, n. 383
Elliot Smith, Professor G.

on native brains, para. 70
Ellis, Sir A. B.

value of researches of, para. 81

on the energy of the Yoruba, para. 42
Ellis, W.

on native brains, para. 70

comments on the writings of, nn. 582,

585, 590

enen

power manifest to Chukchee, para. 56

confusing translations of, nn. 241, 242,
246
Energy

conception of, para. 175

human, defined, para. 175
English

married women emancipated among,

paras. 161, 167, 172, 173
absolute monogamy of, para. 167
effect of celibacy among, para. 167
divorce by mutual consent not definitely

enacted by, para. 168
casuists concerning relations between

the sexes, para. 173

652

INDEX

English (cont.)

since sixteenth century changes in post-
nuptial regulations of, para. 173
energy of, paras. 173, 175
effect of Pauline teaching on, paras. 167,

172, 173

parliamentary divorces among, para. 173,
n. 710

human entropy among, paras. 174, 17S
See also White Men, Christian Marriage
Entropy

See Law of Entropy, Human Entropy
epicleros

Athenian law of, paras. 161, 168, 170

etengena

power manifest to Kiwai Papuans, para.
74

animistic interpretation ot, para. 74,
nn. 309, 310
Ethelberht, Jutish King of Kent

sexual regulations made by, para. 172
etin

power manifest to Chukchee, para. 56
confusing translations of, nn. 241, 246
Eugenists .

arguments of, vitiated by confusion be-
tween biological and cultural processes,
n. 655
Evolution

in the study of human affairs, use of the
word, paras. 61, 71, 159, n. 712

in human affairs, conception of, para. 65,
n. 712

criticism of idea of straight-line, paras.
61, 148, 159
ewatta (zvhatta)

Tahitian altar, paras. 133, 151
Exogamy

comments on, paras. 17, 161

theories concerning, n. 18
Exorcism

definition of, para. 9

among SE. Solomon Islanders, para. 33

among Fijians, para. 34

among the Banyankole, character of,
para. 37

among the Bakitara, efficacy of, para. 38

among Baganda, para. 39

among Samoans, para. 50

among Banks Islanders, para. 72

among Shilluk, para. 82

reported to have been conducted by New
Britons (para. 32), Ibibio (para. 42),
Maori (para. 49), Angami and Sema
Nagas (n. 230), Baronga (para. 93)

val. ev., para. 141, nn. 135, 555

does not cure but renders medicine
effective, paras. 37, 38, 95, 148
Expansive Energy

defined, para. 155

first result of reduction of s.o. to mini-
mum, paras. 167, 175

faleaitu

Samoan god-house or temple, paras. 50,

64, 151
Cp. mbure kalou, otjok

falelotu

Tongan temple, paras. 51,151

sometimes confused with faitoka, 'bury- 1
ing-place', nn. 205, 208

See also faletapu
faletapu

Tongan temple, paras. 51, 64, 151
sometimes confused with falefeao, priest's

house, n. 205
contents of, n. 206
dual personnel of, n. 209
See also falelotu
faletele

Samoan assembly-house, situated in
marae, n. 196
Farnell, L. R.

on the classification of post-funeral

rites, para. 8
Females

s.o. of, culturally more important than
that of males, paras. 157, 161, 167,
n. 655

often described as aggressors in sexual
relations, paras. 45, 72, 73, 78> OI> 94.
116, 126, 129, 136
in absolutely monogamous societies,
legal nonentity of, paras. 161, 167, 168
inevitable emancipation of, paras. 161,

168, 175 . . ,

in some monarchical societies, sexual

freedom of royal, para. 91, n. 387
See also Mother
Fewkes, J. W.

on the unsatisfactory nature of our
reports on Hopi culture, para. 123
Field-work

comments on methods employed in,
paras. 65, 80, 148
Fig-trees

power in the universe manifest in, among
Akikuyu, n. 362; among Akamba,
para. 86 ; among Lango, n. 356 ; among
Wayao, n. 437
ghosts manifest in, among Akamba,
para. 86 ; among Baila, n. 403
Fijians (Melanesia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 29
cultural condition of, para. 34
val. ev., paras. 63, 64, 65, 69, 9°> I4I>

145, 150
mental capacity of, para. 70
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of priestly power among, para. 147
possible degeneracy of, paras. 166, 167,

175

alleged totemism of, n. 97
name of, n. 569

See also mbure, kalou-vu, kalou-yalo
Final Cause

not to be confused with immediate or
ultimate cause, paras. 156, 158
Finau (Finow)

rationalistic Tongan 'King', para. 7°>
nn. 208, 212
Fowler, W. Warde

on the definition of religion, n. 4

INDEX

653

Fox, C. E.

on the social strata in SE. Solomon Is-
lands, n. 66

on the meaning of komu, n. 66
Frame of Reference

explained, paras, n, 23

reason for adopting the term, para. 1 59
Frazer, Sir J. G.

on uncivilized beliefs, para. 3

on the Dinka jok, para. 5

criticism of evolutionary hypotheses of,
paras. 62, 65, 78, 148

on the Shilluk ret, para. 82

on the pre-nuptial regulations of Koryak,
para. 55

on the value of suggested derivations of

native words, para. 99
on the worship of nature, paras. 62, 148,

n. 409

on social energy, para. 155

on the definition of religion, n. 4

on the definition of the word god, n. 8

on exogamy, n. 18

on the sororate, para. 21

on the levirate, n. 26

on the meaning of tebaran, n. 65

on tevoro, n. 97

on alleged Samoan zoolatry, n. 195

on the alleged 'divine king' of the

Shilluk, para. 82, n. 344
his interpretation of Nandi hatred of pre-
nuptial pregnancy, n. 381
on the Dahoman mawu, n. 451
accepts Teit's description of the Thomp-
son Indians, n. 482
on the meaning of imunu, n. 623
of false inferences concerning tilo, repeti-
tion by, n. 624
accepts reports on tapu-ariki, n. 625
on the loss of faith in unassisted magic,
n. 633

on Babylonian marriage laws, nn. 25, 676
Free will

existence of, not disputed, paras. 154,

existence of, does not vitiate deterministic
conclusion concerning cultural process,
paras. 154, 158, 175, n. 646

See also The Individual
Freud, S.

his treatment of mental disturbances,
para. 153

on the diversion of sexual energy, para.
155

on the relation between sexual and social
energy, paras. 155, 156
Friendly Islands

See Tongans
Funeral Rites

to be carefully distinguished from post-
funeral rites, paras. 8, 141

Galton, F.

criticism of, n. 655
Ganeodiyo, 'Handsome Lake'

American Indian (Seneca) revivalist,
paras. 102, 116

Garos (Assam)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 136
burial customs of, paras. 136, 140
treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.
141

val. ev., paras. 140, 141, 145, 146, 149
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
incomplete information concerning

source of magic power among, para.

*47

Geographical Environment

has no effect on cultural condition, paras.
5?, 90

Georgian Islands, n. 569
Ghost

definition of, para. 148
not to be confused with 'spirit', para. 148
val. ev., word translated as, paras. 66,
149, nn. 81, 82, 87, 472, 525, 552, 579
different methods of treating a, para. 8
val. ev., magical control of, para. 141
same word often translated both as
god and as, para. 148, nn. 180, 195,
201, 207, 393, 408, 466, 586
See also The Dead
Ghost Dance Religion

a post-Columbean rite of some American
Indians, para. 102
Gibson, J. Y.

on the Amazulu, para. 94
Gilbert Islanders (Micronesia)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
ditions of, para. 134
comments on reports concerning sexual

regulations of, para. 15
sororal polygamy among, para. 134
add. val. ev., paras. 140, 145, 146, 150,
167

only probable ideas concerning ideas of,
para. 145

no information concerning source of

priestly power among, para. 147
other names for, n. 594
See also aniti, atua, tapu-ariki
God

same word often translated both as spirit
and as, paras. 5, 54, 93, 113, 139, 147,
148, nn. 180, 195, 198, 207

same word sometimes translated both as
fetish and as, para. 61, nn. 116, 119

same word often translated both as
ghost and as, para. 148, nn. 180, 195,
201, 207, 393, 408, 466, 586

same word sometimes translated both as
priest and as, para. 148

unreliable character of evidence con-
cerning the area of influence of a,
para. 99, nn. 195, 208, 451, 587

in anthropological literature, inexact use
of the word, paras. 148, 150, nn. 116,
122, 180, 195, 208, 383, 510, 518, 522,
.585, 618

with capital G, power manifest to white

men, paras. 146, 148
Sir ]. G. Frazer on definition of, n. 8

654

INDEX

God (cont.)

suggested definition of, paras. 148, 150,
n. 208

example of magical control of, n. 135

comment on reports concerning wives
of a, n. 660

law supposed to be revealed by a, n. 672

See also Power in the Universe
Gouldsbury, C, and Sheane, H.

on native brains, para. 70

on the effect of Christianity on sexual life
of uncivilized peoples, paras. 91, 167
Grave-huts

erected by manistic peoples, para. 151

See also Huts, Sacrificial
Gray, J.

on the study of the biological process,
para. 175
Great Spirit

fallacy in theory of, para. 102, nn. 516,
520

inferential character of alleged ubiquity
of, nn. 510, 531
Greeks. See Hellenes
Green, J. R.

on extended post-nuptial s.o. of Normans,
para. 167
Gros Ventres

another name for Hidatsa, q.v.
Group-marriage

criticism of hypothesis of, paras. 14, 21,
22

Groves. See Sacred Groves

Haddon, A. C.

on Mafulu, para. 75

father of Papuan ethnography, para. 81

on the dual nature of religion, n. 4

on baigona-cult, n. 337
Haida Indians (Queen Charlotte Islands)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 104

burial customs of, paras. 112, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 112, 131, 145, 148,
149, 166

indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
alleged to have regarded sickness as

intrusive, paras. 104, 148
See also sgana
Hammurabi, King of Babylon
code of, para. 169

confusing translations in modern editions
of code of, n. 676
Hartland, E. S.

on the meaning of religion, n. 4

on orenda, n. 518
hastse

an interesting Navaho word, n. 553

Hawaiians (Polynesia)

revolution among, para. 48
mental capacity of, para. 70
our ignorance concerning, n. 173
meaning of atua among, n. 195

Hawaiki

legendary home of Maori, nn. 174, 569

haze

power manifest to Loyalty Islanders,
para. 30

native usage of, paras. 63, 65, 146, 149
hedna

Hellenic word for bride-price and (later)
dowry, para. 168
Hellenes

expansive social energy of, paras. 155,
170

changes in therapeutic methods of, para.

changes in legal position of women

among, para. 170
See also Athenians
Heredity

among uncivilized peoples, comments on
reports of, nn. 52, 59, 94, 123, 148, 477
Hewitt, ]. N. B.

on orenda, para. 116, n. 518

difficulties in his writings, paras. 116, 121
Hidatsa Indians (Plains)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 119

recent changes in burial customs of,
paras. 119, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 121, 131, 145

indisputable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

other names for, n. 527

sometimes described as sub-tribe of
Arapaho, n. 51 1

See also mahopa
Higher

as applied to human culture, definition
of, para. 13
Hill-Tout, C.

valuable contributions to American
ethnography, para. 102
hi'ona

another term for lioa, n. 72
Hippocrates

Hellenic physician, para. 159
Hittites

our comparative ignorance concerning,
n. 1
hlobonga

sexual intercourse without penetration

among Amazulu, para. 94
Cp. ngwiko
Hobhouse, Professor L. T.
on usus, n. 690

on the divorce of Sp. Carvilius Ruga,
n. 691
Hobley, C. W.

comments on the writings of, nn. 362,
364, 366, 369, 371, 373
Hocart, A. M.

important contributions to study of

Fijians, para. 34
on mbure, n. 91
on matanggali, n. 94
on the meaning of tevoro, n. 97
on Rotuman use of atua, n. 195
on the meaning of tupua, n. 202
on the meaning of vui, n. 292

INDEX

655

Hocart, A. M. (cont.)

on a certain kind of anthropological
material, n. 634
Hodson, Professor T. C.

on Meithis and Manipuris, n. 213

on the meaning of terhoma, n. 220
Hollis, Sir C.

on the beliefs of the Nandi, para. 87

on the Masai ngai, n. 383
Holmes, The Rev. J. H.

on imunu, para. 146, n. 623
hopa (xopa)

root of mahopa, q.v.
Hopi Indians (Pueblo)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 123

falsely described as 'worshipping' their
ancestors, para. 123

comments on our knowledge of, para. 122

add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146, 149,
nn. 536, 544

only inferential evidence concerning
ideas of, para. 145

no information concerning source of
magic power among, para. 147

some ceremonies of, n. 536

See also katchina, Oraibi
hopini (xopini)

root of mahopini, q.v.
Hottentots

inhabited part of Area of Profound
Mystery, para. 60
Howarth, Ira D.

on the definition of religion, n. 4
Howel the Good

sexual regulations made by, para. 172
huaca

Spanish American equivalent of waka,
q.v.

Human Affairs

scientific study of, paras. 1, 24, 141, 160,
n. 646

relativity of, para. 159

science of, para. 160

See also Social Science
Human Behaviour (Social)

a determined phenomenon, paras. 155,

159, 175

dependent on inherent nature and con-
trolled by necessity, para. 160

changes according to sexual opportunity,
paras. 24, 58, 152, 158, 175

not controlled by geographical environ-
ment, paras. 58, 90, 159, n. 653

laws controlling, paras. 160, 162, 163,
164, 174

production of zoistic, paras. 162, 175
production of manistic, paras. 163, 175
production of deistic, paras. 164, 175
production of rationalistic, paras. 167,
175

See also Cultural Behaviour
Human Energy

definition of, para. 175
always social energy, para. 175
types of, para. 155
cause of, para. 156

Human Energy (cont.)

display of, not controlled by climate,
n. 653

See also Mental Energy, Social Energy
Human Entropy

item in cultural process, para. 174
derivation of the word, n. 712
reveals Direction of Cultural Process
paras. 174, 175, n. 712
Human Organism

inherent nature of, paras. 159, 160, 161,
167, 175

influences affecting physical type of,
n. 659

free will of, paras. 154, 158, 175
See also Human Behaviour (Social)
Human Society

unit studied by social scientist, n. 646
cultural strata in a, paras. 39, 70, 143,

148, 154
Human Valency, para. 175
Huns

reason for temporary nature of expansive

energy of, paras. 167, 175
Huntingdon, Ellsworth

comments on the writings of, n. 653
Huts, Sacrificial

erected in 'unusual' place by Lango,

para. 84, by Akamba, para. 86
erected over 'unusual' persons' graves by

Awemba, para. 91 ; by Baila, para. 92;

possibly by Baronga, n. 408 ; by

Wayao, para. 98; by Anyanja, para.

98 ; by Dinka, para. 83 ; by Shilluk,

para. 82

cenotaphic, erected by Shilluk, para. 82
erected by Kiwai Papuans to sibara-adiri,

para. 74
discussed, para. 151
Hutton, J. H.

on the meaning of terhoma, para. 5
greatly influenced by hypothesis of

animism, para. 54, 148
effect of visit to Jumuguri, para. 54
comments on the writings of, nn. 216,

219, 225, 230
Hysteria. See Mental Disturbances

Ibans

another name for Sea-Dyaks (q.v.), n.
618

Ibibio (West Africa)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 41
cultural condition of, para. 42
add. val. ev., paras. 61, 90, 141, 145,
146, 149

treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.

*4J . . .

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
scanty information concerning sacred

places of, para. 151
See also mbiam, ndemm
Ideas

behaviour dependent on, para. 143

656

INDEX

Ideas (cont.)

val. ev., uncivilized, para. 144

See also Beliefs
idhlozi

recipient of some Zulu offerings, para. 94
native usage of, n. 414
Cp. isituta, itongo
igave

interesting Mailu word, n. 335
Illness. See Sickness
Immediate Cause

not to be confused with final or ultimate
cause, paras. 156, 158
imunu

power manifest to Purari, para. 76
native usage of, paras. 76, 80, 146, 148,

149, n. 323
the Rev. J. H. Holmes on, para. 146^.623
danger of, warded off by offerings, para.

I5°..
imnnu-vii

vessel of imunu, n. 323

Cp. huaca, taula-aitu, taula-otua, waka

Incest

horror of, not inherent in human
organism, para. 161
Indeterminism

in the physical world, alleged, n. 646

See also Uncertainty Principle
Indisputable Evidence

concerning uncivilized ideas, defined,
para. 144
Individual, The

ultimately a social product, paras. 153,

154, 158

not a fresh individuation, paras. 154, 157
possesses free will, paras. 154, 158, 175
relation to its society compared with
relation of an electron to a chemical
element, paras. 154, 175, n. 646
both entity and influence, para. 175
Individual Invention

examples of, nn. 411, 632
W. G. Ivens on, n. 84
comments on, paras. 79, 80
Ine, King of Wessex

sexual regulations made by, para. 172
Inferential Evidence

concerning uncivilized ideas, defined,
para. 144
Inge, W. R.

on the philosophy of the mathematical

physicists, n. 646
on Herbert Spencer, n. 712
Inherent Nature

assumed in inductive science, para. 160
relation of, to behaviour and necessity,
para. 160

behaviour dependent on, para. 160,
n. 646

of human organism, paras. 159, 160, 161,

See also Behaviour, Determinism
Intrusive Theory of Sickness. See Sick-
ness, Intrusive Theory of
Io, alleged Maori 'Supreme Being'

comments on reports concerning, n. 180

Iroquois Indians (Five Nations) (round
St. Lawrence River)
our ignorance of pagan practices of, para.
116

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 116

burial customs imperfectly known, paras.
116, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
See also orenda
Irregular or Occasional Continence. See

Continence, Irregular or Occasional
isituta

recipient of some Zulu offerings, para. 94
Cp. idhlozi, itongo
Israelites

reason for exclusion of, para. 145
apparent changes in cultural condition of,
para. 145

at some period of their history, pre-
nuptial chastity among, para. 145
ithembo

Kamba sacred place, paras. 86, 150, 151,

n. 371
itongo (pi. amatongd)

recipient of some Zulu offerings, para. 94
Cp. idhlozi, isituta
ius civile (Roman)

relations between the sexes under the,

para. 171
ius gentium (Roman)

relations between the sexes under the,

para. 171
Ivens, W. G.

on the social strata in SE. Solomon

Islands, n. 66
on the meaning of komu, n. 66
comment on translations of, nn. 72, 80,

81, 82, 87
on individual invention, n. 84
on the meaning of 'sacrifice', n. 86
on the meaning of oloolo, n. 294
on vui, n. 622

James, W.

on the influence of temperament in

philosophy, para. 156
on the dual nature of religion, n. 4
Jeans, Sir James

on the Uncertainty Principle, n. 646
Jesup North Pacific Expedition

objects of, n. 231
Joad, C. E. M.

on the philosophical aspects of modern
science, n. 646
Jochelson, W

comments on the writings of, nn. 234,

236, 237, 241, 246
much influenced by Andrew Langs
theory of 'High Gods', n. 246
Johnston, Sir H. H.

on Baganda prudery, n. 115
on muchwezi, n. 122

INDEX

657

jok

power manifest to Dinka, para. 83
interpretations of, para. 5
unsatisfactory translations of, para. 5,

83, 148

native usage of, paras. 83, 89, 146, 148,

149, !5i
jok

power manifest to Lango, para. 84
dead said to become merged in, paras. 5,
89, 149

native usage of, paras. 84, 89, 146, 148,

149, 151
manifest in fig-trees, para. 150

Jones, Peter

on native brains, para. 70
valuable contributions to American
ethnology, para. 102
Jung, C. G.

on the exertion of social energy, para. 15b
on the effect of sexual limitations, para.
156

philosophical assumptions in writings of,
para. 156
Junod, H.

on native brains, para. 70
on Ronga culture, para. 93
comments on the writings of, nn. 408,
409, 410, 411
Jutes

movements of, para. 172
early modification of absolute mono-
gamy among, para. 172, nn. 701, 705

jwok

power manifest to Shilluk, para. 82
native usage of, paras. 82, 89, 146, 148,

149

comparative neglect of, para. 89
plural form of, n. 345

ka iawbei

recipient of some Khasi offerings, para.

137
Kabaka

title of 'king', 'queen', and 'queen-
mother' of Baganda, n. 131
kachisi

Nyanja grave-hut, paras. 98, 151
Kainah Indians

subdivision of Blackfeet Indians, q.v.
Kairi

important ceremony among Puran,
para. 76

example of individual invention, para.
76, n. 632
kagondo

Ankole shrine, paras. 37, 151
la

power manifest to Koryak, para. 50
confusing reports concerning, nn. 238,
246
kalou

power manifest to Fijians, para. 34
native usage of, paras. 63, 64, 65, 146
kalou-vu

power manifest in Fijian temple, paras.
34, *5°

kalou-vu (cont.)

difference between kalou-yalo and, paras.

34, 150
kalou-yalo. See kalou-vu

kamak

Koryak wooden figure, n. 238
karakia

Maori incantation, n. 189
karaveni

Mailu flying witch, n. 336

Cp. mulukwaisi, baloti, baloi
kat china

Hopi mask or ceremony, para. 123
confusing translations of, n. 537
equated with Zuni koko, n. 538

Keane, A. H.

on loss of mental energy after puberty,
n. 670

Keating, W. H.

comment on writings of, n. 520

kehua (Maori)

malevolent ghost, para. 49
other forms of the word, n. 175

kele

power manifest to Chukchee, para. 56
confusing translations of, nn. 241, 244,
246

kengo

Shilluk grave-hut, sometimes cenotaphic,
paras. 82, 151
Khasis (Assam)

impossible to assess the pre-nuptial
sexual opportunity of, paras. 59, 143

pre-nuptial customs and cultural condi-
tion of, para. 137

burial customs of, paras. 137, 140

add. val. ev., paras. 140, 145, 149

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

only probable evidence concerning source
of magic power among, para. 147

scanty information concerning sacred
places of, para. 151

See also blei, ka iawbei
King

in anthropological literature, use of the
word, paras. 3, 167, nn. 117, 126, 131

danger of translating a native word as,
n. 117
Kingsmill Islanders

another name for Gilbert Islanders
(q.v.), n. 594
kitimi (Sema Nagas)

translations of, para. 54, n. 223
Kiwai Papuans (Papua)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 74

val. ev., paras. 80, 90, 145, 148, 149

animistic inferences in reports on, para.
74, n. 309 m

indisputable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

incomplete information concerning
source of magic power among, para.
147

probable degeneracy of, para. 166
See also ebihare, etengena, sibara-adiri

U U

658

INDEX

Klallam Indians (State of Washington)
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 109
burial customs of, paras. 109, 149
val. ev., paras. 112, 145
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also tamanous
Kohler, Wolfgang

on the behaviour of chimpanzees, para.
160

Koita (Papua)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 77

val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 148, 149

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

no information concerning source of
magic power among, para. 147

See also tabu
Kolosh

Russian name for Tlingit Indians, q.v.
komu

kindred in SE. Solomon Islands, para. 33
conflicting reports concerning, nn. 66, 73
Koryak (NE. Siberia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 55

cultural condition of, para. 56

val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 149

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
incomplete information concerning

source of magic power among, para.

147

comments on alleged conceptions of,

nn. 238, 246
See also kala, kamak
kungumi (Sema Nagas)

confusing translations of, n. 221
kzvalus (szvalus, qailus)

power reported as manifest to Thompson
Indians, para. 112, n. 484

Lang, A.

on the definition of religion, n. 4
apparent influence of 'High God' theory
of, on E. Best, nn. 175, 180; on W.
Jochelson, n. 246; on C. G. Selig-
man, n. 346 ; on C. W. Hobley, n. 369
Langdon, Professor S. H.

on the date of the Hammurabi Code,
n. 672
Lango (Uganda)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 84
val. ev., paras. 89, 90, 92, 101, 141, 145,
149

small huts erected by, paras. 84, 151
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
memory of, para. 149
See also abila,jok, ot abani, otjok, tipo
lau

power manifest to Andaman Islanders,
para. 138

lau (cont.)

native usage of, paras. 140, 146, 148, 149
confused with phenomena to which it

was applied, meaning of, para. 148
dialect equivalents of, n. 613
unacceptable inference from native use

of, n. 614
Law of Entropy

second law of thermodynamics, nn. 646,

712

reveals direction of universal process,
n. 712
Laws, Scientific

nature of, para. 160

popular fallacies concerning, para. 160

governing human behaviour, paras. 160,

162, 163, 164, 174
See also Primary Laws, Secondary Laws,
Determinism, Uncertainty Principle
Leakey, L. S. B.

on Kikuyu ngai and ngoma, para. 85
on lack of 'spirit' life among Masai, n.

384
Lerpiu

Dinka hero, para. 83
Letourneau, C.

on the definition of marriage, n. 17
Leuba, Professor J. H.

on the definition of religion, n. 4
Levirate

among uncivilized peoples, comments on
evidence concerning, n. 26
Levy, Professor H.

on indeterminacy and 'false isolates',
n. 646

Levy Bruhl, Professor L.

criticism of suggestions of, para. 70,
nn. 52, 272, 356
Lex Ogulnia (Roman)

importance of, para. 171
leza

power manifest to Awemba, para. 91, to

Baila, para. 92
val. ev., para. 91, nn. 390, 405, 409
no cult of, n. 390
Lhota Nagas (Assam)

pre-nuptial conduct of, para. 53
our comparative ignorance of sexual

regulations of, para. 53
cultural condition of, para. 54
add. val. ev., paras. 62, 90, 145, 146, 149
treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.

141, n. 230
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also potso, tsandramo
Liholiho. See Rikoriho
liliheu

wall round sacred place in SE. Solomon
Islands, n. 85
Lillooet Indians (British Columbia)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 107
burial customs of, paras. 107, 149
add. val. ev., paras. 112, 131, 145, I49>
166

INDEX

659

Lillooet Indians (cont.)

indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also snam
Lindblom, G.

comments on the writings of, nn. 369,
37i, 373
Line Islanders

another name for Gilbert Islanders
(q.v.), n. 594

Woa

recipient of offerings in SE. Solomon
Islands, paras. 33, 149
lisoka (pi. masoka)

power manifest in Yao grave-hut, para. 98

confused with mulungu, paras. 98, 149

Nyanja equivalent of, n. 434
Lloyd Morgan, Professor C.

on the nature of scientific laws, para. 160

on instinct and intelligence, n. 650
Lombards

Arian Christianity of, para. 167

movements of, para. 172
Lotingiro

a young Didinga rebel, para. 157
Lower

as applied to human culture, definition of,
para. 13
Lowie, Professor R. H.

valuable contribution to American ethno-
logy, para. 102

on the least common denominator of
religions, n. 4
Loyalty Islanders (Melanesia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 26

cultural condition of, para. 30

no spirit of inquiry among, para. 40

val. ev., paras. 63, 64, 65, 66, 90, 145, 149

mental capacity of, para. 70

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

relics of the great dead desired by, paras.
30, 149, 150

See also haze
lubambo

an Ila post-nuptial sexual relationship,

n. 397
Cp. mulongo
lubare

power manifest in Uganda temple, para.
3?

no information concerning native usage
of, paras. 146, 147

native tradition concerning, para. 1 50
Luena

kingdom of, para. 60
Lunda

kingdom of, para. 60
Izcanga

Ila pole for offerings, para. 151, n. 402
Cp. nkonola, nyame dua

mabzcabzca

circle of sticks round Ila grave, paras. 92,
148

U

mabzcabzca (cont.)

only planted round graves of notable
citizens, para. 92
Macdonald, Duff

on native brains, para. 70
Macedonians

reason for temporary nature of expan-
sive energy of, paras. 167, 175
mafuba

Wemba hut for offerings, n. 393
Mafulu (Papua)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 75

val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 149

only inferential evidence concerning
ideas of, para. 145

only probably evidence concerning source
of magic power among, para. 147

See also tsidibe
Magic

of uncivilized peoples, comments on,

para. 3, n. 89
Prof. Malinowski on, para. 73
loss of faith in unassisted, due to mental

energy, paras. 150, 163, 164
evidence required before an act can be

classified as, n. 89
Magic Power

source of, paras. 65, 147

erroneously reported to be derived from

'spirits', paras. 147, 148
different opinions concerning source of,

para. 148
Magic Stones

in Loyalty Islands, para. 30; in Tanna,

para. 31; in Banks Islands, n. 293;

among Koita, n. 331; among Dakota,

n. 522 ; among Crow, n. 530 ; among

Samoans, n. 203
fear of, para. 147

power of, due to unusual shape or type,
para. 147, nn. 293, 331
Magician

difference between a priest and a, paras.

7, 65, 71, 147
different classes of, paras. 9, 65
source of power of, paras. 65, 147
in zoistic societies, purpose of payments
made to, identical with that of 'sacri-
fices', para. 150
often called the 'vessel' of the power in
the universe, para. 147, nn. 181, 198,
209, 323

examples of implicit faith in, paras. 30,

31, 38, 147, nn. 52, 356
mahopa (maxopa)

power manifest to Hidatsa Indians, para.

119

native usage of, paras. 119, 121, 131, 146,

n-.5.29
mahopini (maxopini)

power manifest to Mandan Indians,

para. 119

native usage of, paras. 119, 121, 131,
146

meaning of, confused with phenomena
to which applied, n. 529

U 2

66o

INDEX

Mailu (Papua)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 78
val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 149
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
incomplete information concerning source

of magic power among, para. 147
See also igave
Mala (Melanesia)

inhabitants of, n. 66
malalo

Uganda relic-house, para. 151, n. 131
Malinowski, Professor B.

on uncivilized beliefs, para. 3
on native brains, para. 70
on the magic of the Trobriand Islanders,
para. 73

on the difference in treatment of a
normal and a supernormal sickness,
paras. 73, 148

on the hypothesis of group-marriage,

n. 16

on the economic community in marriage,
n. 17
malu-malu

Samoan m'/w-place, para. 50
Malumbe

Ila hero, para. 92
mana

a Polynesian word, para. 65

Maori use of, n. 191

in Melanesia, paras. 33, 72

corresponding terms for, para. 33

F. E. Maning on use of, para. 147, n. 191

unacceptable comparisons with, n. 520

Cp. mugu
Mandan Indians (Plains)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 119

recent changes in burial customs of,
paras. 119, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 121, 131, 145, 148

indisputable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

See also mahopini
mandwa

Uganda medium, para. 39

translated also as 'priest' and as 'spirit',
paras. 39, 61, 148, nn. 116,119,123, 125

sometimes canonized after death, n. 137
Maning, F. E. (Pakeha Maori)

on the meaning of mana, para. 147, n. 191
Manipuris

our knowledge of, n. 213
Manistic

one of the four cultural patterns, para. 6

definition of, para. 7

subdivisions of, para. 8

accompanies irregular or occasional pre-
nuptial continence, paras. 24, 44, 58,
152, 158

produced by irregular or occasional pre-
nuptial continence, paras. 163, 175

analysis of change from zoistic to, paras.
149, 150, 151, 152, 158, 163

Manistic (cont.)

analysis of change to deistic from, paras.

150, 151, 152, 158, 164
change from zoistic to, due to mental

energy, paras. 149, 152, 158, 163, 175
change to deistic from, due to mental

energy, paras. 149, 152, 158, 164, 175
nature of factor responsible for change

from zoistic to, and to deistic from,

paras. 149, 150, 152
sense of the past among societies which

were, para. 149
derivation of, n. 12
manus

technical term in Roman law, para. 171,

n. 689
Maori (Polynesia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 45

cultural condition of, para. 49

add. val. ev., paras. 63, 64, 65, 68, 90,

141, 145, 166
mental capacity of, para. 70
possible extension of sexual opportunity

among, paras. 45, 133, 166
possible degeneracy of, paras. 145, 166
treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.

indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
sacred places decorated by, para. 151
val. ev., erstwhile erection of temples

by, n. 174
val. ev., post-funeral rites of, n. 175
val. ev., alleged beliefs of, n. 180
causes of sickness among, n. 187
See also atua, karakia, kehua, marae,

puhi, taumou, tiepa, tohnnga, tuahu,

waka
marae

open space or village green in Polynesian
village, paras. 133, 151, nn. 174, 196,
205, 582

R. W. Williamson on, n. 205

transliterations of, n 579
mar ana

Banks Island sanctuary, paras. 72, 151
Marett, R. R.

acknowledgements to, n. 4
comment on animatistic suggestions of,
n. 12

on the meaning of mugu, n. 365

on the meaning of ngai (Akikuyu), n. 373

on the meaning of ngai (Masai), n. 383

on orenda, n. 518

on wakan, n. 520
Mariner, W.

on Tongan sexual regulations, comments
on writings of, n. 172
Marriage

definition of, para. 14

distinction between sexual access and,
para. 14

among uncivilized peoples, comments on,

para. 14
vague use of the word, para. 15
comments on some definitions of, n. 17

INDEX

661

Marriage (cont.)

in production of social energy, law con-
trolling, only important because it may
reduce s.o., n. 655
Masai (Tanganyika and Kenya)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 88

yal. ev., paras. 89, 90, 145, 148, 149

indisputable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

no sense of the past among, para. 149

burial customs of, n. 384

See also ngai
mata-mata

betrothed girl in Gilbert Islands, para.
134 .

Cp. adi, zvebat, tawnou, vahine pahio
matanggali (Fijian)

conflicting reports concerning, n. 94
Matrilineal

definition of, para. 59
Maui

Tongan hero, n. 208
mawu, alleged Dahoman 'Supreme Being'

val. ev., nn. 451, 458
maxpe (maxpd)

power manifest to Crow Indians, para.
119

native usage of, paras. 119, 121, 131, 146
confused with phenomena to which
applied, meaning of, para. 148, n. 529
equated with wakan and vui, n. 622
Mayans

sexual regulations probably relaxed

among, para. 166, n. 156
our ignorance concerning social life of,
n. 156
mayembe (Uganda)

confusing translations of, paras. 61, 147,
148, nn. 116, 118, 119
mbiam

power manifest to Ibibio, para. 61
some translations of, n. 248
{m)bure kalon

Fijian god-house or temple, paras. 34,

64, 151.

Cp. faleaitu, ot jok

McDougall, Professor W.

on undeveloped mentality among civi-
lized and uncivilized peoples, para. 70
McGee, W. J.

valuable contributions to American

ethnology, para. 102
on the 'Great Spirit' fallacy, para. 117
on the meaning of wakanda, para. 117
on subjective intrusion, para. 117
Mead, Miss M.

comments on writings of, para. 46, nn.
163, 165
Medicine-man

difference between wizard, diviner, and,

paras. 9, 65
analysis of some native terms for, para.

sometimes used as a general term for
magician, n. 500

Meithis

T. C. Hodson on, n. 213
Meldon, J. A.

on the Banyankole, nn. no, 116, 118, 119
Memory, Extension of

item in cultural advance, paras. 69, 89,
101, 149, 150, 175
Menses, Female

reason for the fear of, para. 146
Mental Capacity

of uncivilized peoples, para. 70

cannot be developed solely by education,
para. 70
Mental Disturbances

a treatment of, para. 153

sometimes produced by shocks and re-
pressions, para. 153
Mental Energy

cultural advance due to, para. 149

only displayed under certain conditions,
para. 159

relation between social energy and, paras.

160, 163, 167
displayed unceasingly only when s.o.

reduced to a minimum, para. 167
loss of, after puberty, n. 670
not dependent on size of brain, n. 670
See also Human Energy
Method

adopted in this treatise, paras. 1, 24, 140,

.143, 158
Mikirs (Assam)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 135
burial customs of, paras. 135, 140
val. ev., paras. 140, 145, 149
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
only probable evidence concerning source

of magic power among, para. 147
See also arnam
Mills, J. P.

greatly influenced by hypothesis of

animism, paras. 54, 148
comments on the writings of, nn. 217,

219, 222, 225, 227, 230
direct questioning adopted by, n. 227
Milton, John

on post-nuptial regulations, paras. 1 67, 173
milungu

power described as manifest to Awemba,
para. 91

possibly a plural form of mulungu, coined
by white men, para. 91

discussed, para. 146
Minnetarees

another name for Hidatsa Indians, q.v.
mipashi

recipients of Wemba offerings, para. 91
Missionaries

comments on the writings of some,

para. 15, nn. 163, 415, 432, 506, 516,

582, 626

as a magical cause of disease, n. 56
mizhimo (pi.)

recipients of some Ila offerings, para. 92
manifest in fig-trees, paras. 150, n. 403

662 INDEX

mizimu

pi. form of muzimu, q.v.
Modified Monogamy

definition of, para. 161

behaviour produced by, para. 167
Modified Polygamy

definition of, para. 161

behaviour produced by, paras. 167, 175

varying sexual opportunity afforded by
post-nuptial regulations classified as,
paras. 161, 167
Mohammed

on the number of wives a man should
have, n. 715
molimo (pi. balimo)

recipient of Suto offerings, para. 95

meaning of, n. 422
Monarchy

invariably accompanies deistic culture,

para. 167

conditions necessary for existence of,
para. 167

Monasticism

on social energy, effect of, para. 167
confused evidence concerning, n. 671

Mongols

reason for temporary expansive energy
of, paras. 167, 175
Monotheism

comments on some reports concerning,

para. 148, nn. 180, 369
unsatisfactory as technical term, para.

164, nn. 122, 468
See also Supreme Being
Mooney, J. W.

on the messianic nature of some post-

Columbean rites, para. 102
valuable contributions to American
ethnology, para. 102
Moors

productive social energy of, paras. 155,
161

reason for incipient rationalism of, paras.

167, 175
See also Arabs
Moral Judgements

have only a relative value, paras. 155,

159, n. 683
in Victorian era, para. 175
See also Opinion
morgen-gifu

Anglo-Saxon marriage gift, paras. 168,

172, n. 701
mot a

an early form of Arabian marriage, para.

175, n. 715
See also baal
Mother

cultural influence of, paras. 157, 161, 167,

nature of her interest in weaned children,
n. 655

See also Females
msimu. See mizimu
muchwezi

power manifest in a Kitara temple,
para. 38

muchwezi (cont.)

no information concerning native usage

of the word, paras. 146, 147
translated both as 'priest' and as 'god',

para. 148, n. 122
native traditions concerning, para. 150
Mugabe

British name for Ankole Mukama, n. 117

mugu

Kikuyu equivalent of mana, para. 147,

n. 365
Mukama

ruler of Ankole, n. 117

ruler of Kitara, n. 126
mulenga

power manifest to Awemba, para. 91
mulongo

an Ila post-nuptial sexual relationship,

n. 397

Cp. lubambo
mulukwaisi

Trobriand Islands flying witch, n. 301

Cp. karaveni, baloti, baloi
mulungu

power manifest to Akamba, para. 86
ngai sometimes substituted for, para. 86,
n. 369

native usage of, paras. 86, 89, 146, 149
confused with aimu, paras. 86, 149,

nn. 371, 373
manifest in fig-trees, paras. 86, 150
mulungu

power manifest to Anyanja, para. 98
native usage of, paras. 146, 148, 149,

n. 445

mulungu

power manifest to Wayao, para. 98
native usage of, paras. 98, 146, 149
manifest in fig-trees, paras. 98, 150, n. 437

mund

parental and marital authority among the

Anglo-Saxons, para. 172
secured by payment of bride-price, n.

698

munedoo (manido, manitou)

power manifest to Ojibwa Indians, para.

native usage of, paras. 113, 121, 131, 14°,

151

Munyama

Ila hero, para. 92
musamo

power manifest to Baila, para. 92
native usage of, paras. 92, 146, 147, 148
Mutesa

famous ruler of Uganda, para. 39
rationalism of, para. 166, n. 135
muzimu (pi. mizimu, msimu, mzimu)
recipient of Ankole offerings, para. 37
recipient of some Kitara offerings, para. 38
recipient of some Uganda offerings, para.
39

power manifest in Nyanja kachisi, para.
98

by Anyanja, confused with mulungu,
para. 98
mzimu. See mizimu

Nagawonyi

priestess deified by Baganda, para
n. 137
Nakaydaklinni

American Indian (Apache) revivalist
para. 102
Nandi (Kenya Colony)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 87
val. ev., paras. 87, 89,90, 141, 145, 146, 149
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
no information concerning sacred places

of, para. 151
burial customs of, n. 378
See also oiindet
Natchez Indians (Mississippi)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 129
add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146, 149
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
tribes related to, n. 564
ruled by immigrants, para. 129
Native Brains

potential power of, para. 70
Native Terms

knowledge and elucidation of, vital to
study of uncivilized peoples, paras. 61,
65, 90, 102
Sir J. G. Frazer on the value of suggested

deviations of, para. 99
untranslatable character of most, paras.

4, 109, 117, 143
comments on some translations of, paras.

5, 61, 62, 63, 65, nn. 66, 74, 80, 81, 82,
87, 97, 116, 117, 119, 122, 130, 131,
133, 134, 161, 162, 174, 175, 176, 177,
178, 179, 180, 187, 192, 194, 195, 202,
204, 207, 208, 212, 220, 241, 246, 292,
294, 296, 354, 356, 365, 369, 383, 405,
408, 456, 475, 495, 501, 507, 510, 514,
520, 522, 529, 536, 544, 548, 549, 568,
582, 609, 613, 634

misleading character of most translations
of, paras. 5, 39, 40, 49, 50, 61, 63, 74,
79, 82, 83, 93, 98, 102, 104, 105, 106,
107, 108, 109, in, 113, 117, 120, 122,
123, 129, 133, 137, 139, 146, 147, 148,
149, 150, nn. 59, 62, 66, 72, 74, 80,
81, 82, 87, 89, 97, 99, 116, 119, 122,
130, 131, 133, 161, 174, 175, 176, 179,
180, 187, 192, 194, 195, 202, 204, 207,
208, 212, 219, 220, 221, 241, 242, 246,
248, 292, 294, 296, 309, 354, 356, 362,
365, 369, 37i, 378, 383, 405, 413, 446,
447, 464, 466, 475, 497, 5°o, 507, 518,
520, 522, 532, 537, 552, 553, 557, 582,
590, 600

meaning of, sometimes confused with
phenomenon to which they were
adjectivally and/or adverbially applied,
paras. 5, 8, 49, 93, 104, 112, 120, 121,

INDEX 663

Native Terms (cont.)

129, 148, nn. 175, 180, 195, 208, 323,
373, 383, 409, 410, 414, 475, 5io, 514,
529

See also Anglicized plurals, God, Ghost,
Spirit, Table of Native Terms
natosio

power manifest to Blackfeet, para. 114
our ignorance concerning native usage

of, paras. 121, 131
discussed, para. 146, n. 510
natoye

dialect form of natosio, q.v.
Natural

conception of the, peculiar to rationalistic
societies, paras. 89, 146, 167
Natural Man

existence of, an unverifiable hypothesis,
para. 154
Nature-Spirits

alleged existence of, due to misleading

translations, paras. 148, 151
alleged ubiquity of, founded on false
inference, paras. 62, 65, 74, 116, 121,
146, 148, 151
sacred groves not connected with, para.
148

terms implying fertility-cult applied to

mother of Chaka, n. 415
See also Native Terms, God, Ghost, Spirit
Naudowessies

another name for Dakota (q.v.), n. 520
Navaho Indians (Arizona and New Mexico)
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 126
paucity of our knowledge of, para. 126
add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146, 149, 166
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
some ceremonies of, n. 553
See also hastse, dsilyi
ndemm

power manifest to Ibibio, para. 61
some translations of, n. 248
Ndengei

Fijian hero, paras. 34, 150
Necessity

in human affairs, chapter v
concept of, para. 160

to behaviour and inherent nature, rela-
tion of, para. 160, n. 646
See also Determinism, Uncertainty Prin-
ciple
nethuing

Aneityum equivalent of uhngen, n. 54
New Britons (Melanesia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 27
cultural condition of, para. 32
val. ev., paras. 32, 63, 64, 65, 90, 141,

145, .149.
no spirit of inquiry among, para. 32
treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.
141

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

664

INDEX

New Britons (cont.)

source of magic power among, para. 147
no information concerning sacred places

of, para. 151
See also tebaran
New Hebrides

our scanty knowledge of, n. 23
Nez Perces Indians (States of Washington

and Oregon)
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 110
add. val. ev., paras. 112, 131, 145, 149
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
our ignorance concerning burial customs

of, paras. 110, 149
See also tiwat
ngai, by Akamba, sometimes substituted for

mulungu (q.v.), para. 86

ngai

power manifest to Akikuyu, para. 85
native usage of, paras. 85, 89, 146, 148,
149

sometimes said to have been confused

with ngoma, para. 85, n. 362
associated with abnormal sky-activity,

para. 148

mulungu sometimes substituted for, h.
362

ngai

power manifest to Masai, para. 88
native usage of, paras. 88, 146, 148, 149
associated with abnormal sky-activity,
para. 148

danger of, warded off by offerings, para.

ISO

ngoma

recipient(s) of some Kikuyu offerings,
para. 85

sometimes said to have been confused

with ngai, para. 85, n. 362
possible compounds of, nn. 411, 420

ngzciko

sexual intimacy without penetration
among Akikuyu, n. 361

Cp. hlobonga
Night Chant

a Navaho ceremony, n. 553
nkonola

Ronga pole for offerings, paras. 93, 151,

n. 408
Cp. Iwanga, nyame dua
nobu

Erromangan equivalent of uhngen, q.v.,

n. 54
Normans

factors that reduced social energy of,
para. 167
ntoro (Ashanti)

conflicting reports concerning meaning
of, n. 18
nudunnu

Babylonian marriage-settlement, paras.

168, 169
later meaning of, n. 674

Nuttall, Mrs. Zelia

on Aztec treatment of sickness, n. 160
Nyakang

Shilluk hero, para. 82
nyame (nyankupon), alleged Ashanti

'Supreme Being', val. ev., temples of, n.
462
nyame dua

Ashanti pole for offerings, n. 462

Cp. Iwanga, nkonola
nyanga

skilled man (magician) among Amazulu,

paras. 94, 96, 147, n. 418
among Southern Bantu, different forms

of the word, para. 96
Cp. tahowa, tohunga
nyankupon. See nyame

obosum

another form of bohsum, q.v.
Offerings

nature of, para. 150
recipients of, para. 150
in zoistic societies, purpose of, identical
with that of payments made to magi-
cians, para. 150
oiindet (pi. oiik)

recipient of some Nandi offerings, para. 87
Ojibwa Indians (about Lake Superior)
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 113
burial customs of, paras. 113, 149
add. val. ev., paras. 121, 131, 145
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
causes of sickness among, paras. 113,

148, n. 507
See also munedoo
oloolo (Melanesian)

inaccurately translated 'sacrifice', para.

applied to payments made to magicians
as well as to 'sacrifices', para. 150,
n. 294
Omaha Indians (Plains)

comments on reports concerning sexual

regulations of, para. 15
pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 118
burial customs of, para. 118
add. val. ev., paras. 121, 131, 145, 148, 149
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also wakonda
Oneida Indians, members of Iroquoian con-
federacy, para. 116
Onondaga Indians, members of Iroquoian

confederacy, para. 116
Opinion

ultimately a determined product, para.
159

possesses only relative value, para. 159
alleged divine revelation still remains an,

para. 155
See also Free will

INDEX

665

or a

sacrificial fire-place in SE. Solomon
Islands, paras. 33, 151
Oraibi

most conservative of Hopi settlements,

para. 122
Orakaiva (Papua)

comments on the reports concerning,

para. 79

anthropological importance of, para. 80
val. ev., paras. 80, 81, 90, 148
cultural condition doubtful, paras. 141,
142

indefinite position in cultural scale,
para. 142

evidence inexact concerning sexual op-
portunity of, paras. 79, 141, 143

incomplete information concerning
source of magic power among, para.

See also sovai, baigona-cult, taro-cult
orenda

an Iroquoian conception, para. 116
difficulties arising out of comparisons
made between wakan and, paras. 116,
121, 131
orisha

power manifest in Yoruba temple, para.
42

native usage of, paras. 63, 65, 146, n. 145
equated with vodu and bohsum, para. 99,
n. 145

Ostrogoths

movements of, para. 172

ot abani

Lango house for seances, n. 358
ot jok

Lango hut or 70^-house, paras. 84, 151,
n. 356

Cp. faleaitu, (m)bure kalou. See also
abila

otua

power manifest in Tongan temple, paras.
51, ISO

native usage of, paras. 63, 64, 65, 146,

148, 150

translations, transliterations, and inter-
pretations of, nn. 207, 208, 212
different lists of, n. 208

pahio

Tahitian taboo on sexual activity of
betrothed girl, para. 133

See also vahine pahio. Cp. puhi
Palaeo- Siberian

meaning of the term, n. 23 1

See Chukchee, Koryak, Yukaghir
Past, Sense of the

absent in zoistic (dead level of concep-
tion) societies, para. 149, 162

present among manistic societies, para.

149, 163

third dimension in social vision, para. 102
specifically reported by Codrington,
para. 33, n. 631
Paul of Tarsus

on sexual activity, para. 153

Paul of Tarsus (cont.)

effect of his teaching on some forms of
Christian marriage, para. 167

on relations between the sexes, para. 172
Pedi

some hearsay reports concerning sexual
regulations of, n. 407
Perham, Archdeacon

on Sea-Dyak beliefs, paras. 5, 139
Pericles

his decree of 451 B.C., paras. 161, 168
Permanent Distinction between the One
and the Many

definition of, para. 69
Perry, W. J.

on the meaning of vui, n. 292
Personifications

created by translations, nn. 116, 122,
180, 222, 246, 247, 526

suggestion concerning, para. 148, n. 627
petara

power manifest to Sea-Dyaks, para. 139
some translations and interpretations of,
para. 5

confused with antu, para. 139
native usage of, paras. 139, 140, 146, 148,
149

anglicized plural of, paras. 5, 139, 149
Peyote Cult (American Indian)

apparently not messianic, n. 469
Piegan Indians

subdivision of Blackfeet Indians, q.v.
Pima Indians (Arizona and Mexico)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 130

diverse burial customs of, paras. 129, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146, 148

only inferential evidence concerning
ideas of, para. 145

no information concerning source of
magic power among, para. 147
pirupiru

SE. Solomon Islanders' altar, n. 83
Plebeians

rise of, para. 171
Political Organization

of uncivilized peoples, lack of evidence
concerning, paras. 3, 158

necessary nature of, para. 3

dependent on relative energy of social
strata, paras. 167, 175
Polyandry

use of the word, n. 113
Polynesian Society

valuable researches by, para. 81
Polynesians

fluctuating cultural condition of, paras.
44, 48, 133, n. 208

rationalism among, paras. 70, 133

governed by petty 'kings', para. 167

See also Hawaiians, Maori, Samoans,
Tahitians, Tongans
Polytheism

criticism of hypothesis that animism was
replaced by, para. 148

unsatisfactory as technical term, para. 164

See also animism, monotheism

666

INDEX

pon

power manifest to Yukaghir, para. 56
native usage and modern interpretations
of, n. 246
Possession

of or by the power in the universe, as
source of magic power, paras. 65, 147
comments on reports concerning the
nature of, paras. 65, 148
Post-funeral Rites

to be carefully distinguished from
funeral rites, paras. 8, 141
potestas

technical term in Roman law, para. 171,
n. 689

potso

power manifest to Lhota Nagas, para. 54
anglicized plural of, para. 148, n. 222
inferences due to method of translating,

para. 148
native usage of, n. 222
Power in the Universe
nature of, paras. 63, 146
by zoistic and manistic societies often

conceived of as a quality, para. 146
ubiquity of, often inferred from existence

in unusual places, paras. 112, 146, 148
anything unaccountable attributed to,

para. 148

held responsible for unusual sky-
activity, para. 148
purification necessary after contact with,

nn. 365, 372
See also Supreme Being, God, Ghost,
Spirit
Pre-nuptial Chastity

See Chastity, Pre-nuptial
Pre-nuptial Pregnancy

pre-nuptial chastity often falsely inferred

from censure of, paras. 15, 55, n. 361
apparent cause of objection to, paras. 59,
73, n. 214
Priest

difference between a magician and a,
paras. 7, 65, 71, 147

in anthropological literature, confusing
use of the word, para. 39, nn. 63, 82,
87, 119, 130, 192, 208, 209, 227, 365,
408, 462, 548, 590, 608, 609

source of power of, paras. 65, 147

same word sometimes translated both as
'god' and as, para. 148, nn. 116, 122, 585

dangerous yet helpful to touch a, para.
148

sometimes 'owner' of power in the uni-
verse, n. 148
Primary Laws

first, para. 160

second, para. 174
Primitive

an ambiguous word, para. 12

use of, responsible for some miscon-
ceptions, paras. 141, 148, 149, nn. 163,
172

Primogeniture

feudal custom accepted by some eugenists
as factor in cultural process, n. 655

Probable Evidence

concerning uncivilized ideas, defined,
para. 144
Productive Social Energy

defined, para. 155

later result of reduction of s.o. to mini-
mum, paras. 167, 175
Progress

apparent origin of some extant ideas
about, n. 712
Prohibited Degrees

existence of, assumed in assessing sexual

opportunity, paras. 17, 23, 161
changes in Christian opinion concerning,
para. 167
Psycho-analysts

origins of methods of, para. 153
conclusions drawn by, paras. 155, 156
conclusions based on study of white men
only, para. 155
Puberty

loss of mental energy after, n. 670
Pueblo Indians

comments on culture of, para. 122
value of comparisons between Aztecs
and, nn. 158, 160

puhi

important Maori virgin, para. 166, n.
162

Purari (Papua)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 76

val. ev., paras. 80, 81, 90, 92, 145, 149

indisputable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para.
H7

probable degeneracy of, para. 166
See also imunu, imunu-vii

Queen

misunderstandings due to use of the

word, nn. 117, 131
sometimes has no sexual relations with

'King', nn. 117, 126, 131

Racial Admixture

in Uganda, apparent diverse results of,
n. 1 10
Radin, P.

comments on some writings of, paras. 102,
120, 148, nn. 529, 531

Rain

among some uncivilized peoples, women

especially associated with the making

of, nn. 137, 359, 373
Rationalistic

one of the four cultural patterns, para. 6
produced by a minority, para. 143
terms for the power in the universe used

by societies which are, para. 146
productive social energy of societies

which are, paras. 155, 167
reached only after s.o. has been reduced

to a minimum, paras. 167, 175
Rattray, R. S.

on the Ashanti, para. 100

INDEX

667

Rattray, R. S. (cont.)

on Ashanti temples, n. 462

on ntoro, n. 18
ran

commoners in Gilbert Islands, para. 134

Cp. aomata
Ray, S. H.

on 'chiefs' language' in Oceania, n. 628
Reformers

opinions of, concerning sexual regula-
tions, in sixteenth century, paras. 167,
173, n. 706
Regression

sometimes produced by sexual repres-
sions, para. 155
Reincarnation (in animals)

reports of, nn. 86, 180, 347, 384, 408, 414
Reliability, Standard of

for reports on uncivilized peoples, paras.
61, 90, 145
Relics of the Dead

desired by would-be magicians, paras.

103, 107, 151
by zoistic peoples, preserved but not

propitiated, paras. 76, 78, 138, 151
by manistic peoples, preserved and pro-
pitiated, paras. 33, 39, 42, 99, 133, 151
by manistic and deistic societies, shrines

and huts built for, para. 151
poor quality of evidence concerning
treatment of, para. 151, n. 83
Religion

in social science, use of the word best
avoided, para. 3

difference between cultural condition
and, para. 3

criticism of evolutionary theories of,
paras. 148, 152

among uncivilized peoples, always in-
cludes treatment of unaccountable
sickness, para. 148

some definitions of, n. 4

dual nature of, n. 4

attitude of Russian oligarchy to, n. 714
ret

Shilluk ruler, para. 82
Riggs, The Rev. S. R.

valuable contributions to American ethno-
logy, para. 102
on the meaning of wakan (zvakanda),
para. 117
Riho-riho (Liho-liho)

revolutionary ruler of Hawaii, para. 48
Rites

basis of classification, para. 6

often neglected by observers, paras. 79,

99, 102, 150, 151
analysis of places in which celebrated,

para. 151
Rivers, W. H. R. (as psychologist)
on mental disturbances, para. 153
on Dr. Freud, para. 153
on instinct, para. 155
on the Unconscious, para. 155
on the diversion of sexual energy, para. 1 55
on the relation between sexual and social

energy, paras. 155, 156

Rivers, W. H. R. (as social anthropologist)
unwarranted academic distinction made

by, in regard to marriage, n. 17
on Fijian matanggali, n. 94
on tevoro, n. 97
on exogamy of veve, n. 291
on the animistic interpretation of via,
n. 292

on the meaning of oloolo, n. 294
on tataro, n. 296
Romans

social energy of, paras. 155, 175
women emancipated among, para. 161
absolute monogamy of, para. 167
changes in post-nuptial regulations of,
para. 171

in later Empire, daughters of some em-
perors forbidden to marry, n. 387

comments on reports concerning position
of women among, n. 689

dos of, n. 696

human entropy among, para. 175
Roscoe, The Rev. J.

comments on translations of, paras. 61,

148, nn. 116, 118, 119, 122, 130
on the nature of exorcism, paras. 37, 38,

148

on the racial strata in the Lake Region,
n. 1 10
Rose, Professor H. J.

on undeveloped mentality among un-
civilized and civilized peoples, para. 70
on tendance and cult, n. 13
Rostovtzeff, Professor M.

on the condition of the Roman Empire
in the second and third centuries A.D.,
n. 697
Routledge, W. S. and K.

on the Kikuyu confusion between ngai
and ngoma, para. 85
ruhanga (Banyankole and Bakitara)

an alleged Supreme Being, nn. 116, 122
Russell, Professor A. S.

on Dr. Rivers' case of claustrophobia,
n. 638

SE. Solomon Islanders (Ulawa and Sa'a)
(Melanesia)
pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 28
cultural condition of, para. 33
val. ev., paras. 63, 64, 65, 68, 90, 141,

145, 148, 149
mental capacity of, para. 70
suffered comparatively greater irregular

or occasional continence, paras. 28,

143, 152

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
sense of the past among, para. 33, n. 631
sacred places decorated by, para. 151
methods of disposal of relics, nn. 79, 83
sacred sharks among, n. 86
trees planted by, at burial places of out-
standing citizens, para. 149
See also akalo, adi, liliheu, Woa, ora,
pirupiru, tazvau, te'ete'e

668

INDEX

Sacred Groves

method of formation, para. 92
not connected with worship of nature,
para. 148

Sacred Places

val. ev., para. 151

by manistic and deistic societies, elabo-
rated and decorated, para. 151
Sacredness, Ideas of

derived from conception of the 'Unusual',
paras. 149, 151
Sacrifice

a question-begging word, paras. 8, 80
comments on use of the word, nn. 86,

107, 294, 296, 362, 408
See also Offerings
Sailors

as anthropological authorities, value of,
nn. 27, 163, 171, 172
Salish Indians

divisions of, n. 493

See also Coast Salish
Samoans (Polynesia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 46

cultural condition of, para. 50

apparent relaxation of sexual regulations
among, paras. 46, 133, 166, 167

add. val. ev., paras. 63, 64, 65, 90, 141,

145, 150, 151 .
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of priestly power among, para. 147
temples of, sometimes stone, para. 50,

sometimes thatched huts, n. 197
cause of sickness among, n. 204
migration of, to Gilbert Islands, n. 594
See also aitu,faleaitu, faletele, malumalu,

marae, taula-aitu, taitpou
Sassanids

our comparative ignorance concerning,
n. 1.
Saxons

movements of, para. 172

See also Anglo-Saxons
Sayce, R. U.

acknowledgements to, nn. 412, 421

Science

two kinds of, para. 159
method in physical, para. 159
Sea-Dyaks (Borneo)

summary of reports concerning pre-
nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 139
criticism of reports concerning, paras. 5,

139

burial customs of, paras. 139, 14°

add. val. ev., paras. 140, 141, 142, 145, *49

evidence inexact concerning s.o. of,

paras. 139, 141, J43 . .

doubtful whether zoistic or manistic,

paras. 139, 140, 141, 142
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
scanty information concerning sacred

places of, para. 151
See also petara, antu

Secondary Laws
first, para. 162
second, para. 163
third, para. 164
Seligman, Professor C. G.
on Dinka, paras. 5, 83
on Shilluk, paras. 82
influenced by A. Lang's theory of 'High

Gods', n. 346
comments on some translations of, n. 354
on the comparative rarity of conception
under conditions of pre-nuptial free-
dom, n. 333
Sema Nagas (Assam)

our comparative ignorance concerning
sexual regulations of, paras. 53, 141,

143

pre-nuptial conduct of, para. 53
reports concerning cultural condition of,
para. 54

add. val. ev., paras. 62, 90, 141, 148
cultural condition doubtful, paras. 54,

141, 142, 145
treatment of sickness by, val. ev., para.

141, nn. 228, 230
indefinite position in cultural scale, para.

142

source of magic power among, para. 147
See also kungumi, kitimi, teghami

Seneca Indians

members of Iroquoian confederacy,
para. 116

seriktu

Babylonian dowry, para. 169

later meaning of, n. 674
Sexual Conduct

val. ev., paras. 15, 53, 55, 79, 102, 111,
116, 119, 130, 133

effect of moral judgements concerning,
paras. 80, 167

See also Sexual Regulations
Sexual Freedom

definition of, para. 17

accompanied by zoistic behaviour, paras.

24, 58, 152, 158

after three generations produces zoistic
behaviour, paras. 162, 175

effect on mental energy after puberty,
n. 670
Sexual Opportunity

definition of, para. 16

method of assessing, para. 23

of matrilineal, matrilocal societies, diffi-
culty in assessing, paras. 59, 137

reduced by betrothal and by punishing
father of pre-nuptial child, para. 19

of females, culturally more important
than that of males, paras. 157, 158, 167

varying kinds of, accompanied by, and
produce different kinds of, cultural
behaviour, paras. 24, 58, 160, 162, 163,
164, 167, 175

cultural effect of limitation or extension
of, not complete until third generation,
paras. 157, 162, 167, 175

when reduced to minimum, produces un-
ceasing energy, paras. 167, 175

INDEX

669

Sexual Opportunity (cont.)

psychological effect of reduction of,
paras. 153, 155, 156

reduction of, not due to reason, para. 152

See also Sexual Regulations
Sexual Opportunity, Scale of (Appendix III)

definitions used in, paras. 18, 19

explained, para. 143
Sexual Regulations

modern opinions concerning, paras. 1,
152

control s.o., para. 16

seven classes of, para. 161

of uncivilized peoples, classification of,
paras. 17-22

information sometimes confused con-
cerning, paras. 15, 53, 55, 79, 80

opinions concerning sexual conduct
irrelevant to study of, paras. 15, 53, 55,
102, in, 113, 116, 119, 130, 133,
nn. 155, 156, 216, 217, 234, 524, 527,
573

of some uncivilized peoples, val. ev.,

nn. 139, 156, 163, 164, 165, 171, 172,

234, 474, 508, 523
of some uncivilized peoples, possible

changes in, paras. 20, 166
of some civilized peoples, changes in,

paras. 20, 167-74
by uncivilized men, reason not applied to,

para. 152

on cultural behaviour, effect of different,
paras. 160, 162, 163, 164, 167, 175

See also Sexual Freedom, Irregular or
Occasional Continence, Pre-nuptial
Chastity, Absolute Monogamy, Absolute
Polygamy, Modified Monogamy, Modi-
fied Polygamy
Sexual Repressions

effect of, paras. 153, 155
sgana (skil)

power manifest to Haida Indians, para.
104

confused with phenomena to which it
was applied, meaning of, paras. 104,
112

native usage of, paras. 104, 112, 131, 146,
149

Shame, Sense of

among white men, para. 153
Shark-cult
in SE. Solomon Islands, n. 86
See also Animal-cult
shikwembu (pi. psikwembu)

recipients of Ronga offerings, para. 93
Shilluk (Sudan)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 82
importance of alleged 'divine king'

exaggerated, para. 82
val. ev., paras. 89, 90, 101, 141, 145, 149
suffered comparatively greater irregular
or occasional compulsory continence,
paras. 82, 143, 152, 158
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147

Shilluk {cont.)

sense of the past among, para. 149
sacred places decorated by, para. 151
See also jwok, kengo, ret, tipo
Shuswap Indians (British Columbia)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 106
our ignorance concerning burial customs

of, paras. 1 12, 149
add. val. ev., paras. 112, 131, 145, 146,
149

only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
unknown word denoting power in the

universe among, applied also to twins

and female menses, n. 485
Sia Indians (Pueblo)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition, para. 125
our knowledge of, para. 122
add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 148, 149
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145, 146
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147
sibara-adiri (Kiwai Papuan)

ghost of man killed by crocodile, small

hut built for, para. 74
Sickness, among uncivilized peoples

difference in treatment of normal and

supernormal, para. 148
unsatisfactory nature of reports concern-
ing causes of, para. 148
ghostly theory of, only adopted after

failure of 'medicine', para. 148
sin as a cause of, para. 151
sometimes said to have been regarded

as intrusive, paras. 82, 104, 113, 115,

117, 118, nn. 332, 423, 467, 473
intrusive theory of, apparently founded

on false inferences, para. 148
when unaccountable, attributed to power

in the universe, paras, 144, 145, 148
Siksika. See Blackfeet Indians
Sin, Ideas of

derived from conception of 'unusual',

paras. 149, 151
skil, dialect form of sgana, q.v.
Sky-activity

normal, accepted without question, para.

146

abnormal, attributed to power or powers

in the universe, paras. 146, 148
different opinions concerning, para. 148
Smith, E. W.

important contributions to African ethno-
graphy, paras. 61, 92
Smith, W. R.

on the introduction of pre-nuptial chas-
tity among early Arabians, n. 715
snam

power manifest to Lillooet Indians, para.
107

native usage of, paras. 107, 112, 131, 146,
149

670

INDEX

Social Anthropology

relation between social history and,
para. 2

artificial nature of barrier between social

history and, para. 167
Social Energy

analysed and defined, paras. 155, 175
amount of, corresponds to severity of

compulsory continence, paras. 156, 175
relation between mental energy and,

paras. 160, 163
amount of, dependent on continence

imposed on two previous generations,

paras. 160, 167, 175
Social History

relation between social anthropology and,

para. 2

artificial nature of barrier between social

anthropology and, para. 167
our comparative ignorance of, n. 1
bias in study of, n. 683
false inferences in study of, para. 170,
nn. 689, 701, 702
Social Science

methods of, para. 1, 160, n. 646
aim of, para. 61

value of inductions in, para. 141
handicaps suffered by students of, para.
1, 24, 141

human society the unit in study of, n. 646
cultural process studied by, para. 175
first primary law of, para. 160
first secondary law of, para. 162
second secondary law of, para. 163
third secondary law of, para. 164
second primary law of, para. 174

Social Vision

geometrical representations of different

types of, para. 162
three dimensional, characteristic

virile minds, para. 163
two dimensional, sign of weakness
degeneracy, para. 163

Society Islands. See Tahitians

sogoi (Banks Islands)

confused reports concerning, n. 291

Solon

limitations imposed by, on freedom
Eupatrid women, para. 170

Sororal Polygamy

comments on, para. 21

in Babylon, no evidence of, n. 25

Sororate, para. 21

sovai

power manifest to Orakaiva, paras. 79, 148
Spartans

our comparative ignorance concerning,
n. 1
Spence, L.

on Aztec religion, n. 158
Spencer, H.

comment on his Descriptive Sociology,

n. 343

biological and cultural processes con-
fused by, n. 712
Spirit

an unsatisfactory method of translating

of

or

of

Spirit {cont.)

a native term, paras. 4, 5, 33, 54, 56,
93, 143, 1461 nn. 122, 302, 309, 378,
507

same word often translated both as god
and as, paras. 5, 54, 92, 113, !39, H7

sickness often erroneously reported to
have been due to an evil, para. 148

magic power often erroneously reported
as due to, paras. 147, 148

misunderstandings due to the use of the
word, para. 148

not to be confused with ghost, para. 148

as personified cause, criticism of hypo-
thesis of, paras. 146, 148
Spirit of Inquiry

absent among uncivilized peoples, paras.
30, 32, 146, 148, n. 459
Spirits of the Dead

variety of reports concerning the alleged
fate of, para. 8

See also The Dead, Ghost
Spitting

as a rite, paras. 87, 93, nn. 385, 401, 408
Starcke, C. N.

on the definition of marriage, n. 17
Stonehenge

George Turner's conjecture concerning,
para. 134
Sublimation

W. H. R. Rivers on, para. 155

S. Freud on, para. 155

C. G. Jung on, para. 156
sulia

power manifest to Coast Salish Indians,
para. 108

native usage of, paras. 108, 112, 131, 146
Sumerians

women emancipated among, paras. 161,

168, 169
absolute monogamy of, para. 167
changes in post-nuptial regulations of,

para. 169

when a marriage was childless, steps taken
by, n. 678

Sun

val. ev., children of, para. 129

val. ev., worship of, para. 148, nn. 500,

510, 522, 529, 568
interference with cosmic motion of, com-
monly attributed to human heroes,
n. 193
Sun-dance

among American Indians, para. 102,
nn. 511, 522
Supernatural

a misleading word, paras. 88, 89, 146
relative meaning of, para. 146, n. 383
Supernormal Men

differences in attitude towards corpses of
normal and, paras. 147, 149
Supreme Being

comments on reports of, paras. 55, 56,
63, 81, 87, 148, nn. 116, 122, 180, 237,
246, 415, 451, 462, 47i, 501, 585
supvoe (supe)

Efate equivalent of uhngen, n. 54

S wanton, J. R.

on subjective character of some anthro-
pological reports, paras. 5, 117, 148

on meaning of yek, para. 5

valuable contributions to American
ethnology, para. 102, n. 558

attempts to reconstruct Natchez 'be-
liefs', n. 565

Table of Native Terms (Appendix IV)

explanation of, para. 146
tabu

power reported to have been manifest to
the Koita, para. 77
tahine

Tongan virgin, n. 169
Tahitians (Polynesia)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
ditions of, para. 133
add. val. ev., paras. 132, 140, 146, 148,
149

fluctuating cultural condition of, para.
133

apparent relaxation of sexual regulations

among, paras. 133, 166
burial customs of, paras. 133, 140
embalmment among, n. 580
mental capacity of, para. 70
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
scanty information concerning sacred

places of, para. 151
probable degeneracy of, para. 166
val. ev., temples of, nn. 174, 582
date of discovery of, by white man,

n. 569

lack of scholarship in reports on, nn.

582, 585, 590
surgical knowledge of, n. 591
See also atua, euoatta, marae, tahua, tii,
vahine pahio
tahua (tahowa)

skilled man (magician) among Tahitians,

paras. 133, 147
Cp. nyanga, tohunga
Talbot, P. A.

comments on the writings of, para. 61 ,
nn. 140, 144, 150, 152, 153, 248
tamanous

power manifest to Klallam Indians,

para. 109
native usage of, paras. 109, 146, 148
Tangaloa, Polynesian hero

contradictory reports from Tonga con-
cerning, n. 208
Tannese (Melanesia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 26
cultural condition of, para. 3 1
val. ev., paras. 63, 64, 65, 66, 90, 145,
149

indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also uhngen
Tanovu

Fijian hero, para. 150

EX 671

tapu

ideas of, derived from conception of the

'unusual', paras. 149, 151
See also Sin, Idea of, and Sacredness,
Idea of
tapu-ariki

lit. 'sacred chief, an alleged Gilbert

Island 'god', paras. 134, 150, n. 599
reports concerning, sometimes literally
accepted, n. 625
Tarawas

another name for Gilbert Islanders (q.v.),
n. 594
taro-cult

its rise in Papua, para. 79
tataro (Banks Islands)

val. ev., and meaning of, n. 296
taula-aitu

Samoan priest, paras. 50, 65

alleged grades of, n. 198

Cp. huaca, imunu-vii, taula-otua, waka
taula-otua

Tongan priest, paras. 51, 65, n. 209

Cp. huaca, imunu-vii, taula-aitu, waka
taumou

betrothed girl among the Maori, paras.

45, 166, n. 162
Cp. adi, webat, vahine pahio, mata-mata
taupou

mistress of ceremonies in Samoan village,
para. 166, nn. 162, 163

tawau

SE. Solomon Islanders' relic-house,
para. 151, n. 79
tebaran

power manifest to New Britons, para. 32
translations of, paras. 32, 63, n. 65
anglicized plural of, paras. 32, 149
native usage of, paras. 63, 65, 141, 146,
149
te'ete'e

SE. Solomon Islanders' altar, n. 83

teghami

power manifest to Sema Nagas, para.
54

no information concerning native usage

of, para. 147
reported exorcism of, para. 141, n. 230
Temple

definition of, para. 7

analysis of evidence concerning un-
civilized, para. 151

erection of, invariably accompanies pre-
nuptial chastity, paras. 24, 58, 152, 158

erection of, due to social energy, para.

erection of, inevitably the result of com-
pulsory pre-nuptial continence, paras.
164, 175

Temporary Distinction between the One
and the Many
definition of, para. 68
Tendance

a subdivision of the manistic pattern

defined, para. 8
only of supernormal persons, paras. 33,

34, 74, 80, 92, 94, 98, 149, n. 128

672

INDEX

Tendance (cont.)

in case of sickness, renders 'medicine'

efficacious, paras. 37, 38, 95, 148
in case of sickness, only adopted after
failure of magical or medicinal treat-
ment, para. 99
inauguration of rites of, due to mental

energy, paras. 150, 152, 158, 163, 175
H. J. Rose on, n. 13
terhoma

power manifest to Angami Nagas, para.

translations of, paras. 5, 54, n. 220
reported exorcism of, para. 141, n. 230
native usage of, para. 146
inferences due to translations of, para.
148

apparently not ubiquitous as to nature,
para. 148
Teutonic Tribes

expansive energy of, paras. 155, 172, 175
tevoro

Tahitian word taken to Fiji by mis-
sionaries, n. 97

various translations of, n. 97
Theodore of Tarsus

on post-nuptial regulations, para. 172
Thompson Indians (British Columbia)

cultural condition of, para. 105

our ignorance concerning pre-nuptial
regulations and burial customs of, para.
105

add. val. ev., paras. 112, 131, 145, 146, 149

only inferential evidence concerning
ideas of, para. 145

no information concerning source of
magic power among, para. 147

causes of sickness among, val. ev., n. 483

See also kwalus
Thomson, Sir Basil

on native brains, para. 70

on Tongan temples, n. 206

on Fijian pre-nuptial chastity, n. 44
tidadho

Ysabel equivalent of tindalo, n. 68
tiepa

Maori platform or altar, paras. 49, 151
sometimes confused with tuahu, nn. 184,

tii (tee)

Tahitian wooden figure, paras. 133, 149
translated also as 'the dead', paras. 133,
149, and as 'god', n. 585

tiki

Maori wooden figure, n. 177
tilo

power manifest to Baronga, para. 93
meaning of, confused with phenomena

to which applied, paras. 93, 148, n. 409
discussed, para. 146
native usage of, paras. 93, 147, 148
reports concerning, sometimes literally

accepted, n. 624
tindalo

powerful ghost in Florida (Solomon

Islands), para. 33, n. 69
alternative forms of, n. 68

tipo

recipient of some Lango offerings, paras.
84, 149

remembered only for short time, para.
149

tipo

recipient of some Shilluk offerings, paras.
82, 149
tirhatu

Babylonian bride-price, para. 169
tizvat

power probably manifest to Nez Perces

Indians, n. 500
discussed, paras. 146
Tlingit Indians (Alaska)

erroneously described as animists, paras.

5, 112

sexual regulations and cultural condi-
tion of, para. 103
.burial customs of, paras. 103, 149

add. val. ev., paras. 1 12, 131, 145, 149, 166

indisputable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

source of magic power among, para. 147

alleged to have regarded sickness as
intrusive, para. 148, n. 473

other names for, n. 470

See also yek
tohunga

skilled man (magician) among Maori,

paras. 49, 65, 147, nn. 188, 192
E. Best on, n. 192
Cp. nyanga, tahna
Tongans (Polynesia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 47
cultural condition of, para. 51
apparent relaxation of sexual regulations

among, paras, 47, 133, 166, 167, 175
add. val. ev., paras. 63, 64, 65, 90, 141,

145, 150, 151
mental capacity of, para. 70
rationalism among, para. 70
comment on treatment of sickness among,

para. 141

indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of priestly power among, para. 147
rationalism among, n. 208
about the weather, ideas of, n. 211
cause of sickness among, n. 212
See also otua, faletapu, falelotu, marae,
tahine, taula-otua

Translations. See Native Terms

Travellers

comments on writings of some, paras. 15,
102, 133, 134, nn. 19, 27, 163, 171,
172, 173, 195, 234, 597
Trees

power in the universe thought to be
manifest in certain, paras. 86, 113,
nn. 207, 356, 362, 403, 437

See also Fig-trees
Trevelyan, Professor G. M.

on social strata during Norman domi-
nance, n. 671

on the number of nuns in medieval
nunneries, n. 671

trinoctium (Roman)

an early method of escaping manus,
para. 171
Trobriand Islanders (Melanesia)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 73

val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 149

only probable evidence concerning ideas
of, para. 145

incomplete information concerning
source of magic power among, para.
147

possibly at a dead level of conception,

n. 629
See also baloma
tsandramo

power manifest to Lhota Nagas, para. 54
as cause of sickness, para. 141, n. 230
no information concerning native usage
of, para. 147, n. 222
tsidibe

interesting Mafulu word, n. 320
tsungrem

power manifest to Ao Nagas, para. 54
native usage of, paras. 146, 147
translations of, n. 219
probably not ubiquitous as to nature,
n. 219

as cause of sickness, para. 141, n. 230
tuahu

Maori sacred place, paras. 49, 151
native usage of, n. 184
varieties of, n. 184

sometimes confused with tiepa, nn. 184,
185

tupua (Polynesian)

translations and interpretations of, nn.
180, 202
Twelve Tables (Roman)
comments on, n. 690
Twins, Birth of

an 'unusual' or supernormal event, paras.

107, 108, in, 149
inferential character of alleged 'con-
nexion' between rainfall and, para. 148
Tylor, Sir E. B.

nature of evidence used by, para. 4
unacceptable character of hypotheses of,

paras. 4, 32, 62, 146, 148
See also Animism

Uganda

racial strata in, n. no
uhngen

power manifest to Tannese, para. 31

native usage of, paras. 63, 65, 146, 149

cp. nethuing, nobu, supzve
Ultimate Cause

hidden in the inherent nature of things,
paras. 1, 156

not to be confused with immediate or
final cause, paras. 156, 158
Uncertainty Principle

in physics, para. 154

does not vitiate doctrine of determinism,

paras. 154, 175
comments on, n. 646

INDEX 673

Uncivilized

in this treatise, meaning of, paras. 12, 133
Uncivilized Peoples

comments on magical ceremonies of,
para. 3

lack of evidence concerning political

organization of, paras. 3, 158, 167
classified according to behaviour, paras.

6, 7, 8, 143
danger of generalizing concerning cus-
toms of, paras. 14, 148
comments on our knowledge of, paras. 61,
143 .

conditions vital to adequate study of ideas

of, paras. 61, 90, 102, 144
descriptive terms applied to conceptions

of, paras. 66, 67, 68, 69
capable of highest culture, paras. 70, 71
examples of rationalism among, paras.

70, nn. 135, 208
mentality of, same as that of civilized

peoples, para. 70
preconceptions in study of, paras. 141,
143, 146, 148, 163, 167, nn. 415, 445,
446, 520, 536, 585, 626
vital to distinguish between funeral and

post-funeral rites of, paras. 8, 141
method of appraising evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 144
classified according to our knowledge of

their ideas, paras. 144, 145
effect of animistic theory on study of,

paras. 143, 145, 146, 148
nature of power in the universe manifest

to, paras. 145, 146
towards normal and supernormal, differ-
ent attitude of, para. 146
spirit of inquiry absent among, paras. 146,
148

unacceptable reports concerning cause

of sickness among, para. 148
misunderstandings concerning, due to
misleading translations, paras. 148, 152
neuter gender not used by, para. 148
analysis of differences in behaviour of,

paras. 149, 150, 151, 152
difference in numerical systems of, para.
165

degeneracy among, para. 166
rational conduct of, n. 52
comment on reports of heredity among,

nn. 52, 59, 94, 123, 148
unacceptable character of some com-
parisons between civilized and, paras.
43, 61, nn. 151, 187, 193, 383, 389
laws controlling cultural behaviour of,

paras. 160, 162, 163, 164
danger of direct questions in studying
culture of, paras. 4, 5, 55, 65, nn. 227,

234, 445, 459, 464, 509
Unconscious, The

formation of, paras. 153, 156, 160
social nature of, para. 1 54
power of, paras. 153, 154, 156, 158
Universal process

distinguished from biological and cul-
tural processes, para. 175

674 INDI

unkulunkulu

alleged 'Supreme Being' among Ama-
zulu, n. 415
unsondo

Zulu word, possibly important, n. 415
Unusual, The, or Beyond-comprehension

cultural behaviour founded on concep-
tion of, and reaction against, paras. 62,
63, 64, 65, 71, 76, 89, 101, 146, 147,
149, 150, 151, 152, 158, 162, 175

changes in conception of, due to mental
energy, paras. 146, 149

untranslatable character of word de-
noting, paras. 62, 146

extended use of word denoting, para. 146

power manifest in, sometimes conceived
as a quality, para. 146

ideas of sin and sacredness and founded
on conception of, para. 151
Urukagina, ruler of Lagash

sexual regulations enforced by, para. 169
Usual, The

attitude of uncivilized men towards,
para. 146
usus (Roman)

an early method of incurring manus,
para. 171, n. 690

vahine pahio

betrothed girl in Tahiti, paras. 133, 166
Cp. adi, taumoti, zxebat, mata-mata

vairgin

power manifest to Chukchee, para. 56

native usage of, para. 146

comparisons with, n. 240

interpretations of, n. 246
van Gennep, A.

on uncivilized practices, para. 3
Vandals

movements of, para. 172
veve, social group in Banks Islands

comments on reported exogamy of,
n. 291
Villeins .

position in society due partly to lack of
energy, n. 671

Virginity. See Chastity, Pre-nuptial

Visigoths

movements of, para. 172
Arian Christianity of, para. 167

vodu

power manifest in Dahoman temple,
para. 99

equated with orisha and bohsum, para. 99
discussed, para. 146
equivalents of, n. 454
Voth, The Rev. H. R.

almost the only authority on Hopi
language, para. 123, n. 536

vui

power manifest to Banks Islanders,
para. 72

translations and interpretations of, para.

5, nn. 292, 622
native usage of, paras. 72, 80, 146, 148,

149

nature of 'sacrifices' to, para. 150

zvoka (Maori)

vessel of atua, n. 181
Cp. huaca, imunu-vit, taula-aitu, taula-
otna

zvakan (wakanda)

power manifest to Dakota Indians, para.
117

native usage of, paras. 117, 121, 131,
146

difficulties arising out of comparison
between orenda and, paras. 116, 121,

131

erroneously compared with mana, nn.
520, 622
zvakan(ja)

power manifest to Winnebago, para. 120
See also vcaxopini
zcakonda

power manifest to Omaha Indians, para.
118

native usage of, paras. 118, 121, 131, 146,
n. 526
Wallis, W. D.

on studying religion anthropologically,

n. 4

zvaxopini

power manifest to Winnebago, para. 120
See also zcakan(ja)
Wayao (British Central Africa)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 97
cultural condition of, para. 98
val. ev., paras. 90, 101, 145, 149
erection of grave-huts by, paras. 98, 151
indisputable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
only probable evidence concerning source

of magic power among, para. 147
memory of, para. 149
sacred places decorated by, para. 151
convergence of Anyanja and, nn. 434,

440, 444, 447
causes of sickness among, n. 440
confusion between heroes of Anyanja

and of, nn. 437, 446
See also mulungu, lisoka
Weather-Rites

different kinds of, para. 10

comment on evidence concerning, para.

141
zvebat

betrothed girl in New Britain, para. 27
Cp. adi, taumou, vahine pahio, mata-mata
zveotuma

Anglo-Saxon bride-price, para. 172
Westermarck, Professor E.

on the definition of marriage, n. 17

on the meaning of 'marriage by service',

n- 35

misinterpreted an objection to pre-
nuptial pregnancy, n. 1 12

on Tongan sexual regulations, n. 172
Westermann, Professor D.

on the Shilluk, n. 345

on tipo, n. 351
whatta. See ezvatta
Whiro, Maori hero

E. Best's statements concerning, n. 180

White Men

ideas of, founded on same basis as those
of other men, paras. 145, 146, 148,

egocentricity of, paras. 61, 159, 161
not free from the control of necessity,
paras. 61

towards sexual matters, peculiar attitude
of, para. 153

sexual limitations suffered by, para. 153

opinions of, concerning sexual regula-
tions, paras. 155, 166

changes in therapeutic methods of, para.
159

recent extension of s.o. among, paras.
166, 167

quick to make moral judgements, paras.
80, 167
Whitehead, Professor A. N.

on the meaning of 'mechanical', n. 646
Widow

among uncivilized peoples, treatment of,
para. 22
Wife

confusion between sexual partner and a,

para. 14, n. 503
of a god, comment on reports concerning,

n. 660

confusing use of the word, nn. 660, 676,
678

Wilkes, Commander C.

as an anthropological authority, para.
134, nn. 195, 208, 595, 597
Williams, F. E.

difference between his reports on Purari
and Orakaiva, para. 79
Williamson, R. W.
on marae, nn. 205, 582
on Tahitian mythology, n. 585
on Tongan priesthood, n. 209
Winnebago Indians (Plains)

pre-nuptial opportunity and cultural

condition of, para. 120
burial customs of, para. 120
add. val. ev., paras. 121, 131, 145, 146,
148, 149

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of magic power among, para. 147
See also wakan(ja), waxopini
Wissler, Professor C.

on the American Indians, para. 102
Witch, Flying. See mulukwaisi, karaveni,

baloti, baloi
Wizard

difference between medicine-man,

diviner, and, paras. 9, 65
analysis of some native terms for, para.

65

does not always rely exclusively on own

power, para. 148
among deistic peoples, curses of, made

effective by a god, para. 148
Women

in absolutely monogamous societies,
changes in legal position of married,
paras. 168-74

INDEX 675

Women (cont.)

lacking sexual satisfaction, break bounds,
n. 669

See also Females, Mother

xop{ini)

root of waxopini, q.v.
xopine

alternative form of hopini, q.v.
yek

power manifest to Tlingit Indians, para.
103

inaccurately translated 'spirit', para. 5
native usage of, paras. 103, 112, 131, 146,
149

danger of, warded off by offerings, para.
150

Yoruba (West Africa)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 41
cultural condition of, para. 42
mental development of, para. 42
val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 150, 151, 166,
167

only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
source of priestly power among, para.
147

organized as monarchy, para. 167
erstwhile expansive energy of, n. 154
See also orisha
Yukaghir (NE. Siberia)

pre-nuptial regulations of, para. 55
cultural condition of, para. 56
val. ev., paras. 90, 145, 146, 149
only probable evidence concerning ideas

of, para. 145
incomplete information concerning
source of magic power among, para.
147

comments on alleged conceptions of,

n. 246
See also pon
Zimbabwe, para. 60
Zoistic

one of the four cultural patterns, para. 6
definition of, para. 7

no sense of the past among societies

which were, para. 149
founded on conception of the 'unusual',

paras. 149, 152
invariably accompanies pre-nuptial sexual

freedom, paras. 24, 44, 58, 152, 158
after three generations, produced by
pre-nuptial sexual freedom, paras. 162,
174

nature of factor responsible for change

to manistic from, paras. 149-52
analysis of change to manistic from,

paras. 149, 150, 151, 152, 163
nature of change to deistic from, paras.
164, 175

change to manistic or deistic from, due
to mental energy, paras. 149, 152, 158,
163, 164, 175
change from manistic to, paras. 166,
175

676

INDEX

Zoistic (cont.)

derivation of, n. 12

initial nucleus in study of cultural pro-
cess, para. 175
Zuni Indians (Pueblo)

pre-nuptial regulations and cultural con-
dition of, para. 124

Zuni Indians (cont.)

comments on our knowledge of, para. 122
add. val. ev., paras. 131, 145, 146, 149
only inferential evidence concerning

ideas of, para. 145
no information concerning source of

magic power among, para. 147