Chapter VIII: The Killing of the Tree-Spirit (7)

M86 Part played by the king in the drama of the Slaughter of the Dragon.
M87 Suggested reconciliation of the totemic with the cosmological
interpretation of the Slaughter of the Dragon.

344 A. Moret, _Du caractère religieux de la royauté Pharaonique_ (Paris,
1902), pp. 18 _sqq._, 33 _sqq._

345 Clement of Alexandria. _Strom._ v. 7. p. 671, ed. Potter.

346 A. Erman, _Die ägyptische Religion_ (Berlin, 1905), pp. 10, 25.

347 John Parkinson (late Principal of the Mineral Survey of Southern
Nigeria), “Southern Nigeria, the Lagos Province,” _The Empire
Review_, vol. xv. May 1908, pp. 290 _sq._ The account in the text of
the mystery surrounding the Awujale is taken from A. B. Ellis, _The
Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa_ (London,
1894), p. 170.

M88 Evidence of an annual tenure of the kingship at Babylon. Further, it
would seem that in very early times the kings of Babylon were put to
death at the end of a year’s reign. The mock king put to death at
the festival of the Sacaea was probably a substitute for the real
king.

348 M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 680; H.
Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament_,3 pp. 374, 515; C. Brockelmann, “Wesen und Ursprung des
Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902)
pp. 391 _sq._, 396 _sq._

349 Athenaeus, xiv. 44, p. 639 C; Dio Chrysostom, _Or._ iv. pp. 69 _sq._
(vol. i. p. 76, ed. L. Dindorf). Dio Chrysostom does not mention his
authority, but it was probably either Berosus or Ctesias. The
execution of the mock king is not noticed in the passage of Berosus
cited by Athenaeus, probably because the mention of it was not
germane to Athenaeus’s purpose, which was simply to give a list of
festivals at which masters waited on their servants. A passage of
Macrobius (_Saturn._ iii. 7. 6) which has sometimes been interpreted
as referring to this Babylonian custom (F. Liebrecht, in
_Philologus_, xxii. 710; J. J. Bachofen, _Die Sage von Tanaquil_, p.
52, note 16) has in fact nothing to do with it. See A. B. Cook, in
_Classical Review_, xvii. (1903) p. 412; _id._ in _Folk-lore_, xv.
(1904) pp. 304, 384. In the passage of Dio Chrysostom ἐκρέμασαν
should strictly mean “hanged,” but the verb was applied by the
Greeks to the Roman punishment of crucifixion (Plutarch, _Caesar_,
2). It may have been extended to include impalement, which was often
inflicted by the Assyrians, as we may see by the representations of
it on the Assyrian monuments in the British Museum. See also R. F.
Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, p. 41, with the plate
facing p. 54. The proper word for impalement in Greek is
ἀνασκολοπίζειν (Herodotus, iv. 202). Hanging was also an Oriental as
well as Roman mode of punishment. The Hebrew word for it (חלה) seems
unambiguous. See Esther, v. 14, vii. 9 _sq._; Deuteronomy, xxi. 22
_sq._; Joshua, viii. 29, x. 26; Livy, i. 26. 6.

350 See above, pp. 21, 26 _sqq._

M89 The festival of the Sacaea was perhaps identical with Zagmuk.
Festival of Zagmuk in Assyria. Trace of an annual tenure of the
kingship in Assyria.

351 Bruno Meissner, “Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Purimfestes,”
_Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, I. (1896)
pp. 296-301; H. Winckler, _Altorientalische Forschungen_, Zweite
Reihe, Bd. ii. p. 345; C. Brockelmann, “Wesen und Ursprung des
Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902)
pp. 391 _sq._

352 Meantime I may refer the reader to _The Golden Bough_, Second
Edition, ii. 254, iii. 151 _sqq._ As I have there pointed out (iii.
152 _sq._) the identification of the months of the Syro-Macedonian
calendar (that is, the ascertainment of their astronomical dates in
the solar year) is a matter of some uncertainty, the dates appearing
to have varied considerably in different places. The month Lous in
particular is variously said to have corresponded in different
places to July, August, September, and October. Until we have
ascertained beyond the reach of doubt when Lous fell at Babylon in
the time of Berosus, it would be premature to allow much weight to
the seeming discrepancy in the dates of Zagmuk and the Sacaea. On
the whole difficult question of the identification or dating of the
months of the Syro-Macedonian calendar see L. Ideler, _Handbuch der
mathematischen und technischen Chronologie_, i. 393 _sqq._; K. F.
Hermann, “Über griechische Monatskunde,” _Abhandlungen der
histor.-philolog. Classe d. kön. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu
Göttingen_, ii. (1843-44) pp. 68 _sqq._, 95, 109, 111 _sqq._; H. F.
Clinton, _Fasti Hellenici_, iii.2 351 _sqq._; article “Calendarium,”
in W. Smith’s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_,3 i. 339.
The distinction between the dates of the Syro-Macedonian months,
which differed in different places, and their order, which was the
same in all places (Dius, Apellaeus, etc.), appears to have been
overlooked by some of my former readers.

353 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, p. 84; C. Brockelmann,
“Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für
Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) p. 392. However, there is no mention of
Zagmuk in Prof. R. F. Harper’s translation of the inscription
(_Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, p. 87).

354 C. Brockelmann, _op. cit._ pp. 389-401.

355 H. Winckler, _Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens_ (Leipsic, 1902),
p. 212; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, pp.
xxxviii. _sq._, 206-216; E. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_2, i. 2
(Stuttgart and Berlin, 1909), pp. 331 _sq._ It was the second, not
the first, year of a king’s reign which in later times at all events
was named after him. For the explanation see C. Brockelmann, _op.
cit._ pp. 397 _sq._

356 The eponymate in Assyria and elsewhere may have been the subject of
superstitions which we do not yet understand. Perhaps the eponymous
magistrate may have been deemed in a sense responsible for
everything that happened in the year. Thus we are told that “in
Manipur they have a noteworthy system of keeping count of the years.
Each year is named after some man, who—for a
consideration—undertakes to bear the fortune, good or bad, of the
year. If the year be good, if there be no pestilence and a good
harvest, he gets presents from all sorts of people, and I remember
hearing that in 1898, when the cholera was at its worst, a
deputation came to the Political Agent and asked him to punish the
name-giver, as it was obvious that he was responsible for the
epidemic. In former times he would have got into trouble” (T. C.
Hodson, “The Native Tribes of Manipur,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. 1901, p. 302).

357 C. Brockelmann, “Das Neujahrsfest der Jezîdîs,” _Zeitschrift der
deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, lv. (1901) pp. 388-390.

M90 Slaves sacrificed instead of their masters in West Africa.

358 Letter of the missionary N. Baudin, dated 16th April 1875, in
_Missions Catholiques_, vii. (1875) pp. 614-616, 627 _sq._; _Annales
de la Propagation de la Foi_, xlviii. (1876) pp. 66-76.

M91 Trace of custom of killing the kings of Hawaii at the end of a
year’s reign.

359 U. Lisiansky, _A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1803, 4, 5, and
6_ (London, 1814), pp. 118 _sq._ The same ceremony seems to be more
briefly described by the French voyager Freycinet, who says that
after the principal idol had been carried in procession about the
island for twenty-three days it was brought back to the temple, and
that thereupon the king was not allowed to enter the precinct until
he had parried a spear thrown at him by two men. See L. de
Freycinet, _Voyage autour du monde_, vol. ii. Première Partie
(Paris, 1829), pp. 596 _sq._

M92 The reign and life of the king limited to a single day in Ngoio, a
province of Congo.

360 R. E. Dennett, _Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort_, with an
introduction by Mary H. Kingsley (London, 1898), p. xxxii; _id._,
_At the Back of the Black Man’s Mind_ (London, 1906), p. 120. Miss
Kingsley in conversation called my attention to this particular
custom, and informed me that she was personally acquainted with the
chief, who possesses but declines to exercise the right of
succession.

M93 Reminiscences of a custom of regicide in popular tales. Story how
Lancelot came to a city where the king had to perish in the fire on
New Year’s Day.

_ 361 The High History of the Holy Graal_, translated from the French by
Sebastian Evans (London, 1898), i. 200-203. I have to thank the
translator, Mr. Sebastian Evans, for his kindness in indicating this
passage to me.

M94 Story of King Vikramditya of Ujjain in India. Kings of Ujjain
devoured by a demon after a reign of a single day.

362 For a discussion of the legends which gather round Vikramaditya see
Captain Wilford, “Vicramaditya and Salivahana,” _Asiatic
Researches_, ix. (London, 1809) pp. 117 _sqq._; Chr. Lassen,
_Indische Alterthumskunde_, ii.2 752 _sqq._, 794 _sqq._; E. T.
Atkinson, _The Himalayan Districts of the North-Western Provinces of
India_, ii. (Allahabad, 1884), pp. 410. _sqq._ Vikramaditya is
commonly supposed to have lived in the first century B.C. and to
have founded the _Samvat_ era, which began with 57 B.C., and is now
in use all over India. But according to Professor H. Oldenberg it is
now certain that this Vikramaditya was a purely legendary personage
(H. Oldenberg, _Die Literatur des alten Indien_, Stuttgart and
Berlin, 1903, pp. 215 _sq._).

M95 Vikramaditya puts an end to the custom by vanquishing the demon,
after which he reigns as king of Ujjain.

363 “Histoire des rois de l’Hindoustan après les Pandaras, traduite du
texte hindoustani de Mîr Cher-i Alî Afsos, par M. l’abbé Bertrand,”
_Journal Asiatique_, IVème Série, iii. (Paris, 1844) pp. 248-257.
The story is told more briefly by Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_ (London,
1839), pp. 21 _sq._ Compare Chr. Lassen, _Indische Alterthumskunde_,
ii.2 798.

M96 Yearly human sacrifices formerly offered at Ujjain.

364 A. V. Williams Jackson, “Notes from India, Second Series,” _Journal
of the American Oriental Society_, xxiii. (1902) pp. 308, 316 _sq._
I have to thank my friend the Rev. Professor J. H. Moulton for
referring me to Prof. Williams Jackson’s paper.

M97 Story of the birth of Vikramaditya. His father Gandharva-Sena was an
ass by day and a man by night, until his ass’s skin was burnt, when
he left his wife for ever.

365 “Histoire des rois de l’Hindoustan,” _Journal Asiatique_, IVème
Série, iii. (1844) pp. 239-243. The legend is told with
modifications by Captain Wilford (“Vicramaditya and Salivahana,”
_Asiatic Researches_, ix. London, 1809, pp. 148 _sq._), Mrs. Postans
(_Cutch_, London, 1839, pp. 18-20), and Prof. Williams Jackson (_op.
cit._ pp. 314 _sq._).

M98 Stories of the type of Beauty and the Beast, which tell how human
beings are married to beasts or to animals which temporarily assume
human form.
M99 Stories of this kind are told by savages to explain why they abstain
from eating certain animals. Dyak stories of this type.

366 The Bishop of Labuan, “Wild Tribes of Borneo,” _Transactions of the
Ethnological Society of London_, New Series, ii. (1863) pp. 26 _sq._

367 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, “The Relations between Men and Animals in
Sarawak,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901)
pp. 197 _sq._

368 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, _op. cit._ p. 193.

M100 Story told by the Sea Dyaks to explain how they came to plant rice
and to revere the omen-birds. It describes how the young chief Siu
married a woman of the bird-family, and promised her never to hurt
or even touch a bird.
M101 But one day he broke his word, and his bird-wife left him and
returned to the bird-people.

369 Rev. E. H. Gomes, “Two Sea Dyak Legends,” _Journal of the Straits
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 41 (January 1904,
Singapore), pp. 12-28; _id._, _Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks
of Borneo_ (London, 1911), pp. 278 _sqq._

M102 Stories of the same sort are told by the Tshi-speaking negroes of
the Gold Coast to explain why they do not eat their totemic animals.

370 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast_ (London,
1887), pp. 204-212.

M103 Stories of this sort were probably at first always told to explain
the totemic belief in the kinship of certain families with certain
species of animals. When husband and wife had different totems, a
violation of the totemic taboos by husband or wife might lead to the
separation of the spouses. This would explain the separation of
husband and wife in the type of tale here discussed.

371 The type of story in question has been discussed by Mr. Andrew Lang
in a well-known essay “Cupid, Psyche, and the Sun-Frog,” _Custom and
Myth_ (London, 1884), pp. 64-86. He rightly explains all such tales
as based on savage taboos, but so far as I know he does not
definitely connect them with totemism. For other examples of these
tales told by savages see W. Lederbogen, “Duala Märchen,”
_Mittheilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin_,
v. (1902) Dritte Abtheilung, pp. 139-145 (the Duala tribe of
Cameroons; in one tale the wife is a palm-rat, in the other a
_mpondo_, a hard brown fruit as large as a coconut); R. H. Nassau,
_Fetichism in West Africa_ (London, 1904), pp. 351-358 (West Africa;
wife a forest-rat); G. H. Smith, “Some Betsimisaraka Superstitions,”
_The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine_, No. 10
(Christmas, 1886), pp. 241 _sq._; R. H. Codrington, _The
Melanesians_, pp. 172, 397 _sq._ (Melanesia; wife a bird, husband an
owl); A. F. van Spreeuwenberg, “Een blik op Minahassa,” _Tijdschrift
voor Neêrland’s Indië_, 1846, Erste deel, pp. 25-28 (the Bantiks of
Celebes; wife a white dove); J. H. F. Kohlbrugge, “Die Tenggeresen,
ein alter Javanischer Volksstaam,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en
Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, iiii. (1901) pp. 97-99 (the
Tenggeres of Java; wife a bird); J. Fanggidaej, “Rottineesche
Verhalen,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch-Indië_, lviii. (1905), pp. 430-436 (island of Rotti;
husband a crocodile); J. Kubary, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A.
Bastian’s _Allerlei aus Volkes- und Menschenkunde_ (Berlin, 1888),
i. 60 _sq._ (Pelew Islands; wife a fish); A. R. McMahon, _The Karens
of the Golden Chersonese_, pp. 248-250 (Karens of Burma; husband a
tree-lizard); Landes, “Contes Tjames,” _Cochinchine française,
excursions et reconnaissances_, No. 29 (Saigon, 1887), pp. 53 _sqq._
(Chams of Cochin-China; husband a coco-nut); A. Certeux and E. H.
Carnoy, _L’Algérie traditionnelle_ (Paris and Algiers, 1884), pp.
87-89 (Arabs of Algeria; wife a dove); J. G. Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_
(Bremen, 1858), i. 140-145 (Ojebway Indians; wife a beaver); Franz
Boas and George Hunt, _Kwakiutl Texts_, ii. 322-330 (_The Jesup
North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural
History_) (Kwakiutl Indians; wife a salmon); J. R. Swanton, _Haida
Texts and Myths_ (_Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin_, No. 29,
Washington, 1905), pp. 286 _sq._ (Haida Indians; wife a
killer-whale); H. Rink, _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, pp.
146 _sq._ (Esquimaux; wife a sea-fowl). The Bantik story is told to
explain the origin of the people; the Tenggeres story is told to
explain why it is forbidden to lift the lid of a basket in which
rice is being boiled. The other stories referred to in this note are
apparently told as fairy tales only, but we may conjecture that they
too were related originally to explain a supposed relationship of
human beings to animals or plants. I have already illustrated and
explained this type of story in _Totemism and Exogamy_, vol. ii. pp.
55, 206, 308, 565-571, 589, iii. 60-64, 337 _sq._

372 The fable of Cupid and Psyche is only preserved in the Latin of
Apuleius (_Metamorph._ iv. 28-vi. 24), but we cannot doubt that the
original was Greek. For the story of Pururavas and Urvasi, see _The
Rigveda_, x. 95 (_Hymns of the Rigveda_, translated by R. T. H.
Griffith, vol. iv. Benares, 1892, pp. 304 _sqq._); _Satapatha
Brahmana_, translated by J. Eggeling, part v. pp. 68-74 (_Sacred
Books of the East_, vol. xliv.); and the references in _The Magic
Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 250, note 4. A clear
trace of the bird-nature of Urvasi occurs in the _Satapatha
Brahmana_ (Part v. p. 70 of J. Eggeling’s translation), where the
sorrowing husband finds his lost wife among nymphs who are swimming
about in the shape of swans or ducks on a lotus-covered lake. This
has been already pointed out by Th. Benfey (_Pantschatantra_, i.
264). In English the type of tale is known as “Beauty and the
Beast,” which ought to include the cases in which the wife, as well
as those in which the husband, appears as an animal. On stories of
this sort, especially in the folklore of civilised peoples, see Th.
Benfey, _Pantschatantra_, i. 254 _sqq._; W. R. S. Ralston,
Introduction to F. A. von Schiefner’s _Tibetan Tales_, pp.
xxxvii.-xxxix.; A. Lang, _Custom and Myth_ (London, 1884), pp. 64
_sqq._; S. Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_, pp.
561-578; E. Cosquin, _Contes populaires de Lorraine_, ii. 215-230;
W. A. Clouston, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, i. 182-191; Miss M.
Roalfe Cox, _Introduction to Folklore_ (London, 1895) pp. 120-123.

M104 The story of the parentage of Vikramaditya may point to a line of
kings who had the ass for their crest or totem. Similarly the
Maharajahs of Nagpur have the cobra for their crest and the origin
of the crest is explained by a story of the type of Beauty and the
Beast.

373 In the ruins of Raipoor, supposed to be the ancient Mandavie, coins
are found bearing the image of an ass; and the legend of the
transformation of Gandharva-Sena into an ass is told to explain
their occurrence. The coins are called Gandharva pice. See Mrs.
Postans, _Cutch_ (London, 1839), pp. 17 _sq._, 22.

374 E. T. Dalton, _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_, pp. 165 _sq._

375 T. C. Hodson, “The Native Tribes of Manipur,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) pp. 302, 304.

M105 Stories of the type of Beauty and the Beast are not mere fictions,
but rest on a real basis of belief and custom. Similarly the legend
of kings who were sacrificed after a reign of a single day has its
analogy in actual custom. Such stories indicate that the supply of
kings may have been maintained by compelling men to accept the fatal
sovereignty.

376 See above, pp. 118 _sq._

M106 Our conceptions of the primitive kingship are apt to be coloured and
falsified by ideas borrowed from the very different monarchies of
modern Europe.

377 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 4;
_Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 17 _sqq._

M107 In other races and other ages many men may have been willing to
accept a kingdom on condition of being killed at the end of a short
reign. Various causes have contributed to intensify the fear of
death in modern Europe.

378 See Dr. Joseph Bautz, _Die Hölle, im Anschluss an die Scholastik
dargestellt_2 (Mainz, 1905). Dr. Bautz holds that the damned burn in
eternal darkness and eternal fire somewhere in the bowels of the
earth. He is, let us hope in more senses than one, an extraordinary
professor of theology at the University of Münster, and his book is
published with the approbation of the Catholic Church.

M108 Evidence of the comparative indifference to death displayed by other
races. Absence of the fear of death in India and Annam.

379 R. H. Elliot, _Experiences of a Planter in the Jungles of Mysore_
(London, 1871), i. 95.

380 Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_ (London, 1839), p. 168.

381 Mgr. Masson, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xxiv. (1852)
pp. 324 _sq._

M109 Absence of the fear of death among the American Indians.

382 H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_, ii.
(Philadelphia, 1853), p. 68.

383 F. de Azara, _Voyages dans l’Amérique Méridionale_, ii. 181.

M110 Apathy of savages under sentence of death.

384 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, p. 127.
The testimony of a soldier on such a point is peculiarly valuable.

385 A. Thevet, _Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique_ (Antwerp,
1558), pp. 74 _sq._; _id._, _Cosmographie universelle_ (Paris,
1575), p. 945 [979].

386 My informant was the late Captain W. C. Robinson, formerly of the
2nd Bombay Europeans (Company’s Service), afterwards resident at 15
Chesterton Hall Crescent, Cambridge. He learned the facts in the
year 1853 from his friend Captain Gore, of the 29th Madras Native
Infantry, who rescued some of the victims.

387 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 338.

M111 Further, men of other races often sacrifice their lives voluntarily
for reasons which seem to us wholly inadequate. Thus people have
freely allowed themselves to be killed in order to accompany their
dead ruler to the other world.

388 See above, pp. 42 _sqq._, 54 _sqq._

389 O. Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_ (Amsterdam, 1686), p. 312; H.
Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 43.

390 R. Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. 391 _sq._

391 Tacitus, _Histor._ ii. 49; Plutarch, _Otho_, 17.

M112 In the East, persons sometimes commit suicide in order to avenge
themselves on their enemies. Law of retaliation in a robber caste of
southern India.

392 R. Lasch, “Rache als Selbstmordmotiv,” _Globus_, lxxiv. (1898) pp.
37-39.

393 Father Martin, Jesuit missionary, in _Lettres édifiantes et
curieuses_, Nouvelle Édition, xi. (Paris, 1781), pp. 246-248. The
letter was written at Marava, in the mission of Madura, 8th November
1709. No doubt the English Government has long since done its best
to suppress these practices.

M113 Contempt of death exhibited in antiquity by the Thracians and the
Gauls.

394 Seleucus, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 42, p. 155 D E.

395 Posidonius, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 40, p. 154 B C.

M114 In ancient Rome there were men willing to be beheaded for a sum of
five _minae_.

396 Euphorion of Chalcis, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 40, p. 154 C;
Eustathius on Homer, _Odyssey_, xviii. 46, p. 1837.

397 Athenaeus, iv. 39, p. 153 E F, quoting Nicolaus Damascenus.

398 Tertullian, _De spectaculis_, 12. The custom of sacrificing human
beings in honour of the dead, which has been practised by many
savage and barbarous peoples, was in later times so far mitigated at
Rome that the destined victims were allowed to fight each other,
which gave some of them a chance of surviving. This mitigation of
human sacrifice is said to have been introduced by D. Junius Brutus
in the third century B.C. (Livy, _Epit._ xvi.). It resembles the
change which I suppose to have taken place at Nemi and other places,
where, if I am right, kings were at first put to death inexorably at
the end of a fixed period, but were afterwards permitted to defend
themselves in single combat.

399 Livy, ii. 5. 8, xxvi. 13. 15, xxviii. 29. 11; Polybius, i. 7. 12,
xi. 30. 2; Th. Mommsen, _Römisches Strafrecht_ (Leipsic, 1899), pp.
916 _sqq._

400 Hiera Sykaminos (_Maharraka_), the furthest point of the Roman
dominion in southern Egypt, lies within the tropics. The empire did
not reach this its extreme limit till after the age of Augustus. See
Th. Mommsen, _Römische Geschichte_, v. 594 _sq._ Strabo speaks
(xvii. 1. 48, p. 817) as if Syene, which was held by a Roman
garrison of three cohorts, were within the tropics; but that is a
mistake.

M115 Chinese indifference to death.

401 For some evidence see J. H. Gray, _China_, i. 329 _sqq._; H. Norman,
_The Peoples and Politics of the Far East_ (London, 1905), pp. 277
_sq._ On this subject the Rev. Dr. W. T. A. Barber, Headmaster of
the Leys School, Cambridge, formerly a missionary in China, writes
to me as follows (3rd February 1902):—“Undoubtedly the Eastern,
through his belief in Fate, has comparatively little fear of death.
I have sometimes seen the Chinese in great fear; but, on the other
hand, I have saved at least a hundred lives of people who had
swallowed opium out of spite against some one else, the idea being,
first, the trouble given by minions of the law to the survivor;
second, that the dead would gain a vantage ground by becoming a
ghost, and thus able to plague his enemy in the flesh. Probably
blind anger has more to do with it than either of these causes. But
the particular mode would not ordinarily occur to a Western. I am
bound to say that in many cases the patient was ready enough to take
my medicines, but mostly it was the friends who were most eager, and
exceedingly rarely did I receive thanks from the rescued.”

402 J. H. Gray (Archdeacon of Hong-kong), _China_ (London, 1878), ii.
306.

403 The particulars in the text are taken, with Lord Avebury’s kind
permission, from a letter addressed to him by Mr. M. W. Lampson of
the Foreign Office. See Note A at the end of the volume. Speaking of
capital punishment in China, Professor E. H. Parker says: “It is
popularly stated that substitutes can be bought for Taels 50, and
most certainly this statement is more than true, so far as the price
of human life is concerned; but it is quite another question whether
the gaolers and judges can always be bribed” (E. H. Parker,
Professor of Chinese at the Owens College, Manchester, _China Past
and Present_, London, 1903, pp. 378 _sq._). However, from his
personal enquiries Professor Parker is convinced that in such
matters the local mandarin can do what he pleases, provided that he
observes the form of law and gives no offence to his superiors.

M116 We must not judge of all men’s love of life by our own.

404 My friend, the late Sir Francis Galton, mentioned in conversation a
phrase which described the fear of death as “the Western (or
European) malady,” but he did not remember where he had met with it.
He wrote to me (18th October 1902) that “our fear of death is
presumably much greater than that of the barbarians who were our
far-back ancestors.”

M117 Hence it is probable that in some races and at some periods of
history it would be easy to find men willing to accept a kingdom on
condition of being killed at the end of a short reign.

405 See above, pp. 23, 49 _sqq._, 52 _sq._

M118 Annual abdication of kings and their places temporarily taken by
nominal sovereigns. Temporary kings in Cambodia.

406 See above, pp. 113 _sqq._

407 E. Aymonier, _Notice sur le Cambodge_ (Paris, 1875), p. 61; J.
Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_ (Paris, 1883), i. 327 _sq._ For the
connexion of the temporary king’s family with the royal house, see
E. Aymonier, _op. cit._ pp. 36 _sq._

M119 Temporary kings in Siam in former days.

408 De la Loubère, _Du royaume de Siam_ (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 56 _sq._;
Turpin, “History of Siam,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, ix.
581 _sq._; Mgr. Brugière, in _Annales de l’Association de la
Propagation de la Foi_, v. (1831) pp. 188 _sq._; Pallegoix,
_Description du royaume Thai ou Siam_ (Paris, 1854), i. 250; A.
Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 305-309, 526-528.
Bowring (_Siam_, i. 158 _sq._) copies, as usual, from Pallegoix. For
a description of the ceremony as observed at the present day, see E.
Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_ (Westminster, 1898), pp. 210
_sq._ The representative of the king no longer enjoys his old
privilege of seizing any goods that are exposed for sale along the
line of the procession. According to Mr. Young, the ceremony is
generally held about the middle of May, and no one is supposed to
plough or sow till it is over. According to Loubère the title of the
temporary king was _Oc-ya Kaou_, or Lord of the Rice, and the office
was regarded as fatal, or at least calamitous “_funeste_”) to him.

409 Lieut.-Col. James Low, “On the Laws of Muung Thai or Siam,” _Journal
of the Indian Archipelago_, i. (Singapore, 1847) p. 339; A. Bastian,
_Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 98, 314, 526 _sq._

M120 Modern custom of temporary kings in Siam.

410 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, pp. 212-217. The writer
tells us that though the Minister for Agriculture still officiates
at the Ploughing Festival, he no longer presides at the Swinging
Festival; a different nobleman is chosen every year to superintend
the latter.

M121 Temporary kings in Samaracand and Upper Egypt.

411 Ed. Chavannes, _Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) Occidentaux_ (St.
Petersburg, 1903), p. 133, note. The documents collected in this
volume are translated from the Chinese.

412 C. B. Klunzinger, _Bilder aus Oberägypten der Wüste und dem Rothen
Meere_ (Stuttgart, 1877), pp. 180 _sq._

_ 413 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, p. 243. For evidence of a
practice of burning divine personages, see _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_,
Second Edition, pp. 84 _sqq._, 91 _sqq._, 139 _sqq._

M122 Temporary kings in Morocco.

414 Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), pp. 312 sq.; E. Aubin,
_Le Maroc d’aujourd’hui_ (Paris, 1904), pp. 283-287. According to
the latter of these writers the flight of the mock sultan takes
place the day after his meeting with the real sultan. The account in
the text embodies some notes which were kindly furnished me by Dr.
E. Westermarck.

M123 Temporary king in Cornwall.

415 R. Carew, _Survey of Cornwall_ (London, 1811), p. 322. I do not know
what the writer means by “little Easter Sunday.” The ceremony has
often been described by subsequent writers, but they seem all to
copy, directly or indirectly, from Carew, who says that the custom
had been yearly observed in past times and was only of late days
discontinued. His _Survey of Cornwall_ was first printed in 1602. I
have to thank Mr. G. M. Trevelyan, formerly Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, for directing my attention to this interesting
survival of what was doubtless a very ancient custom.

M124 Temporary kings at the beginning of a reign.

416 J. W. Boers, “Oud volksgebruik in het Rijk van Jambi,” _Tijdschrift
voor Neêrlands Indië_, 1840, dl. i. pp. 372 _sqq._

_ 417 Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. p. 86, § 674 (May 1884).

418 Aeneas Sylvius, _Opera_ (Bâle, 1571), pp. 409 _sq._; J. Boemus,
_Mores, leges, et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), pp. 241
_sq._; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer_, p. 253. According to
Grimm, the cow and mare stood beside the prince, not the peasant.
The Carinthian ceremony is the subject of an elaborate German
dissertation by Dr. Emil Goldmann (_Die Einführung der deutschen
Herzogsgeschlechter Kärntens in den Slovenischen Stammesverband, ein
Beitrag zur Rechts- und Kulturgeschichte_, Breslau, 1903).

M125 The temporary kings discharge divine or magical functions.

419 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, p. 211.

420 Lasicius, “De diis Samagitarum caeterorumque Sarmatarum,” in
_Respublica sive status regni Poloniae, Lituaniae, Prussiae,
Livoniae_, etc. (Elzevir, 1627), pp. 306 _sq._; _id._, edited by W.
Mannhardt in _Magazin herausgegeben von der Lettisch-Literarischen
Gesellschaft_, xiv. 91 _sq._; J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen
Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and Leipsic, 1841), ii. 27. There, are,
however, other occasions when superstition requires a person to
stand on one foot. At Toku-toku, in Fiji, the grave-digger who turns
the first sod has to stand on one leg, leaning on his digging-stick
(Rev. Lorimer Fison, in a letter to the author, dated August 26,
1898). Among the Angoni of British Central Africa, when the corpse
of a chief is being burned, his heir stands beside the blazing pyre
on one leg with his shield in his hand; and three days later he
again stands on one leg before the assembled people when they
proclaim him chief. See R. Sutherland Rattray, _Some Folk-lore
Stories and Songs in Chinyanja_ (London, 1907), pp. 100, 101.

421 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, p. 212.

422 J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 25. With
regard to swinging as a magical or religious rite, see Note B at the
end of the volume. For other charms to make the crops grow tall by
leaping, letting the hair hang loose, and so forth, see _The Magic
Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 135 _sqq._

423 Macrobius, _Saturn._ v. 19. 13.

424 See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 225 _sqq._

M126 Temporary kings substituted in certain emergencies for Shahs of
Persia.

425 Sir John Malcolm, _History of Persia_ (London, 1815), i. 527 _sq._ I
am indebted to my friend Mr. W. Crooke for calling my attention to
this passage.

426 Captain John Stevens, _The History of Persia_ (London, 1715), pp.
356 _sq._ I have to thank Mr. W. Crooke for his kindness in copying
out this passage and sending it to me. I have not seen the original.
An Irish legend relates how the abbot Eimine Ban and forty-nine of
his monks sacrificed themselves by a voluntary death to save Bran úa
Faeláin, King of Leinster, and forty-nine Leinster chiefs, from a
pestilence which was then desolating Leinster. They were sacrificed
in batches of seven a day for a week, the abbot himself perishing
after the last batch on the last day of the week. But it is not said
that the abbot enjoyed regal dignity during the seven days. See C.
Plummer, “Cáin Eimíne Báin,” _Ériu, the Journal of the School of
Irish Learning, Dublin_. vol. iv. part i. (1908) pp. 39-46. The
legend was pointed out to me by Professor Kuno Meyer.

M127 The temporary kings are sometimes related by blood to the real kings. M128 Tradition of On, King of Sweden, and the sacrifice of his nine sons.

427 “Ynglinga Saga,” 29, in _The Heimskringla or Chronicle of the Kings
of Norway, translated from the Icelandic of Snorro_ _Sturleson_, by
S. Laing (London, 1844), i. 239 _sq._; H. M. Chadwick, _The Cult of
Othin_ (London, 1899), pp. 4, 27. I have already cited the tradition
as evidence of a nine years’ tenure of the kingship in Sweden. See
above, p. 57, with note 2.

M129 Tradition of King Athamas and his children. Male descendants of King
Athamas liable to be sacrificed.

428 Herodotus, vii. 197; Apollodorus, i. 9. 1 _sq._; Schol. on
Aristophanes, _Clouds_, 257; J. Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, 21,
229; Schol. on Apollonius Rhodius, _Argonautica_, ii. 653;
Eustathius, on Homer, _Iliad_, vii. 86, p. 667; _id._, on _Odyssey_,
v. 339, p. 1543; Pausanias, i. 44. 7, ix. 34. 7; Zenobius, iv. 38;
Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 5; Hyginus, _Fab._ 1-5; _id._,
_Astronomica_, ii. 20; Servius, on Virgil, _Aen._ v. 241. The story
is told or alluded to by these writers with some variations of
detail. In piecing their accounts together I have chosen the
features which seemed to be the most archaic. According to
Pherecydes, one of the oldest writers on Greek legendary history,
Phrixus offered himself as a voluntary victim when the crops were
perishing (Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ iv. 288). On the whole subject
see K. O. Müller, _Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 156, 171.

429 Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C.

M130 Family of royal descent liable to be sacrificed at Orchomenus.

430 Plutarch, _Quaest. Graec._ 38; Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._ 10;
Ovid, _Metam._ iv. 1 _sqq._

M131 Thessalian and Boeotian kings seem to have sacrificed their sons to
Laphystian Zeus instead of themselves.

431 Pausanias, ix. 34. 5 _sqq._; Apollonius Rhodius, _Argonautica_, iii.
265 _sq._; Hellanicus, cited by the Scholiast on Apollonius, _l.c._
Apollodorus speaks of Athamas as reigning over Boeotia
(_Bibliotheca_, i. 9. 1); Tzetzes calls him king of Thebes (_Schol.
on Lycophron_, 21).

432 The old Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (_Argon._ ii. 653) tells us
that down to his time it was customary for one of the descendants of
Athamas to enter the town-hall and sacrifice to Laphystian Zeus. K.
O. Müller sees in this custom a mitigation of the ancient
rule—instead of being themselves sacrificed, the scions of royalty
were now permitted to offer sacrifice (_Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2
p. 158). But this need not have been so. The obligation to serve as
victims in certain circumstances lay only on the eldest male of each
generation in the direct line; the sacrificers may have been younger
brothers or more remote relations of the destined victims. It may be
observed that in a dynasty of which the eldest males were regularly
sacrificed, the kings, if they were not themselves the victims, must
always have been younger sons.

433 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 310.

434 I have followed K. O. Müller (_Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 160,
166 _sq._) in regarding the ram which saved Phrixus as a mythical
expression for the substitution of a ram for a human victim. He
points out that a ram was the proper victim to sacrifice to
Trophonius (Pausanias, ix. 39. 6), whose very ancient worship was
practised at Lebadea not far from Orchomenus. The principle of
vicarious sacrifices was familiar enough to the Greeks, as K. O.
Müller does not fail to indicate. At Potniae, near Thebes, goats
were substituted as victims instead of boys in the sacrifices
offered to Dionysus (Pausanias, ix. 8. 2). Once when an oracle
commanded that a girl should be sacrificed to Munychian Artemis in
order to stay a plague or famine, a goat dressed up as a girl was
sacrificed instead (Eustathius on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 732, p. 331;
Apostolius, vii. 10; _Paroemiogr. Graeci_, ed. Leutsch et
Schneidewin, ii. 402; Suidas, _s.v._ Ἔμβαρος). At Salamis in Cyprus
a man was annually sacrificed to Aphrodite and afterwards to
Diomede, but in later times an ox was substituted (Porphyry, _De
abstinentia_, ii. 54). At Laodicea in Syria a deer took the place of
a maiden as the victim yearly offered to Athena (Porphyry, _op.
cit._ ii. 56). Since human sacrifices have been forbidden by the
Dutch Government in Borneo, the Barito and other Dyak tribes of that
island have kept cattle for the sole purpose of sacrificing them
instead of human beings at the close of mourning and at other
religious ceremonies. See A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_,
ii. (Leyden, 1907), p. 127.

M132 Sacrifice of kings’ sons among the Semites. Sacrifice of children to
Baal among the Semites.

435 Philo of Byblus, quoted by Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelii_, i. 10.
29 _sq._

436 2 Kings iii. 27.

437 On this subject see Dr. G. F. Moore, _s.v._ “Molech, Moloch,”
_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3183 _sqq._; C. P. Tiele, _Geschichte
der Religion im Altertum_, i. (Gotha, 1896) pp. 240-244.

438 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 56.

439 Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C.

440 Plutarch, _Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata, Gelon I._

441 Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14. Compare Clitarchus, cited by Suidas,
_s.v._ σαρδάνιος γέλως, and by the Scholiast on Plato, _Republic_,
p. 337 A; J. Selden, _De dis Syris_ (Leipsic, 1668), pp. 169 _sq._

442 Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 13. Egyptian mothers were glad and
proud when their children were devoured by the holy crocodiles. See
Aelian, _De natura animalium_, x. 21; Maximus Tyrius, _Dissert._
viii. 5; Josephus, _Contra Apion._ ii. 7.

443 Tertullian, _Apologeticus_, 6. Compare Justin, xviii. 6. 12; Ennius,
cited by Festus, _s.v._ “Puelli,” pp. 248, 249, ed. C. O. Müller;
Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, vii. 19 and 26.

M133 Canaanite and Hebrew custom of burning children in honour of Baal or
Moloch. Sacrifices of children in Tophet.

444 “Every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto
their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in
the fire to their gods,” Deuteronomy xii. 31. Here and in what
follows I quote the Revised English Version.

445 Deuteronomy xviii. 9-12.

446 Leviticus xviii. 21.

447 Psalms cvi. 35-38.

448 2 Kings xvii. 16, 17.

449 “And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters
in the fire,” Jeremiah vii. 31; “And have built the high places of
Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings unto Baal,”
_id._ xix. 5; “And they built the high places of Baal, which are in
the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their
daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech,” _id._ xxxii. 35;
“Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast
borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be
devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my
children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the
fire unto them?” Ezekiel xvi. 20 _sq._; compare xx. 26, 31. A
comparison of these passages shews that the expression “to cause to
pass through the fire,” so often employed in this connexion in
Scripture, meant to burn the children in the fire. Some have
attempted to interpret the words in a milder sense. See J. Spencer,
_De legibus Hebraeorum_ (The Hague, 1686), i. 288 _sqq._

450 2 Chronicles xxviii. 3. In the corresponding passage of 2 Kings
(xvi. 3) it is said that Ahaz “made his son to pass through the
fire.”

451 2 Chronicles xxxiii. 6; compare 2 Kings xxi. 6.

452 2 Kings xxiii. 10.

453 Jerome on Jeremiah vii. 31, quoted in Winer’s _Biblisches
Realwôrterbuch_,2 _s.v._ “Thopeth.”

M134 Did the Hebrews borrow the custom from the Canaanites? Custom of the
Sepharvites.

454 The Tel El-Amarna tablets prove that “the prae-Israelitish
inhabitants of Canaan were closely akin to the Hebrews, and that
they spoke substantially the same language” (S. R. Driver, in
_Authority and Archaeology, Sacred and Profane_, edited by D. G.
Hogarth (London, 1899), p. 76).

455 2 Kings xvii. 31. The identification of Sepharvaim is uncertain. See
_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iv. 4371 _sq._

M135 Only the firstborn children were burned.

456 Micah vi. 6-8.

457 Ezekiel xx. 25, 26, 31.

458 Exodus xiii. 1 _sq._

459 Exodus xiii. 12.

460 Exodus xxxiv. 19. In the Authorised Version the passage runs thus:
“All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy
cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.”

461 Exodus xxii. 29 _sq._ The Authorised Version has “the first of thy
ripe fruits" instead of "the abundance of thy fruits.”

M136 Hebrew sacrifice of firstlings: redemption of the firstlings of men
and asses.

462 Numbers xviii. 17 _sq._ Elsewhere, however, we read: “All the
firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou
shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the
firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. Thou
shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which
the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household,” Deuteronomy xv. 19
_sq._ Compare Deuteronomy xii. 6 _sq._, 17 _sq._ To reconcile this
ordinance with the other we must suppose that the flesh was divided
between the Levite and the owner of the animal. But perhaps the rule
in Deuteronomy may represent the old custom which obtained before
the rise of the priestly caste. Prof. S. R. Driver inclines to the
latter view (_Commentary on Deuteronomy_, p. 187).

463 Exodus xiii. 13, xxxiv. 20.

464 Numbers xviii. 15 _sq._ Compare Numbers iii. 46-51; Exodus xiii. 13,
xxxiv. 20.

M137 Sacrifice of firstborn children perhaps regarded as an act of heroic virtue. M138 Tradition of the origin of the Passover.

465 Exodus xi.-xiii. 16; Numbers iii. 13, viii. 17. While many points in
this strange story remain obscure, the reason which moved the
Israelites of old to splash the blood of lambs on the doorposts of
their houses at the Passover may perhaps have been not very
different from that which induces the Sea Dyaks of Borneo to do much
the same thing at the present day. “When there is any great epidemic
in the country—when cholera or smallpox is killing its hundreds on
all sides—one often notices little offerings of food hung on the
walls and from the ceiling, animals killed in sacrifice, and blood
splashed on the posts of the houses. When one asks why all this is
done, they say they do it in the hope that when the evil spirit, who
is thirsting for human lives, comes along and sees the offerings
they have made and the animals killed in sacrifice, he will be
satisfied with these things, and not take the lives of any of the
people living in the Dyak village house” (E. H. Gomes, _Seventeen
Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo_, London, 1911, p. 201).
Similarly in Western Africa, when a pestilence or an attack of
enemies is expected, it is customary to sacrifice sheep and goats
and smear their blood on the gateways of the village (Miss Mary H.
Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, p. 454, compare p. 45). In Peru,
when an Indian hut is cleansed and whitewashed, the blood of a llama
is always sprinkled on the doorway and internal walls in order to
keep out the evil spirit (Col. Church, cited by E. J. Payne,
_History of the New World called America_, i. 394, note 2). For more
evidence of the custom of pouring or smearing blood on the
threshold, lintel, and side-posts of doors, see Ph. Paulitschke,
_Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur der Danâkil,
Galla und Somâl_ (Berlin, 1896), pp. 38, 48; J. Goldziher,
_Muhamedanische Studien_, ii. 329; S. J. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic
Religion To-day_, pp. 181-193, 227 _sq._; H. C. Trumbull, _The
Threshold Covenant_ (New York, 1896), pp. 4 _sq._, 8 _sq._, 26-28,
66-68. Perhaps the original intention of the custom was to avert
evil influence, especially evil spirits, from the door.

M139 Originally the firstborn children seem to have been regularly
sacrificed: their redemption was a later mitigation of the rule.

466 Genesis xxii. 1-13.

467 See for example Father Baudin, in _Missions Catholiques_, xvi.
(1894) p. 333; A. B. Ellis, _The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the
Slave Coast_, pp. 105 _sq._

M140 Attempts to outwit a malignant spirit.

468 W. E. Maxwell, “The Folklore of the Malays,” _Journal of the Straits
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 7 (June 1881), p. 14; W.
W. Skeat, _Malay Magic_, p. 112. The bird in question is thought to
be the goat-sucker or night-jar.

M141 The custom of sacrificing all the firstborn, whether of animals or
men, was probably a very ancient Semitic institution.

469 2 Kings iii. 27.

470 See above, pp. 166, 167.

471 As to the redemption of the firstborn among modern Jews, see L. Löw,
_Die Lebensalter in der jüdischen Literatur_ (Szegedin, 1875), pp.
110-118; Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), pp. 440 _sq._

M142 Sacrifice of firstborn children among various races.

472 J. Wellhausen, _Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels_,3 p. 90; W.
Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 p. 464. On the other
hand, when I published the foregoing discussion in the second
edition of my book, I was not aware that the conclusion reached in
it had been anticipated by Prof. Th. Nöldeke, who has drawn the same
inference from the same evidence. See _Zeitschrift der Deutschen
Morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, xlii. (1888) p. 483. I am happy to
find myself in agreement with so eminent an authority on Semitic
antiquity.

473 R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, ii. 311. In the Luritcha
tribe of central Australia “young children are sometimes killed and
eaten, and it is not an infrequent custom, when a child is in weak
health, to kill a younger and healthy one and then to feed the
weakling on its flesh, the idea being that this will give the weak
child the strength of the stronger one” (Spencer and Gillen, _Native
Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 475). The practice seems to have
been common among the Australian aborigines. See W. E. Stanbridge,
quoted by R. Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ i. 52; A. W. Howitt, _Native
Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 749, 750.

474 G. Scriviner, in E. Curr’s _The Australian Race_, ii. 182.

475 A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 750.

476 S. Gason, in E. Curr’s _The Australian Race_, ii. 119.

477 Father Mazzuconi, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xxvii.
(1855) pp. 368 _sq._

478 J. J. M. de Groot, _Religious System of China_, ii. 679, iv. 364.

479 J. J. M. de Groot, _op. cit._ iv. 365. On these Chinese reports
Prof. de Groot remarks (_op. cit._ iv. 366): “Quite at a loss,
however, we are to explain that eating of firstborn sons by their
own nearest kinsfolk, absolutely inconsistent as it is with a
primary law of tribal life in general, which imperiously demands
that the tribe should make itself strong in male cognates, but not
indulge in self-destruction by killing its natural defenders. We
feel, therefore, strongly inclined to believe the statement
fabulous.” Such scepticism implies an opinion of the good sense and
foresight of savages which is far from being justified by the facts.
Many savage tribes have “indulged in self-destruction” by killing a
large proportion of their children, both male and female. See below,
pp. 196 _sq._

480 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India_, ii.
169.

481 H. A. Rose, “Unlucky Children,” _Folklore_, xiii. (1902) p. 63;
_id._, in _Indian Antiquary_, xxxi. (1902) pp. 162 _sq._ Mr. Rose is
Superintendent of Ethnography in the Punjaub. The authorities cited
by him are Moore’s _Hindu Infanticide_, pp. 198 _sq._, and
Sherring’s _Hindu Tribes and Castes_, iii. p. 66.

M143 Sacrifice of firstborn children among the Borans and other tribes to
the south of Abyssinia. Firstborn male children put to death in
Uganda.

482 Captain Philip Maud, “Exploration in the Southern Borderland of
Abyssinia,” _The Geographical Journal_, xxiii. (1904) pp. 567 _sq._

483 Exodus iv. 24-26.

484 Captain C. H. Stigand, _To Abyssinia through an Unknown Land_
(London, 1910), pp. 234 _sq._

485 J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
p. 30. Mr. Roscoe informs me that a similar custom prevails also in
Koki and Bunyoro.

486 J. L. Krapf, _Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours during an
Eighteen Years’ Residence in Eastern Africa_ (London, 1860), pp. 69
_sq._ Dr. Krapf, who reports the custom at second hand, thinks that
the existence of the pillar may be doubted, but that the rest of the
story harmonises well enough with African superstition.

487 J. Macdonald, _Light in Africa_2 (London, 1890), p. 156. In the text
I have embodied some fuller explanations and particulars which my
friend the Rev. Mr. Macdonald was good enough to send me in a letter
dated September 16th, 1899. Among the tribes with which Mr.
Macdonald is best acquainted the custom is obsolete and lives only
in tradition; formerly it was universally practised.

M144 Sacrifice of firstborn children in Europe and America. Sacrifice of
firstborn children to the sun. Sacrifice of children in Peru.

488 F. J. Mone, _Geschichte des Heidenthums im nördlichen Europa_
(Leipsic and Darmstadt, 1822-1823), i. 119.

489 Vallancey, _Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis_, vol. iii. (Dublin,
1786) p. 457; D. Nutt, _The Voyage of Bran_, ii. 149-151, 304 _sq._;
P. W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, i. 275 _sq._,
281-284. The authority for the tradition is the _Dinnschenchas_ or
_Dinnsenchus_, a document compiled in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries out of older materials. Mr. Joyce discredits the tradition
of human sacrifice.

490 Fr. Boas, in “Fourth Annual Report on the North-Western Tribes of
Canada,” _Report of the British Association for 1888_, p. 242;
_id._, in _Fifth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_, p.
52 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association for
1889_).

491 Fr. Boas, in _Fifth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
p. 46 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association
for 1889_).

492 W. Strachey, _Historie of travaile into Virginia Britannia_ (Hakluyt
Society, London, 1849), p. 84.

493 J. Bricknell, _The Natural History of North Carolina_ (Dublin,
1737), pp. 342 _sq._ I have taken the liberty of altering slightly
the writer’s somewhat eccentric punctuation.

494 See above, p. 162.

495 A. de Herrera, _The General History of the Vast Continent and
Islands of America_, translated by Capt. John Stevens (London,
1725-6), iv. 347 _sq._ Compare J. de Acosta, _Natural and Moral
History of the Indies_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1880), ii. 344.

496 Fr. Xeres, _Relation véridique de la conquête du Perou et de la
Province de Cuzco nommée Nouvelle-Castille_ (in H. Ternaux-Compans’s
_Voyages, relations et mémoires_, etc., Paris, 1837), p. 53.

497 Juan de Velasco, _Histoire du royaume de Quito_, i. (Paris, 1840) p.
106 (forming vol. xviii. of H. Ternaux-Compans’s _Voyages, relations
et mémoires_, etc.).

498 A. R. Wallace, _Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro_
(London, 1889), p. 355.

499 W. Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London,
1911), p. 233.

M145 The “sacred spring” in ancient Italy.

500 Festus, _De verborum significatione_, _s.vv._ “Mamertini,”
“Sacrani,” and “Ver sacrum,” pp. 158, 370, 371, 379, ed. C. O.
Müller; Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ vii. 796; Nonius Marcellus, _s.v._
“ver sacrum,” p. 522 (p. 610, ed. Quicherat); Varro, _Rerum
rusticarum_, iii. 16. 29; Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit.
Rom._ i. 16 and 23 _sq._, ii. 1. 2.