THE RELIGION OF SAVAGES. 227 



the Utita of the Hottentots. The term, however, may mean a 

 ghost, the firmament, or the sun." 



Sir John's method of quotation sometimes implies total unbe- 

 lief without asserting it, as in his quotation from Father Dobritz- 

 hoffer with regard to the Abipones. The words quoted are, " The 

 whole language of these savages does not contain a single word 

 which expresses God or a divinity.^' * These words taken alone 

 imply atheism, or something akin to it, bat in common fairness 

 they should not be taken alone, for Dobritzhoffer tells us that the 

 Abipones hold a somewhat defined faith. They believe in an evil 

 spirit called Groaperikie i. e.. Grandfather who is represented in 

 the heavens by the Pleiades. In the month of May, on the reap- 

 pearance of the constellation, they welcome their Grandfather 

 back with joyful shouts, as if he had recovered from sickness, 

 and with the hymn, " What thanks do we owe thee ! And art 

 thou returned at last ? Ah ! thou hast happily recovered." 

 Next day they go out to seek honey to make mead, and as soon 

 as that is prepared they assemble in one place at the setting of 

 the sun to make public demonstration of gladness. Dobritzhoffer 

 further tells us that the Abipones, and indeed all the nations in 

 Paraguay, believe in a system of conjuring, the conjurers being 

 invested with great powers by the evil spirit Grandfather. 

 " From their custom of calling up the shades of the dead, we may 

 deduce that they believe in the immortality of the soul, as may 

 also be collected from their rites and conversation. The other 

 people of Paraguay hold the same opinion as to the immortality 

 of the soul. The jugglers perform the office of priests." 



Colden's testimony as to the " Five Nation " Indians of Canada 

 is presented by Sir John Lubbock in such a way as to imply far 

 more than Golden intended. Sir John says, " Golden, who had 

 ample means of judging, assures us that the celebrated ' Five 

 Nations' of Canada had no public worship or any name for 

 God." f Golden certainly does tell us that " they have no kind of 

 public worship," but he plainly never meant to imply that they 

 had no idea of God because they could not express that idea in 

 one word. What he says is this : " I am told they have no radi- 

 cal word to express God, but use a compound word, signifying 

 the Preserver, Sustainer, or Master of the universe." 



When one considers the influence that Sir John Lubbock's 

 Prehistoric Times has had on the reading public, and the shock 

 that his statements as to the utter irreligiousness of certain tribes 

 gave many of his readers, one feels inclined to question his au- 

 thority as a teacher, when his quotations are submitted to the 

 simple test of verification. One wonders how such a man as Sir 



* Account of Abipones, vol. ii, p. 5*7. f The Five Nations of Canada. 



