5i8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



pending figlits, victories, birth of a chief's son, change of name 

 (done at funerals), arrival of distinguished visitors, or the procla- 

 mation of a new chief. Among the Malagasy a grand feast, accom- 

 panied with dancing, music, and sports, terminates the ceremony 

 of a treaty. The Mandans * hold a feast of the bull-fight, on which 

 depends the coming of their supply of buffaloes. Two feasts are 

 given by the Hottentots at the installation of a chief of a kraal : 

 one by the person installed, when the men eat all the meat and give 

 the broth to the women ; and the second, given by the wife, when 

 the women get the meat and the men the broth. The New-Zea- 

 landers give great feasts and Olympian games to other nations. In 

 their national pride to outdo each other in prodigality the collec- 

 tion for these feasts is begun a year before, and the extravagance 

 often produces a famine, so that the natives are obliged to leave 

 their settlements till their crops are ripe. Cannibalism is simjDly 

 the Fiji style of an occasional feast. Before going into war the 

 Tahitians offer human sacrifices ; and at the coronation of their 

 king there is a great religious festival in honor of the monarch, 

 whose girdle of red feathers identifies him with the gods. Different 

 districts among them challenge each other to public games, e. g., 

 wrestling, boxing, foot-racing, canoe-races, spear and javelin 

 throwing, military and naval reviews, ball, archery, cock-fighting, 

 surf-swimming, kite-flying, etc., all of which are also often con- 

 nected with religious ceremonies or a cause of national rejoicing, 

 such as the return of a king or the arrival of some distinguished 

 visitor. 



The transition from occasional to periodic festivals is through 

 the various harvest celebrations. The Congos have a great har- 

 vest feast at the ripening of the yams, and the Ashantees cele- 

 brate the same event with processions and sacrifices of slaves. 

 Sacrifices are made to the late village head of the Santals, at each 

 stage of rice-planting. Three great festivals are held by the 

 Gonds — at seed-time, at harvest, and when the mhowa flowers. 

 A feast is also kept at the end of a monsoon to the god of rain. 

 The Creeks have a religious feast of four to eight days on the 

 ripening of the crops. A feast of first-fruits is held in January 

 by the Kafiirs. At the sowing of the rice the Dyaks have three 

 festivals : in the midst of the cutting down of the jungle, when it 

 is set on fire, and the blessing of the seed before planting. At 

 harvest are three more : feast of the first-fruits, of the middle of 

 the harvest, and to secure the price of rice. 



The next stage in the development of our ancestral holidays is 

 one of great importance. In this one primitive astronomy begins, 

 our calendar has its genesis, and domestic, civil, and political life 

 begins to assume something of that order and regularity which 



* Spencer' s " Descriptive Sociology," No. VI, "American Races," page 17. 



