344 SOCIAL AND KELIGIOUS CONDITION OP 



The Caribs will not eat the flesh of pigs or of tortoises lest they should 

 get small eyes. The Dacotahs of North America eat the liver of the clog, 

 that they may become as wise and brave as that animal. 



The i^ew Zealanders, after baptizing an infant, nsed to make it swal- 

 low pebbles, so that its heart might be hard and incapable of pity. So 

 also after a battle, they used to cook and eat the bravest and wisest of 

 their fallen enemies, expecting thus to secure a share of their wisdom 

 and courage. 



Another curious idea very prevalent among savages is their dread of 

 having their portraits taken. The better the likeness the worse they 

 t'.vink for the sitter; so muclijife could not be put into the copy except 

 at the expense of the original. 



Once, when a good deal annoyed by some North American Indians, 

 Kane got rid of them instantly by threatening to draw them if they 

 remained. 



Catlin tells an amusing but melancholy anecdote in illustration of this 

 feeling among the same people. On one occasion he was making a like- 

 ness of a chief named Mahtocheega, in profile. This, when observed, 

 excited much commotion among the iDdians. "Why was half his face 

 left out?" they asked, "Mahtocheega w^as never afraid to look a white 

 man in the face." Mahtocheega himself does not seem to have taken 

 any olfense, but Shonka, a hostile chief, took occasion to taunt him. 

 "The Englishman," he said, "knows that you are but half a man; he 

 has painted but one-half of your face, and knows that the rest is good 

 for nothing." This taunt led to a fight, in which poor Mahtocheega was 

 killed, and the whole affair was very unfortunate for Mr. Catlin, who 

 had nuich difficulty in making his escape, and lived some time in fear of 

 his life. 



"We cannot wonder that writing should appear to the savage even 

 more mysterious and uncanny than drawing. 



Carver allowed the Canadian Indians to open a book wherever they 

 pleased, and then told them the number of leaves on each side. The 

 only way they could account for this, he says, "was by concluding that 

 the book was a spirit and told me whatever I asked." 



Further south the Minuatarrees, seeing Catlin intent over a copy of 

 the New YorJc Commercial Advertiser, were much puzzled, but at length 

 concluded that it was a cloth for sore eyes. One of them eventually 

 bought it at a high price. 



This belief in the mysterious character of writing has led to its being 

 used in many parts of the world as. a medicine. 



The Central Africans are a religious people accordiug to their lights, 

 and have great faith in the eiScacy of prayers. When any one is ill, 

 they write a text out of the Koran on a board, wash it olf, and make 

 the patieut drink it. The French traveller, Caillie, met with a man 

 who had a great reputation for sanctity, and who made his living by 

 writing prayers on a board, washing them off, and then selling the 

 water, which was sprinkled over various objects, and supposed to 

 improve and protect them. It was soon observed that the charms were 

 no protection from fire-arms ; but that did not the least weaken the faith 

 in them, because they said, as guns were not invented in Mohammed's 

 time, he naturally provided no specific against them. 



ORNAjMENTS. 



Savages are passionately fond of ornaments. If in the very low races 

 the women are often wholly undecorated, this is only because the men 

 keep all the ornaments to themselves. 



