34 King, Folk-lore of the NortJi American Indians. 



races of various degrees of civilisation, there was a 

 different mode of burial for infants as distinguished from 

 adults. There is, however, a wide severance of feeling 

 between the Hindu and Maori, who look on the spirits of 

 infants as especially dangerous, and the Red Indian who 

 regards them as helpless and deserving of pity. But, as 

 we have seen, beliefs which in their origin resemble 

 one another work out in different directions. Lucian said, 

 " The Greek burns, the Indian covers in crystal, the 

 Scythian eats, the Egyptian embalms," and yet there is a 

 great similarity between their ideas about the dead and 

 their relation to the living. Take the treatment of twins. 

 In parts of West Africa the birth of twins is regarded 

 with horror. The children are killed and the mother 

 disgraced, and the natives will not give their reason. In 

 other villages, however, we are told that the birth of twins 

 is an event to be celebrated with joy and festivity. The 

 Peruvians worshipped twins as supernatural beings, and 

 amongst other natives we find different practices in regard 

 to what is looked upon as an extraordinary occurrence. 



Having now dealt with the different matters in these 

 volumes of the Jesuit Relations to which I wished to call 

 attention, I will conclude by quoting what was said in 

 1612 by Lescarbots, a Huguenot settler, which seems to 

 be a remarkable anticipation of a more modern attitude 

 towards primitive custom and belief 



"You cannot all at once eradicate the deep-rooted 

 customs and habits of any people, whoever they may be. 

 The Apostles did not do it, neither was it done several 

 centuries after them. Witness the ceremonies of the 

 candles on Candlemas — the processions of the Rogation 

 days — the bonfires of St. John the Baptist's day, the holy 

 water and many other traditions that we have in the 

 Church, which have been introduced for a laudable purpose 

 to convert to a good usage what had only been abused. 



