104 SAVAGE SURVIVALS 



14. The Understanding of Savages. 



To the savage, things are what they seem to be. 

 He does not look below the surface to find causes. 

 He explains things as a child would explain them. 

 The sun actually rises and sets, as it seems to do. 

 The winds are alive. Diseases are caused by evil 

 spirits, which get into the bodies of the sick and 

 drive out the natural spirits. Dreams are real 

 experiences which the soul goes thru in its wan- 

 derings outside the body when the body is asleep. 

 A man's shadow or his image reflected in the wa- 

 ter is a real part of himself. Savages are very 

 reluctant about having their pictures taken, be- 

 cause they believe that the picture is something 

 that has been extracted from themselves. The 

 Basutos (Africa) are very careful when they walk 

 along a river not to let their shadow fall into the 

 water, for fear the crocodile will get it, and by 

 means of the shadow drag them into the river and 

 eat them. 



Thunder, among savages, is often regarded as 

 an actual deity or as the voice of a c^eity. "One 

 night,'' says Tanner, "an Indian chief became 

 much alarmed at the violence of the storm, and 

 got up and offered some tobacco to the thunder, 

 begging it to stop." 



To the mind of the savage every object has a 

 spirit, and this spirit causes the object to do what- 

 ever it does. A watch is a living thing. The tick- 

 ing of the watch is believed to be caused by the 

 spirit inside the watch. The howl of the wind is 



