THE ABORIGINES OF NORTH AMERICA. 243 
spirits resembling human souls. The animals were also 
personified, and were regarded as human personalities. The 
myths and poetic stories always represent the animals as if they 
were human beings. There are myths in which the animal 
divinities and human divinities are associated. Sometimes 
the animal is supreme and sometimes the human deity is 
supreme. But in the narratives the adventures of the one are 
quite similar to those of the other, and transformation 
frequently takes place. This idea of personality is as 
common in America as in Africa. It is a prominent feature 
in American mythology. 
IV. The religion of the aborigines of America had one 
quality which we must consider. The far-off, the mysterious, 
the incomprehensible, the wonderful, the unknown are always 
suggestive of divinity. It would seem that all the divine attri- 
butes were condensed into this. Whatever had this was 
divine. It might be a stick or a snake, a tree ora stone. 
If it was strange and outré, it was regarded as ‘‘a Manitou.” 
This was the nature of superstition. It magnified the 
shadowy ; it deified the wonderful. If an object was mys- 
terious, it was sure to be worshipped. The dark rock, the 
rapid stream, the shadowy cave, the over-hanging forest, the 
swift lightnings were worshipped for no other reason than 
that they were mysterious. The animals which were wild 
and weird were always exalted to the level of supreme deities. 
If they were subtle and stealthy, and held themselves aloof 
from men, they were feared. They were the greatest deities 
because they were mysterious. It was on this account that 
the Coyote, the Hagle, and the Hare were chosen to represent 
the supreme divinity. These creatures were wary and wild, 
and far off from man. They roamed the forest, cleaved the air, 
hid among the rocks, and were full of mystery, and so were 
regarded as superior. ‘These were the chief divinities of the 
hunter races. It was on this account that the nature-powers 
were worshipped. These were the divinities of the civilised 
races. Hvery element that was mysterious, incomprehensible, 
or full of power was exalted to the level of asupreme divinity. 
Even the human personalities which figured so conspicuously 
in the systems of the Toltecs and Aztecs were worshipped as 
supreme because of the mystery which surrounded them. 
The White-God was mysterious. He came froma far-off 
country, and went away again. His advent and his departure 
were enveloped in mystery. He was a Melchizedek in dis- 
guise. His character was different from every other person. 
He suffered for his people, and secured good for them, but 
