GHOST WORSHIP. 167 



speaks. The dreamer believes that the form and the 

 voice are real; and therefore he believes that the great 

 chief still exists. It is thus that the grand idea is 

 born. There is life after death. When the house or 

 garment of the body is destroyed, the soul wanders 

 forth into the air. Like the wind, it is unseen ; like 

 the wind, it can be soft and kind ; like the wind, 

 it can be terrible and cruel. The savage then be- 

 lieves that the pains of sickness are inflicted by the 

 hand which so often inflicted pain upon him when 

 it was in the flesh ; and he also believes that, in 

 battle, the departed warrior is still fighting with un- 

 seen weapons at the head of his own clan. In order 

 to obtain the good-will of the Father-spirit, prayers are 

 offered up to him, and food is placed beside his grave. 

 He is, in fact, still recognised as king, and to such 

 phantom monarchs the distinctive title of God is as- 

 signed. Each chief is deified and worshipped when 

 he dies. The offerings and prayers are established by 

 rule : the reigning chief becomes the family priest ; he 

 pretends to receive communications from the dead, and 

 issues laws in their name. The deeds of valour which 

 the chiefs performed in their lifetime are set to song ; 

 their biographies descend from generation to genera- 

 tion, changing in their course, and thus a regular reli- 

 gion and mythology are formed. 



It is the nature of man to reason from himself out- 

 wards. The savage now ascribes to the various forms 

 of matter souls or spirits, such as he imagines that he 

 has discovered in himself. The food which he places 

 at the grave has a soul or essence, and it is this which 

 is eaten by the spirit of the dead, while the body of 

 the food remains unchanged. The river is now mere 

 water, which may dry up and perish, but there dwells 



