670 DOGS AND SAVAGES. 



offerings of dogs were made at Sakhalin, was determined by Poljakow 

 from discoveries at old places of sacrifice, where, among countless 

 other bones, ten toothless skulls of dogs were also found. 1 The Koriaks 

 likewise, in order to insure good fishing, made offerings of dogs, and, 

 indeed, of the best, because the god commanded it; these were simply 

 hanged upon trees. It cost Major Abase much trouble to make them 

 understand that the worst dogs would answer the same purpose. 2 In 

 northern Siam, between Scwegun and Hlaingbwe, the Karens pro- 

 pitiate the spirits by suspending the carcass of a dog from an impro- 

 vised altar of bamboo." In Cambodia, dog's teeth drive away ghosts, 

 and in Sumatran traditions dogs play significant parts. 4 In the Celebes, 

 the people sacrifice dogs, because through such an offering the ground 

 becomes more fruitful. 5 



In Australasia, at Samoa, dogs and some birds are consecrated to 

 the greater gods; at the Solomon Islands, together with other skulls, 

 those of dogs are hung in considerable numbers in each village." In 

 New Guinea, at the Kaiserin-Augusta River, a dog was killed as a 

 sign of friendship for the Europeans, and in New Zealand Forbes found, 

 in an uudisturbed cave, the carved figure of a Maori dog, which was 

 contemporaneous with the moa. 7 



Among the ancients I will only mention that the Romans offered up 

 to their gods yearly upon their altars a considerable quantity of dog's 

 flesh, and that in the temple of Zeus Adranos 1,000 dogs were used as 

 guards. 8 I might here add a few instances which show that dogs are 

 also regarded with significance in Christendom, especially during the 

 Christmas season. As Branchion was following a stag with dogs, the 

 animal took refuge in the cave of a hermit, and the hunters and dogs 

 knelt in awe before the cross. In France it is believed that during 

 the Christmas midnight mass the animals kneel in their stalls, but 

 it is very imprudent to watch them, because they will all attack you. 

 In Poland, at this season, the young girls go out into the yard and 

 listen for the barking of the dogs; from the side where a dog barks 

 a future husband will come. In the Christmas matins of Stralsund, 

 an eyewitness of the sixteenth century reports that quite different 

 behavior occurred; the house of God was made a romping place for the 

 greatest misconduct. Young men sat in women's clothes on the women's 

 chairs, others were clothed like shepherds, took dogs and goats along 



1 Reise nach-Sachalin, p. 42. 



2 Knox, Overland through Asia, p. 85. 

 3 Mitth. Geogr. Ges. Jena, H. 4, 245. 



4 Ausland, 1886, 113, v. Brenner, Besuch bei d. Kannibalen S., p. 199. 



5 Temrninck, Coup d'oeil, etc., Ill, 64. 



6 George Turner, Samoa, p. 113; H. H. Eomilly, The Western Pacific and New- 

 Guinea, p. 74. 



7 Deutsche Geogr. Blatter IX, 349; Revue Coloniale Internat., IV, 265; Globus, 

 1891, 1, 64. 



8 Deutsche Jiiger-Z. XIII, 1059; Hartwig, Aus Sicilien, I, 46* 



