Chap. XXV. PRIMITIVE AFRICAN FAITH. 521 



was heard to say, " My departed father is now scolding me ; 

 I feel his power in my head ; " and then was observed to re- 

 move from the company, make an offering of a little food on 

 a leaf and pray, looking upwards to where he supposed his 

 father's spirit to be. They are not, like Mohammedans, 

 ostentatious in their prayers. They speak of the spirit world 

 with reverence, and court the shade and silence for their acts 

 of worship. The Mohammedan is right in making the great 

 show he does, bowing down to the earth before all, and using 

 the repetitions which belong to his creed, because his religion 

 enjoins great show of piety, and fosters the idea of proud 

 superiority in the self-complacent Pharisee over the whole 

 human family ; while the African retires from view, somewhat 

 like the Christian, who enters into his closet, and, when he 

 has shut the door, prays to his Father who sees in secret. 



The primitive African faith seems to be that there is one 

 Almighty Maker of heaven and earth ; that he has given 

 the various plants of earth to man to be employed as mediators 

 between him and the spirit world, where all who have ever 

 been born and died continue to live ; that sin consists in 

 offences against their fellow-men, either here or among the 

 departed, and that death is often a punishment of guilt, 

 such as witchcraft. Their idea of moral evil differs in no 

 respect from ours, but they consider themselves amenable 

 only to inferior beings, not to the Supreme. Evil speaking — 

 lying — hatred — disobedience to parents — neglect of them — 

 are said by the intelligent to have been all known to be sin, as 

 well as theft, murder, or adultery, before they knew aught 

 of Europeans or their teaching. The only new addition to 

 their moral code is, that it is wrong to have more wives 

 than one. This, until the arrival of Europeans, never entered 

 into their minds even as a doubt. 



Everything not to be accounted for by common causes, 



