CEREMONY IN GENERAL. 9 



religion consisted almost wholly of propitiatory observances. 

 Though, in certain rude societies now existing, one of the 

 propitiations is the repetition of injunctions given by the 

 departed father or chief, joined in some cases with expres 

 sions of penitence for breach of them; and though we are 

 shown by this that from the outset there exists the germ out 

 of which grow the sanctified precepts eventually constitut 

 ing important adjuncts to religion; yet, since the supposed 

 supernatural beings are at first conceived as retaining after 

 death the desires and passions that distinguished them dur 

 ing life, this rudiment of a moral code is originally but an in 

 significant part of the cult : due rendering of those offerings 

 and praises and marks of subordination by which the 

 goodwill of the ghost or god is to be obtained, forming the 

 chief part. Everywhere proofs occur. We read 



of the Tahitians that &quot; religious rites were connected with 

 almost every act of their lives; &quot; and it is so with the unciv 

 ilized and semi-civilized in general. The Sandwich Island 

 ers, along with little of that ethical element which the con 

 ception of religion includes among ourselves, had a rigorous 

 and elaborate ceremonial. Noting that tabu means liter 

 ally, &quot; sacred to the gods,&quot; I quote from Ellis the following 

 account of its observance in Hawaii : 



&quot;During the season of strict tabu, every fire or light in the island 

 or district must be extinguished ; no canoe must be launched on the 

 water, no person must bathe ; and except those whose attendance was 

 required at the temple, no individual must be seen out of doors ; no 

 dog must bark, no pig must grunt, no cock must crow. ... On 

 these occasions they tied up the mouths of the dogs and pigs, and 

 put the fowls under a calabash, or fastened a piece of cloth over their 

 eyes.&quot; 



And how completely the idea of transgression was associ 

 ated in the mind of the Sandwich Islander with breach of 

 ceremonial observance, is shown in the fact that &quot; if any one 

 made a noise on a tabu day ... he must die.&quot; Through 

 stages considerably advanced, religion continues to be thus 

 constituted. When questioning the Nicaraguans concern- 



