porter's journal. 



this was all he could tell me. The inquiries of the dancer 

 were, whether this was not the greatest of all gods, 

 whether they were not bound to sacrifice their lives to 

 preserve him, and whether, if they should lose him, there 

 would not be an end of their race. They showed me am 

 abundance of plumes and other ornaments belonging to 

 their divinity, and in front of the house, where he was 

 kept, there was a kind of sedan chair, ornamented with 

 leaves and cloth in the most fanciful manner, which was 

 for the purpose of carrying their god on some ceremony. 

 I endeavoured to ascertain whether they had an idea of a 

 future state of rewards and punishments, and the nature of 

 their heaven. As respects the latter article, they be- 

 lieved it to be an island, somewhere in the sky, abounding 

 with every thing desirable ; that those killed in war and 

 carried off by their friends, go there, provided they are 

 furnished with a canoe and provisions ; but that those who 

 are carried off by the enemy, never reach it, unless a suf- 

 ficient number of the enemy can be obtained to paddle his 

 canoe there. For this reason they were so anxious to 

 procure a crew for their priest, who was killed and car- 

 ried off by the Happahs. They have neither rewards nor 

 punishments in this world, and I could not learn that they 

 expected' any in the next. Their religion, however, is 

 like a plaything, an amusement to them ; and I very much 

 doubt whether they, at any moment, give it a serious 

 thought. Their priests and jugglers manage those matters 

 for them ; what they tell them they believe, and do not 

 put themselves to the trouble of considering whether it is 

 right or wrong. If the priest tells them they shall have 

 rain within a certain period, they believe him ; if it does 

 not rain agreeably to his prediction, they think no more of 

 it. They deal greatly in charms and incantations ; by 

 them they believe they can procure the death of their 

 enemies, and effect the cure of the most dangerous wounds 

 and sickness. The priests are their principal surgeons and 

 physicians ; they lose many of their patients ; still the 

 people believe them none the less. They are not fond of 

 trouble, and least of all, the trouble of thinking. They 

 are very credulous, and will as readily believe in one re- 

 ligion as another. I have explained to them the nature of 

 the Christian religion, in a manner to suit their ideas ; 

 vor„ !i, 15 



