BAPTISMS. 
83 
delivered over to the priest, who has placed a small 
stick in the ground, previously notched in five 
places, before which he holds up the infant, in an 
erect posture, for a few minutes. During this 
period, should any thing inconvenient occur, it is 
considered a bad omen, and that the child will 
either die before it arrives at man s estate, or turn 
out a paltry and worthless coward: if otherwise, 
it is looked upon as most propitious, and the infant 
is regarded with much complacency, as being 
likely to become a brave and warlike man : the 
utmost care is then taken of him by his parents, 
and he is nurtured in all the superstitions and evil 
practices of his forefathers. The ceremony of 
holding up before the stick being ended, the child 
is dipped in the water, or sprinkled, at the option 
of the person who performs the ceremony ; a name 
is given to it ; and the priest mumbles something 
over it, which none of the bystanders compre- 
hend. They never tell what they have said ; and 
the prayer, if such it may be called, is held too 
sacred to be made known to any but the initiated : 
it is, however, an address to some unknown spirit, 
who they suppose holds in his hands the destinies 
of men and of birds. I have however been inform- 
ed, that the general contents of this prayer are, 
that the child may be so influenced by this spirit, as 
to become cruel, brave, warlike, troublesome, ad- 
ulterous, murderous, a liar, a thief, a disobedient 
person, and, in a word, that he may be guilty 
of every crime. Emblematically of this, small 
