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and in its simplicity bears some analogy to that of the 
Patriarchs, though debased by much superstition. 
Like them, every man is a priest and a judge in his 
own house # -, where he prepares the sacrifices, and 
offers up his prayers to “ Unghorray,” or, “ the 
Most High Goda name which corresponds with 
that given to the Divine Being in Genesis xiv. 18. 
The pastoral mode of life also, which universally 
prevails, is similar to that of the Patriarchs : like 
them, their riches chiefly consist in flocks and herds, 
there being no circulating medium in the island. 
The recourse had to an oath (not profane swearing) 
on every extraordinary occasion, the reverence with 
which these appeals to the Deity are pronounced, and 
the sacrifice or feast by which it is accompanied or 
concluded, correspond with the custom in the Patri¬ 
archal ages; a remarkable instance of which occurs 
in the 3 1 st chapter of Genesis, on occasion of the 
league between Jacob and Laban; when Jacob sware, 
“ by the fear of his father, Isaac,” not to pass the 
bounds prescribed; and the treaty was ratified with 
a sacrifice, or, as Josephus calls it, a feast. 
The Oli, with which they invoke the spirits of the 
dead, is, in many respects, similar to the Teraphim 
used in the early ages after the Flood. It is asserted 
by some commentators, that the household gods, which 
* On religious occasions, in which the public are concerned, 
their chiefs invariably perform the priestly offices, which also 
corresponds with the custom of the Patriarchs, as in the case of 
Melchizedek.—See Gen. xiv. 18, &c. 
