expectations, they load him with a thousand reproaches, and insult him in the most shameful manner; but, on the other hand, if they prove successful, the god, by way of retaliation, is allowed his share of the booty. He has the very first fruits of their labour; for before they presume to touch one dish themselves at their general feast, they rub his snout with some of the choicest fat. After their entertainment is over, they conduct the soul of the god back again, by beating the air with their cudgels. But, on the contrary, if the season have proved bad, or if they have met with any disappointments, they not only revile him, but they strip him naked, whip him, and throw him into the dirt, as an old, impotent, despicable deity. THE SAMOIDES. In regard to the Samoides, they are idolaters, as well as the Ostiacs, but much more savage and unpolished. They adore the sun and the moon, to which they add some idols, wrought in such an artless manner, that it would be scarcely imagined they had any intention to resemble the human species. These idols are either kept in their proper huts, or somewhere near them, or hung upon their choicest trees. They acknowledge, according to De Bruyn, one Supreme Being called Heya. THE CZEREMISSIAN TARTARS. The Czeremissian Tartars, who dwell on the borders of the Wolga, beyond Casan, acknowledge one God, who is immortal, and the author of all good; and they believe that there are evil spirits, or demons, who are the professed enemies of mankind, and take delight in tormenting them as long as they live; for which reason they offer up sacrifices to them, in order to appease their wrath, and tempt them, if possible, not to injure them. They take particular care to go in pilgrimage to a place which is called Nemda, and to perform several other acts of devotion to their honour. Thither they carry their oblations to those malignant beings, and never presume to go empty-handed, being fully persuaded, that those who are so imprudent as to carry nothing with them will infallibly pine away, and die at last of some lingering distemper. The sacrifices which. are peculiarly devoted to their deity are either oxen or horses. ner of roasting the flesh of one of them is this:-They first throw large slices of it into a dish with one hand, having a bowl full of metheglin, or some liquor of the like nature, ready in the other; and then they cast both of them into a large fire, made before the skin of the victim. This skin is extended upon a pole, which is laid crosswise, and rests between two trees. They implore this skin to present their humble petitions to their god, and to be a mediator for them; and sometimes they pay their addresses directly to it. The sun and moon, as being the authors of the products of the earth, are likewise the objects of their divine adoration. These Tartars always perform their religious ceremonies near some rivers or rapid streams. The man THEIR PRIESTS, THEIR NUPTIAL CEREMONIES AND FUNERAL SOLEMNITIES. The Lamas, who are regular priests of the greatest part of Tartary, have their heads as well as their beards shaved; nor are these the only characteristics or marks of their dignity; for they wear a kind of yellow LL hat, and a yellow gown, with long sleeves, which they tie with a girdle of the same colour. In their hands they carry a yellow chaplet, which they are perpetually turning over, because, according to their rules, they ought to pray without ceasing. According to the same laws, they ought to live in a state of celibacy, and devote themselves to the constant practice of all good works. There are nuns of this order of lamas, who are subject to the same laws, and obliged to observe the same vow. The priests of the Tunguses have a principal, or superior, whom they call Schamman, and devote themselves wholly to the study and practice of the black art, whereas the lamas know little or nothing of it. The schamman, in the exercise of his magical operations, observes the following method:-After he has gone through his preliminary penances, he puts on a kind of robe, or covering, composed of divers pieces of old iron, some in the form of birds, others in that of beasts and fishes; and all are hung together by rings of the same metal. He puts on stockings made of the same materials, and gloves likewise of the same sort, made in the fashion of a bear's paws. He puts iron horns likewise upon his head. Thus equipped, he takes a drum in one hand, and a little wand, embellished with the skins of mice, in the other; leaps and capers about, crossing his legs sometimes this way, and sometimes that; observing at the same time the tune, and accompanying it with most hideous outcries. In all these movements his eyes are steadfastly fixed on a hole at the top of his hut, and as soon as ever he discerns a black bird, which, as is pretended, perches on the roof, and vanishes in a moment, he falls upon the ground in a kind of trance, and continues for about a quarter of an hour entirely deprived, to outward appearance, of all sense and reason. When he comes to himself, he resolves the queries of those who consult him. The priests of the Samoides, who are likewise magicians, when any one consults them, put a rope round their necks, and tie it so tightly that they fall down as if they were dead. When they foretell any future event, the blood gushes out of some part of their faces, and stops again as soon as they have finished their prediction. It appears that there is no material difference between these people and the schammans and other priests of the Tartars. THEIR OATHS. When any one is to take a solemn oath amongst the Bouraits, they carry the party to a high mountain, and there make him swear, with an audible voice, assuring him at the time, that if he prove perjured he will never get down again alive. The Ostiacs display all their instruments of war before the party who takes the oath, to intimate that if he forswear himself, one of those particular weapons will infallibly in a few days be the instrument of his absolute destruction. The Tungueses clear themselves of any crime laid to their charge by the death of a dog; thrusting a knife into his left thigh, and cutting him open to the very mouth. After this they suck up every drop of his blood. The Ostiac takes his oath upon a bear's skin, spread upon the ground, on which are laid a hatchet, a knife, and a piece of bread, which is tendered to him. Before he eats it, he declares all he knows relating to the matter in question, and confirms the truth of his evidence by this solemn imprecation :-May the bear tear me to pieces, this piece of bread choke me, this knife be my death, and this hatchet sever my head from my body, if —, &c. In dubious cases, they present themselves before an idol, and pronounce the same oath, with this additional circumstance, that he who takes the oath cuts off a piece of the idol's nose with his knife, saying,-If I forswear myself, may this knife cut off my own nose in the same manner, &c. THEIR MARRIAGES. The Mongols and Calmucs give themselves very little trouble with respect to the degrees of consanguinity in their marriage engagements. They make no scruple of cohabiting even with their mothers. The issue of such incestuous matches are looked on as legitimate, and have a right of inheritance as well as any others; but in case they be the children of a chan, or some other person of distinction, he who is born in honourable wedlock obtains the preference. They take particular care to find out young wives; for after they are forty years of age, they look upon them only as governants of their families, or even simply as their domestics. The other Tartars are as regardless of the degrees of consanguinity as those we have already described. Some of the most conscientious, indeed, will never marry either their mothers-in-law or their sisters; but the Czeremissian Tartars make no scruple with regard to the latter. There is nothing very remarkable in the courtship and amorous adventures of these people. Amongst the Ostiacs, the lover sends one of his friends to his mistress's father, in order to agree about the price, and when the bargain is actually made, the intended father-in-law covenants to surrender and yield up his daughter at the expiration of a certain term therein limited; and during the whole courtship he must not, on any account whatsoever, presume to pay his mistress, a visit. If he pay his respects to her father or mother, he goes backward into their house; not presuming to look them in the face; and, as a farther testimony of his esteem and submission, turns his head on one side whenever he speaks to them. At the expiration of the term of his courtship, the father, according to his contract, surrenders his daughter to his son-in-law, and at the same time recommends them to a happy union, as the fundamental article of wedlock. What the Ostiacs mean by that expression is a nice point to determine. The Ostiac, as a trial of his wife's honour, cuts a handful of hair off a bear's skin, and presents it to her. If she be virtuous, she accepts of the offer without the least reluctance; but if she be conscious of her own inconstancy, she ingenuously refuses to touch it; whereupon her husband immediately puts her away; and that is all the ill consequence that attends her illegal amours. Besides, she has the liberty to marry whom she pleases after such separation. This ingenuous confession of their wives is owing to their dread of being torn to pieces by the paws of the very bear, the hairs of whose hide are made use of as an expedient to prove their chastity or falsehood. This bear, according to their notion, revives at the expiration of three years, in order to devour the bride who is perjured and inconstant. FUNERAL CEREMONIES. The mourning of children for their parents, amongst the Tartars, consists generally in weeping over them for several days successively; and during all that time they are obliged to abstain from all manner of amusements, and from the society of women for several months. The child must inter his father or mother with all the funeral pomp and solemnity of which his circumstances will admit, and pay his annual respects to their respective tombs, which must be attended not only with tears but loud lamentations. These people, as well as the Indians, Chinese, &c., make provision for their dead, and supply them with variety of apparel. The Tunguses hang their dead upon some particular trees, and there leave them till they have nothing but skin and bone remaining; then they inter them. The Jukogaies, likewise, hang up their deceased relations in the very same manner, and when their skeletons are perfectly dry, adorn them with coral and little pieces of painted glass. Afterwards they carry them in solemn procession round their houses, and revere them as idols. The Ostiacs either bury their dead, or hide both them and their bows, arrows, implements of household, and provisions, in the snow, from the very same principle which actuates others, who are habituated to these customs. A widow, to testify her unfeigned sorrow for the loss of her dearly beloved husband, takes an idol, dresses it up in the good man's clothes, lays it in the bed with her, and affects to have it always before her eyes, in order to aggravate her grief, and bring her departed husband to her remembrance. The widows of the Ostiacs kiss the idols of their deceased husbands, and honour them as partners of their beds during a whole year, and then they are looked upon as incumbrances, and thrown neglected into some corner of the house; no more mention is then made of their old bedfellows, for the time of their mourning is then accomplished. The Samoides hang their deceased infants, who have not attained the age of one year, upon trees; but they inter between two boards those who are of a more advanced age. They drown or otherwise make away with those relations who are superannuated, infirm, and who have become a burden to themselves and all about them. Near the place where they bury their dead, they hang up their fire-arms, their hatchets, their hammers, and, in short, all the other implements which they made use of during their lives. All these people in general acknowledge the doctrine of the metempsychosis, but in two different acceptations. Some are of opinion, that the very souls transmigrate from one body into another; others, that there is no other transmigration than that of the operations and faculties belonging to the soul of the deceased. These last, in all probability, imagine, that there is only an emanation of virtues, because they confound the body and the soul together. SEC. XI. RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES, CEREMONIES, AND CUSTOMS OF THE HINDOOS. THE most singular people on the globe, in respect to religion, are doubtless the Hindoos, or the inhabitants of Hindostan, a country in General view Asia, bounded S. E. by the Coromandel coast and Bay of of the religion Bengal, and extending north to the boundary of Cashmere, of the Hin- beginning in Lat 8o, and running to 35o, N., near 2000 miles in length. doos. Antiquities. Of the great antiquity of this people, and of the permanency of their religion and customs, there appear no reasonable grounds to doubt. In almost every respect, these are the same now as they were in the most ancient periods of the history of India, of which we possess the most faint knowledge. It is supposed, however, by many authors, that the religion of Boodha*, which still remains in the Burman empire, Ceylon, &c., was, in very remote times, the prevalent religion of Hindostan. At present, it is the Brahminical. Brahma, or Brama, the creating power; Vishnu, the preserver ; and Siva, the Gods. destroyer, are their three greatest deities. Since the creation of the world, however, Brahma interests himself little with mundane affairs. He is regarded as the father of legislators; since from his ten sons all science and laws proceeded, while he himself was the author of the Vedas, or sacred books. Of his sons, Menou is the most celebrated. From him the Hindoos derive the institutes which bear his name. Brahma is represented with four hands, and a crown on his head. The image of the flamingo, on the wings of which he is supposed to fly, is constantly placed near the statue in the temple. His wife, whose name is Seraswatee, is regarded as the patroness of learning. Vishnu, whose province it is to preserve and protect mankind, is represented as constantly attended by an eagle, or large brown kite, and as having four hands and a number of heads, emblematical of his omniscience and omnipotence, He is said to have passed through different bodily existences, in all of which he destroyed the enemies of the human race. His wife, or female favourite, is Sree, the goddess of fortune and plenty. Siva is worshipped not only as a destroyer, but also as a re-producer. His principal characters are Budra, Iswara, and Mahadeo. As the first, he is cruel ; as the second, he is worshipped as the lord of all; and under the third name, he is known in the mountainous parts of India. He is a great favourite with the common people. He is generally represented with only one head; the number of his hands varies from four to thirty-two. Round his neck there are strung a number of human skulls. His hat is the skin of the tiger or elephant. His wife, Parvaty, is the goddess of time and the punisher of evil-doers. Besides these great deities, there is a number of inferior ones, the principal of whom are those who preside over death and hell; the gods of fire, of medicine, of the wind, and of the atmosphere. Ganesa, whom Sir William Jones justly compares to Janus, is invoked the first, by the Brahmins, in all sacrifices. His name, and that of Seraswatee, appear at the beginning of all writings; and his statue is *This word is spelt differently by different authors. |