Americans. It was their custom to sacrifice their own children, whenever there was a scarcity of victims.

Some other idolaters offered their own blood to their deities, which they drew from their arms and thighs, according as the sacrifice was more or less solemn; and they even used on extraordinary occasions to bleed themselves at the tips of their nostrils, or between the eyebrows.

Such was the state of idolatry all over Peru, when the Inca Mancocapac, the law-giver of that vast empire, taught the savages the worship of the Sun. From this time, sacrifices of various kinds of animals were offered in honour of the sun, and also cocoa, corn, rich clothes, and a liquor made of water and maize. They always presented the last offering to the sun, in the following manner: when they were very thirsty, they first satisfied their hunger, and afterwards dipped the tip of their finger in the vessel into which the liquor was poured: this being done, they lifted up their eyes to heaven in a very submissive manner; shook that finger on which the drop hung, and offered it to the sun as an acknowledgment for his goodness in providing drink for them. At the same time they gave two or three kisses to the air. This oblation being made, they all drank as they thought proper.

Every time they entered their temples, the chief man in the company laid his hand on one of his eyebrows, and whether he tore off any of the hairs or not, he blew it into the air before the idol, as a mark of its being an oblation. They paid the same adoration to trees, and to all those things which a divine virtue had made sacred and religious.

The savages or Indians of the Caribbee Islands, if they may be so called, have no words, it is said, to express a supreme Being; but acknowledge a good and an evil principle, both of which they call Maboia. They Caribees. believe in a multitude of good spirits, one of whom each savage appropriates to himself, under the title of Chemen. To these Chemens they offer the first of their fruits, and sometimes out of gratitude make a feast to their honour. They make better images resembling the form under which Maboia reveals himself to them, in order to prevent his doing them any harm. They wear these images about their necks, and pretend that they give them ease. They also fast and cut themselves for his sake.

There was formerly at Campeche a square theatre, or scaffold, built of earth and stone, about four cubits high. Upon the theatre was fixed the marble statue of a man, whom two animals of an extraordinary

Campeche

and Tobasco. shape seemed ready to tear in pieces. Near this figure a serpent was also represented, forty-seven feet in length, and of a proportionable thickness, which swallowed up a lion. These two last figures were made of marble like the rest, and enclosed in some measure by palisadoes. On the pavement were bows and arrows, bones and skulls. This is all we are told by Purchas concerning these figures, which possibly might have some mysterious signification couched under

them.

In the sacrifices made to their idols, by the natives of Tobasco, they used to rip up the victim's breast and tear out his heart; they afterwards set, or rather enclosed the bloody body of the victim in a hollow made in

a particular part of the lion's neck. The blood of the victim fell into a stone reservoir, on the side of which was placed a stone statue representing a man, who seemed to look stedfastly at the blood of the sacrificed victim. As to the heart, the sacrificing priest, after having torn it out, smeared the idol's face with it, and then threw it into the fire, which was lighted for that purpose.

SEC. XIV.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF AFRICAN

TRIBES.

THE natives of Africa universally believe in a Supreme Being, and have some ideas of a future state. They address this being by a fetishe or fetish, which is a sort of charm or manner of conducting their worship. The term is often applied to whatever represents their divinities.

The Negroes of Congo believe in a good and an evil principle, which are both supposed to reside in the sky. The former sends rain, the latter withholds it; but they do not seem to consider either of them as Congo. possessing any influence over human affairs. After death they all take their place in the sky, and enjoy a happy existence, without any regard being paid to their good or bad actions while here below.

Each town has a grand kissey, or presiding divinity. It is the figure of a man, the body stuck with feathers, rags, and bits of iron, and resembles nothing so much as one of our scarecrows. The chenoo of Cooloo had a kissey so redoubtable that if any person attempted to shoot at it, he would fall down dead, and the flint would drop out of the musket. This powerful divinity was the figure of a man, about two feet high, rudely carved in wood, and covered with rags.

Kolloh is the name of a great spirit who is supposed to reside in the vicinity of Yangroo, in Western Africa. He makes his abode in the woods, and is rarely seen except on mournful occasions, such as the death of the king or of some of their head men, or when a person has been buried without the usual ceremonies of dancing, drinking palmwine, &c., in remembrance of their departed friends.

The Kolloh is made of bamboo sticks in the form of an oval basket, about three feet long, and so deep that it goes on to the man's shoulders. It is covered with a piece of net, and stuck all around with porcupine quills on the nose. It has a frightful appearance, and has a great effect in exciting the terror of the inhabitants.

A certain man pretends to have some very intimate intercourse with this Beelzebub, and therefore he is called by the spirit to take the Kolloh on his head, and to go about with it on certain occasions to see that the various ceremonies of the country are strictly observed, and if any are absent he seeks them out and drives them to the place of assembly.—He is a faithful servant of the Devil.

The Kolloh-man carries a stick in his hand to show his authority; and to give notice of his coming he rings a bell which is fixed inside of the Kolloh or basket. These Kolloh-men are a set of plunderers who disturb the peace and greatly deceive the ignorant natives.

The fetishes of Whidah may be divided into three classes; the serpent,

Whidah.

tall trees, and the sea. The serpent is the most celebrated, the others being subordinate to the power of this deity. This snake has a large, round head, beautiful, piercing eyes, a short, pointed tongue, resembling a dart: its pace slow and solemn, except when it seizes on its prey, then very rapid; its tail sharp and short, its skin of an elegant smoothness, adorned with beautiful colours, upon a light gray ground: it is amazingly familiar and tame. Rich offerings are made to this deity; priests and priestesses appointed for its service; it is invoked in extremely wet, dry, or barren seasons; and, in a word, on all the great difficulties and occurrences of life.

The people of Benin believe in an invisible deity, who created heaven and earth, and governs them with absolute power; but they conceive it needless to worship him, because he is always doing good withBenin. out their services. They also believe in a malignant deity, to' whom they sacrifice men and animals, to satiate his thirst of blood, and prevent him from doing them mischief. But they have innumerable objects of worship; as elephants' teeth, claws, bones, dead men's heads, or any trifle that chance throws in their way, to which they make a daily offering of a few boiled yams, mixed with palm oil. On great occasions they sacrifice a cock, treating the divinity with the blood only, and reserving the flesh for themselves. Persons of high rank give an annual feast to their gods, at which multitudes of cattle are offered to the idols and eaten by the people. Each offers his own sacrifices, without giving the priests any sort of trouble.

Guinea.

says

Picart has given a particular account of a ceremony of some tribes in Guinea, around a sacred tree, called the tree of the Fetish. At the foot thereof he, they set a table, which is embellished below with boughs wreathed in the form of crowns. The table is covered with palm wine, rice, millet, &c. in order to drink and eat after their service is over, in honour of their Fetishes. The whole day is spent in dancing and capering round the tree of the Fetish, and in singing and drumming upon divers instruments of brass. Their priest frequently sits near the centre of the place before a kind of altar, on which he offers up some sacrifices to the Fetishes. Men, women, and children, sit promiscuously round the celebrant, who reads or pronounces a kind of homily to them. At the conclusion, he takes a wisp of straw, twisted hard, which he dips into a pot full of some particular liquor, in which there is a serpent. He either besmears, or sprinkles the children with this holy water, mumbling over them a certain form of words. He observes the same ceremony with respect to the altar, and afterwards empties the pot; and then his assistants close the service with some inarticulate, unintelligible sounds, loud acclamations, and clapping of hands. On this solemn day, they wash their faces and bodies with more care and pains than on any other, for they practise ablutions. They wash themselves every morning, and afterwards draw white lines upon their faces, with a piece of earth, like chalk or lime, as acts of devotion, performed in honour of the Fetish.

The priest, attended by two women, frequently repairs to the tree of the Fetish, in order to accomplish his magical incantations; at the foot of which appears a black dog, which answers all his interrogatories.

The religion of the Dahomans, like that of the neighbouring kingdoms,

consists of such a mass of superstition, as can hardly be described. The objects of their devotion are the sun and moon, various aniDahomans. mals and trees, and other substances. The Portuguese word fetico, or, as the English pronounce it, fetish, signifying witchcraft, has been adopted by most of the maritime natives of Africa, as well as by the Europeans who trade thither. Of their amulets, or charms, the principal is a scrap of parchment, containing a sentence of the Koran, which the natives purchase from the Moors who visit the country, and which they hang up in their apartments, and decorate with a variety of rude images. Among the objects of their idolatrous worship is a species of snake or serpent, called Daboa; they put it in a basket, and place it in the temple destined for it, where they secretly feed it with rats, but pretend that it lives upon air. The temple is served by priestesses, supported at the king's expense. Every year there is a festival in honour of this serpent, at which the grandees assist, and for which the king supplies the necessary articles. It lasts usually seven days, during which time the people abandon themselves to drinking, music, and dancing. Great faith is placed in the serpent. Those who labour under bodily pains, apply the animal to the part affected, and pregnant women offer prayers to it for a favourable delivery. The tiger is also held in veneration, and there is a temple dedicated to the devil, or bad demon. Notwithstanding these superstitions, the people have a confused idea of a Supreme Being, all powerful and infinite, whom they endeavour to propitiate by their fetish ; but pay him no other worship, as they are convinced that he is too good to do them any evil.

The Ashantees are, perhaps, the most polished nation of negroes to be met with in Western Africa. They are, however, gross idolaters, and most lavish of human blood in sacrifices at their funerals and festi

Ashantees. vals. They say that, at the beginning of the world, God created three black men, and three white, with the same number of women, and placed before them a large box, or calabash, and a sealed paper. The black men had the privilege of choosing, and they took the box expecting it contained every thing; but when they opened it, they found only gold, iron, and other metals, of which they did not know the use. The white men opened the paper, which told them everything. This happened in Africa, where God left the black men in the bush. The white men he conducted to the water side, where he taught them to build a ship, which carried them to another country. From hence they returned, after a long period, with various merchandise, to trade with the black men, who might have been superior people if they had chosen right. The kings and governors are believed to dwell with God after death, enjoying to eternity the luxuries and state they possessed on earth: the paradise of the poor affords only a cessation from labour. There are two orders of men attached to the inferior deities called fetishes. Every family has its domestic fetish, to which they offer yams, &c.: some of them are wooden figures; others are of fanciful forms, and different materials. When the Ashantees drink they spill a little of the liquor on the ground as an offering to the fetish; and when they rise from their chairs or stools, their attendants hastily lay the seat on its side, to prevent the devil, or evil spirits, from slipping into their master's place. This evil spirit is supposed

to be white; doubtless from the same motive or feeling which induces Europeans to say that he is black: for, indeed, who would wish to resemble the devil, either in colour or shape, however some of us inay not object to a resemblance to him in character?

SEC. XV.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE

MALAGASY.

THE latest, and no doubt the most correct, account of the superstitious rites and ceremonies of the people of Madagascar is to be found in Ellis's History of Madagascar. From that work, the greater part of the information about to be given has been obtained.

It has long been thought, that the Malagasy were a people favourably prepared by circumstances to receive Christianity, for they have usually been represented as being free from popular idols and religious observances, to any extent that would render them averse to the influences of a better religion than their own. This impression, however, only arose from a want of that knowledge which has latterly been painfully obtained.

The same feelings and passions which move in the breasts of other people, are at work in the hearts of the Malagasy, and they, moved by the same hopes and fears, and joys and sorrows, that characterise humanity, have, in their destitution of the light of revelation, sought a refuge to arm them against evil, and to inspire them with hope, in a belief of charms. They cannot regard creation around them without being convinced of an unseen and powerful agency, and being unable to account for effects visible to their eyes, and possessing no impression of a superintending Providence, they consider that charms alone could have effected what is above their apprehension.

But while the Malagasy believe in ody (charms), they have a conviction of the infallibility of the sikidy, or divination; by which the charm must be decided, and to this must also be added, an undefined belief in some superior, though unknown, power, whose will the diviner's art is about to make known. The art of the diviner is considered as certain in its result, though the premises from which that result issues are avowedly laid in chances. The Mahometan is not more wedded to the doctrine of fate than the Malagasy to their "vintana"-a stern and unbending destiny.

Though Madagascar has no visible objects of worship calculated to claim veneration, and charm the senses to any great degree, and recognises no order of priests, yet it is not without its idols, its ceremonies, its sacrifices, and its divinations. It has, too, its altars, its vows, and its forbidden things, (forbidden because hateful to the supposed genius of the place,) as well as its mythology, oaths, and forms of benediction. No people surpass the Malagasy in credulity; ghosts, witches, apparitions, legendary wonders, and feats of ferocious giants and monsters, have their full influence over their minds. The people appeal to a superior but unknown power to protect them from sorcery, and to purge the land from the evils of witchcraft, the innocent blood is shed of numberless human victims, who are persecuted, poisoned, speared, strangled, or hurled over a fatal precipice. Being without divine truth, the Malagasy cling tenaciously to the superstitions of their forefathers.