ments; and, as soon as he expires, quit the place with the utmost precipitation, apprehending some injury from his ghost, which they believe, remains in the corpse, and delights in doing mischief to the living.

A Laplander's funeral is thus described by an eye witness. "Coming to the house of the deceased, we saw the corpse taken from the bear-skins on which it lay, and removed into a wooden coffin by six of his most intimate friends, after being first wrapped in linen, the face and hands alone being bare.

"In one hand they put a purse with some money, to pay the fee of the porter at the gate of paradise; in the other a certificate, signed by the priest, directed for St. Peter, to witness that the defunct was a good christian, and deserved admission into heaven. At the head of the coffin was placed a picture of St. Nicholas, a saint greatly reverenced in all parts of Russia, on account of his supposed friendship for the dead. They also put into the coffin some brandy, dried fish, and venison, that he might not starve on the road.

"This being done, they lighten some fir-tree roots, piled up at a convenient distance from the coffin, and then wept, howled, and exhibited a variety of strange gestures and contortions, expressive of the violence of their grief. When they were fatigued with noise and gesticulations, they made several processions round the corpse, asking the deceased why he died? whether he was angry with his wife? whether he was in want of food or raiment? if he had been unsuccessful in hunting and fishing? After these interrogatories, they renewed their howling. One of the priests frequently sprinkled holy water on the corpse, as well as the mourners."

The sepulchre is no other than an old sledge, which is turned bottom upwards over the spot where the body lies buried. Before their conversion to christianity, they used to place an axe, with a tinder-box, by the side of the corpse, if it was that of a man; and if a woman's, her scissors and needles, supposing that these implements might be of use to them in the other world. With the axe the deceased is supposed to hew down the bushes or boughs that may obstruct his passage to the other world: the tinder-box is for the purpose of striking a light, should he find himself in the dark at the day of judgment. For the first three years after the decease of a friend or relation, they were accustomed, from time to time, to dig holes by the side of the grave, and to deposit in them either a small quantity of tobacco, or something that the deceased was fondest of when living. They suppo

sed that the felicity of a future state would consist in smoking, drinking brandy, &c. and that the reindeer, and other animals, would be equal partakers of their joys.

SECTION VII.

OF THE

IDOLATROUS AFRICAN TRIBES.

The Idolatry of all uncivilized nations or tribes is so much the same, that little need be said under this head.

The Shangala, near Abyssinia, worship trees and serpents, and the moon and stars in certain positions. They have diviners who foretel unlucky events, and pretend to afflict their enemies with sickness at a distance.

and even certain All of them believe

It has been said that the Galla have no religion; but the Wansey tree under which their kings are crowned, is avowedly worshipped as a god in every tribe. The moon, particularly the new moon, some of the stars, stones, are also objects of their devotion. that after death they shall live again, in the same body and with the same friends as in the present life; but they are to be infinitely more perfect, to suffer neither sorrow, pain, nor trouble, and to die no more.

The Kaussa Caffres of Southern Africa, believe there is an invisible being that sometimes brings good and sometimes evil; that causes men to die suddenly, or before they come to maturity; that raises the wind and makes the thunder and lightning; that leads the sun across the world in a day, and the moon in a night; and that made every thing they cannot understand or imitate. This, though expressed in other words, is not far distant from our Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, sea, and all that in them is."

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Male children are circumcised, but the Thoussas give no other reason for this practice than, that "it was the custom of our fathers."

The Hottentots believe that God made all things, and never did harm to any, and that he lived far above the moon. They also believe that there is an evil being, the author of allmischief, and they wheedle and coax him that he may do them no injury. They have a great veneration for a particular insect, which they imagine brought a blessing on the village it N

first appeared in; and they believe that the destruction of their cattle would ensue if they were to kill it.

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 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.

scarecrows.

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 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 headmen, or when a person has been buried without having observed the usual ceremonies of dancing, drinking palm wine, &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.

Each house has also its particular divinities, which are invoked on all occasions, and are included in the term fetish. When a man applies to a gangam, or priest, for a domestic fe

tish, he is told from what sorts of food he must abstain. Children are forbidden to eat the food that is fetished to their fahers. Women are not to eat meat the day that it is killed. Once a year the different tribes of the Agows meet at the source of the Nile, and sacrifice a black heifer that has never borne a calf. The head of the animal is wrapped in its skin, and what becomes of it is not known. The carcass, after having been washed at the fountain is divided among the tribes and eaten raw; the only beverage allowed is from the spring; the bones are piled up and burnt. The church of St. Michael Gean is never opened and the people are privately hastening its decay, while they pray to the spirit residing in the river, and call it "Father of the universe," 'Light of the world," "Saviour of the world," "Everlasting God," and "God of peace."

The richer sort of the Agows keep serpents of a particular kind in their houses, which they consult, before they undertake a journey, or an affair of any consequence. They hunt this animal from his retreat, and place butter and milk, of which he is extravagantly fond, before him; if he do not eat, misfortune is at hand. Before an invasion of the Galla, or the inroad of any other enemy, they say that these serpents disappear, and are not to be feared.

The Nubu pay adoration to the moon, and testify great joy at its first appearance. They also worship a tree and a stone, but it is a tree and a stone of their own country, not of Sonnaar.

The inhabitants of Cacongo believe in a Supreme Being, the Creator of all that is good and beautiful, just, and a lover of justice, and severely punishing fraud and perjury. They call him Zambi. They also believe in another being whom they call Zumbi a-n'bi, the god of wickedness, the author of crimes and misfortunes, and the destroyer of the good things created by the other. They think the good being requires no propitiation, and they endeavour to appease the wrath of the evil by offering him some banana trees, which they leave to perish, with the fruit untouched.

These secondary divinities are imitations of the human figure, rudely carved in wood, and placed in houses like their own, or in woods or unfrequented places. If any thing considerable be stolen, one of these is brought into the marketplace, with much ceremony, to discover the thief; and so much are thieves afraid of the penetration of these wooden deities, that they frequently restore in private the thing taken, rather than to expose themselves to the risk of being detected in public.

The third rank of divinities are bones of monkies, teeth of fishes, and feathers of birds, which are worn to preserve their owners from particular accidents and misfortunes. To keep sterility from their fields, they stick into the ground broken pots, and the branches of trees. If they are to be long absent from home, they place the sentinels before the door of their house, and the most determined thief would not dare to pass the threshold, if it were guarded by these mysterious agents.

The people of Benin believe an invisible deity, who created heaven and earth, anu - erns them with absolute power; but they conceive it needless to worship him, because he is always doing good without 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 tew boiled yams, mixed with palm oil.

The people of Whydah believe in an Almighty and Omnipresent Creator of the universe; but he is not an object of their worship, as they think him too highly exalted above them to trouble himself about the affairs of mankind.

When they undertake any matter of importance, they commit its success to the first object that appears on their going out of the house; a dog, a cat, or any other animal; and in default of these, a tree, a stone, or a piece of wood. The newly constituted deity is presented with an offering, accompanied with a solemn vow, that if he will prosper the undertaking, he shall be reverenced as a god. If the affair prove successful, the vow is fulfilled, and the divinity is presented with daily offerings; if otherwise, he is rejected and returned to his primitive estate.

The people of Whydah have three public objects of devotion ; some lofty trees, the sea, and a certain sort of snake. The chief of these is the snake; the trees and the sea not interfering with his government, but being subject to his superintendance and reproof. The snake is invoked in all excesses of the seasons, in all difficulties of the state, in all diseases of the cattle, in all circumstances not committed to the above mentioned deities of chance.

The priests of the snake have sometimes exacted so many offerings from the king, in order to attain a good crop of grain, that his majesty's patience has been exhausted. Finding