of twenty days, used to observe a solemn day of devotion, mixed with rejoicings. They then sacrificed some captives, and ran up and down the streets clothed in the skins of those miserable victims that had been just flayed. They danced, they sang, they collected alms for the priests, the giving of which among them, as in other places, was looked upon as an effect of real piety. The great festival of Vitzliputzli was celebrated in the month of May, two days before which, the nuns used to make a figure of maize and honey, representing that god. Then, having dressed it in as magnificent a manner as possible, they seated it on an azure throne, which was supported by a kind of shaft. The nuns, who on that festival used to call themselves the sisters of Vitzliputzli, carried it in procession on their shoulders, to the area before the temple, where the young monks before cited received the idol, and, after having paid homage to it, carried it also on their shoulders to the steps of the sanctuary.

The festival of Tescalipuca was celebrated the nineteenth of the same month, when the priests granted the people a remission of their sins. At the same time they sacrifice a captive, which we may almost consider as an imperfect image of the death which our blessed Saviour suffered for the redemption of mankind.

The Mexicans used to celebrate a jubilee every four years, which was nothing more than the feast of penance, such as we have already described, except that it was more solemn, there being at that time a more general and plenary remission of sins. We are assured that the Mexicans sacrificed many human victims at this season. And the youth used to make a kind of challenge, who should first, and in one breath, get to the top of the temple. This enterprise was a very difficult one, since it gained applause to all those who had the glory of coming first to the goal, not to mention that they were distinguished from the rest of their countrymen, and, moreover, had the privilege of carrying off the sacred viands, of which they made the same use as Catholics do of relics.

Forty days before the feast of Quitzalcoalt, the merchants purchased a slave of a very fine shape, who, during that time, represented the deity to whom he was to be sacrificed as a victim on the day of the festival; but they first washed him in the lake of the gods, which was the name they gave to the water which fitted him for the fatal apotheosis which ended with his death.

Marriage was solemnised by the authority of the priests, and a public instrument was drawn up, in which were mentioned the particulars of the wife's fortune, which the husband was obliged to return in case of separation. After their having agreed upon the articles, the couple went to the temple, where one of the sacrificing priests examined their resolutions by certain precise questions appointed for that purpose. He afterwards took up the husband's mantle and the woman's veil, and with one of his hands tied them together at one corner, to signify the inward tie of the wills. They then returned to their house, bound in this manner, accompanied by the sacrificing priest. Then they went and visited the hearth or fire, which they looked upon as the mediator of all disputes between man and wife. They used to go seven times round it, successively, the sacrificing priest walking before; after which ceremony they both sat down, in order to be equally warmed by the heat of the fire, which gave the perfection to marriage.

Burials and all funeral rites were regulated by their priests. They ge nerally buried their dead in their gardens or houses, and commonly chose the court-yard for that purpose; they sometimes buried them in those places where they sacrificed to the idols. In fine, they frequently burned them, after which they buried their ashes in the temples, together with their moveables, their utensils, and all they thought might be useful to them in the next world. They used to sing at funerals, and even made feasts on those occasions, which custom, how ridiculous soever it may be, some Christian nations have not been able to persuade themselves to lay aside. Above all, they buried their great lords in a very magnificent manner, and used to carry their bodies with great pomp and a numerous train into the temples. The priests walked first with their pans of copal, singing funeral hymns with a melancholy tone, accompanied with the hoarse and mournful sound of flutes. They lifted the body several times on high, while they were sacrificing those who were appointed to serve the illustrious dead. The domestics were put to death to keep their masters company. It was a testimony of great affection, but very common among the lawful wives, to solemnise, by their deaths, the funerals of their husbands. They buried a great quantity of gold and silver with the deceased for the expense of his journey, which they imagined was long and troublesome. The common people imitated the grandees in proportion to their substance. The friends of the deceased came and made presents to him, and talked to him as if he were still living; the same ceremonies were practised whether they burned or buried the dead. We must not omit to state that they carried with them the achievements and trophies of the deceased, in case he were a man of quality, and that the priest who read the funeral service was dressed so as to set forth the glory of the idol whom the nobleman represented. The funeral lasted ten days.

The city of Mexico is said to have contained nearly 2000 small temples, and 360 which were adorned with steeples. The whole empire of Mexico contained about 40,000 temples, endowed with very considerable revenues, For the service in the grand temple of Mexico itself, above 5000 priests were appointed; and the number in the whole empire is said to have amounted to nearly a million. The whole priesthood, excepting that of the conquered nations, was governed by two high-priests, who were also the oracles of the kings. Beside the service in the temple, their clergy were to instruct the youth, to compose the calendars, and to paint the mythological pictures. The Mexicans had also priestesses, but they were not allowed to offer up sacrifices. They likewise had monastic orders, especially one, into which no person was admitted under sixty years of age. The Peruvians, previously to being governed by their Incas, worshipped a great number of gods, or rather genii. There was no nation, family, city, street, or even house, but had its peculiar gods; and for this particular reason, that they thought none but the god to whom they immediately devoted themselves was able to assist them in time of need. They worshipped herbs, plants, flowers, trees, mountains, caves, tigers, lions, adders; in fine, everything that appeared wonderful in their eyes was thought worthy of adoration.

These ancient idolaters of Peru offered not only the fruits of the earth and animals to these gods, but also their captives, like the rest of the

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 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.

Campeche

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 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,

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 Whidah. 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 mén 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.

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 says 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,