. The history of mankind . the sky, from the barking of dogs, the crowingof cocks, etc., or from their own oracular implements. Before a war, the Maoripriest prophesies by putting up carved sticks on a sand-heap, according to thenumber of the friendly and hostile tribes, and throwing at them with a bunch ofstrings tied together ; the forecast is propitious if the sticks fall up hill. Beforeany undertaking, the Maori used to deliver magic sentences. Every chant hasits rhythm, and is divided into verses, so that it may be propagated more easilyfrom one generation to another. Other songs have an
. The history of mankind . the sky, from the barking of dogs, the crowingof cocks, etc., or from their own oracular implements. Before a war, the Maoripriest prophesies by putting up carved sticks on a sand-heap, according to thenumber of the friendly and hostile tribes, and throwing at them with a bunch ofstrings tied together ; the forecast is propitious if the sticks fall up hill. Beforeany undertaking, the Maori used to deliver magic sentences. Every chant hasits rhythm, and is divided into verses, so that it may be propagated more easilyfrom one generation to another. Other songs have an expiatory effect. Themata, or vision, is a mirror of the future. Nightly visions are interpreted as thesouls journeys into the spirit land ; and for this reason dreams serve to prescribetribal decrees. In Hawaii, the priest, when prophesying, made the symbols ofthunder and lightning with his stone axe, by way of calling upon the god of thesky for aid. The consecration of the priest took place with great ceremonies. In New. 3^4 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND %i*{ •,** Zealand, where there was a kind of school of thepriests, the candidates stood under a covering ofboughs with one foot in the water, the other onland. The secret science of the priests was im-parted to their disciples by the head of the records ;this law demanded extraordinary attention. Asingle wrong word in conjurations might spoileverything, and even be fatal to the priest. Com-mune and tribe were no prouder of their god thanof his tried and tested priest. Where things are on a small scale, the priest isdoctor as well ; but where men are assembled inlarger numbers, as in Hawaii, Tonga, or NewZealand, there is a class of priests specially occu-pied with medical practice. One of their chiefduties is to get some information from the deityabout the patients illness ; to this end the priest,sitting near the sick man after conjurations, ad-dresses inquiries to the deity, and receives hisanswer in a shrieking voice. Sicknesse
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectethnology, bookyear18
