Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-10-22
NOTIONS OF SAVAGES.
SOME STRANGE BELIEFS OF THE SIM
PIE CHILDREN OF EARTH.

fIE CF1tlD1EN OF EHf1 n.
Darwinism Anticipated by Tribes of AZ
rica-Curious Ideas Concerning White |
People-what Savages Thought of the
Clothing of Observation-Disclosures.
Savage beliefs regarding cosmogony, geog-
raphy and the kindred sciences are so numer-
GUS that a volume would not contain them,
and may be passed by, although some of them
are exceedingly strange and interesting, OF
greater interest to most readers are their no.
tions about mankind, dress, domestic animals,
furniture, etc, few of which will illustrate
the character of the larger number that might
be given.
The first time natives of the province of
Victoria in Australia, saw an OK grazing, the
whole tribe turned out to watch him, and the
most daring warriors begged him TO give
them the huge horns he wore. Many savages
call the game by name in hunting, just as a
berdsmau calls his cows Tupinamba women
in Brazil go to the ant hills and call the ants
out, promising them nuts, while those Of New
South Wales beg the fish to be caught. In the
| cabins of Canada Indians there was an indi-
vidual especially charged with this duty
| Bolivian Yuracaries would not feed corn
to their fowls, saying that as they could not
raise it they ought not to have it Many
tribes of Africa, Paraguay and Central
America anticipated Darwinism in their be-
lief that monkeys were formerly men who
have lost the art of speech because they are
not made to labor.
II is difficult for us to understand the be-
lief held by many savages that they are the
sole inhabitants of the earth. Conanches,
| Caribs, New Guinea tribes and Marquesans
had no idea that there were any other people
on earth besides their own, and similar ideas
were entertained by Rocky Mountain tribes,
| Orinoco Indians, Australian aborigines Ma
rianne Islanders and natives of Tasmania.
| Forty years since natives of the Marquesas
Islands professed a like ignorance of any in
habitants upon the earth outside their own
island.
Many of the natives of the West India and
South Sea Islands and Indian tribes of North
and South America thought that the first
white people they saw came from heaven.
ESquimaux believed that the first ship arriv-
ing on their coast came from the sun or the
moon, from which latter planet came the
crew. A Senegal tribe, as well as the Cards,
maintained that the white people came from
the sea, and that ships were their only hab-
itatlons
Some negroes on the eastern frontier of
Congo were greatly as.onished at finding all
the white persons wearing clothing, not I'M
agining how they could procure so great a
quantity. So pleased were the simple ma
tives of a country to the south of Sahara
: with buttons that Park was kept some time
buttouinS and uubuttouing his coat, to show
the use OF these attachments The king of
Bondo and his officers greatly admired an
umbrella, and were some time in learning
, how to use a machine so marvellous and New
Zealanders were equally impressed with one,
delighting to open and close it. The inhab-
itants of an island in the east believed that
the man, his clothes and his shoes were of
one piece, and were only convinced of the
contrary by close examination. A Senegal
tribe was convinced that this must be the
case with the missionaries.
Some women on the borders of the Great
Sahara thought the Able Poiret had green
skin because he wore gloves of that hue, and
others in nomadic tribe OF Morocco wert
very much frightened at seeing Drummond
Hay pull off his gloves Tasmanians wert
u
same. African Laus thought the boots wert
a part of the natural body, and wondered
much that they should be dark while the face.
were white Another African tribe thought
that 4 missionary was detaching his fee
when removing the shoes, and that his blacl
stockings were detachable part of a doubl,
SKIN with which he was provided The Uaza
ramos of Africa thought that another, wht
= wore glasses, had four eyes, one pair of which
were detachable. Some New Zealander
were persuaded that wig was hut the ski
of the head, and that its removal was accom-
plished 10y magic. Hawaiians thought Cook
officers were horned because they wore three
4 cornered chapeaux, and believed that thei
pockets were entrances to great natural res
ervoirs of treasures within their bodies
Guinea negroes, Tahitians and tribes o
the New Britain archipelago, believed tha
cloth, arms, hatchetS, mirrors and other ot
{, lects of the kind were fruits Of the earth, an
0 Tahtians sowed nails TO raise crop, whil
Caribs planted gunpowder in the ground
with a similar expectation.
Several Australian tribes as well as native
of New South Wales and Mexicans. though
the horse and rider inseparable, and were e1
= ceedingly astonished to see the human par
of the Centaur descend from his percl
South Sea islanders thought the first hors
10 brought on shore was pig, TO which latte
animal they were accustomed.
kamscEatkans thought all animals under
stood their language, and addressed to theI
most fiattering words. Yacuts OF Siberia ca
the bear lord, illustrious old man, good fathel
and beg OF him humbly the permission to col
q time their journey. TIE tiger is named lor
!" or grandfather by Cambodia tribes, and tt
Annamite call him Sir Tiger, and addre:
prayers to him. Philippine islanders beg tt
crocodilcs not to do them any harm, whi
inhabitants Of one Of the FIJI islands thin
the shark will not attack them if they ca
out, Il am from Coloumba" (tneir village).
Negroes usually think wine is blood, G
n first seeing it. Some tsquimaux though
1 biscuit dried seals flesh When Canada
Indians saw white men, for the first tim
eat bread and drink wine they thought thel
wood and blood. One African tribe is col
WINGED that rivers of rum flow on the Eur
pean soil Missionaries enumerated rum ,
one Of the blessings OF paradise to the veze
a Madagascar tribe-F & Bassett.