Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I.

of Girls at P

see the sun; seclusion of girls at puberty among the A-

idance is assigned by the A-Kamba of British East Africa, whose girls under similar circumstances observe the same rule. "A girl's first menstruation is a very critical period of her life according to A-Kamba beliefs. If this condition appears when she is away from the village, say at work in the fields, she returns at once to her village, but is careful to walk through the grass and not on a path, for if she followed a path and a stranger accidentally trod on a spot of blood and then cohabited with a member of the opposite sex before the girl was better again, it is believed that she would never bear a child." She remains at home till the symptoms have ceased, and during this time she may be fed by none but her mother. When the flux is over, her father and mother are bound to cohabit with each other, else it is believed that the girl would be barren all her life.67 Similarly, among the Baganda, when a girl menstruated for the first time she was secluded and not allowed to handle food; and at the end of her seclusion the kinsman with whom she was staying (for among the Baganda young people did not reside with their parents) was obliged to jump over his wife, which with the Ba

berty among the tribes of

floor of the hut. But, by the following month, the preparations for her initiation are complete. The novice must remain in her hut throughout the whole period of initiation, and is carefully guarded by the old women, who accompany her whenever she leaves her quarters, veiling her head with a native cloth. The ceremonies last for at least one month." During this period of seclusion, drumming and songs are kept up within the mother's hut by the village women, and no male, except, it is said, the father of twins, is allowed to enter. The directress of the rites and the older women instruct the young girl as to the elementary facts of life, the duties of marriage, and the rules of conduct, decorum, and hospitality to be observed by

berty among the tribes of

and puts some salt in the pot. Next morning, before dawn, while all is dark and the villagers have not yet opened their doors, the young married woman goes off and gives some of the relish to her mother and to the old woman who was mistress of the ceremony. This relish she sets down at the doors of their houses and goes away. And in the morning, when the sun has risen and all is light in the village, the two women open their doors, and there they find the relish with the salt in it; and they take of it and rub it on their feet and under their arm-pits; and if there are little children in the house, they eat of it. And if the young wife has a kinsman who is absent from the village, some of the relish is put on a splinter of bamboo and kept against his return, that when he comes he, too, may rub his feet with it. But if the woman finds that her husband is impotent, she does not rise betimes and go out in the dark to lay the relish at the doors of her moth

sociated with a rule of

on no account put salt into any food she is cooking, lest she give her husband or children a disease called tsempo (chitsoko soko) but calls a child to put it in, or, as the song goes, 'Natira nichere ni bondo chifukwa n'kupanda mwana' and pours in the salt by placing it on her knee, because there is no child handy. Should a party of villagers have gone to make salt, all sexual intercourse is forbidden among the people of the village, until the people who have gone to make the salt (from grass) return. When they do come back, they must make their entry into the village at night, and no one must see them. Then one of the elders of the village sleeps with his wife. She then cooks some relish, into which she puts some of the salt. This relish is handed round to the people who went to make the salt, who rub it on their feet and under their armpits."75 Hence it would seem that in the mind of these people abstinence from salt is somehow associated with the idea of chastity. The same association meets us in the customs of many peoples in various parts of the world. Fo

ty among the tribes about La

a girl arrives at the age of puberty she is sent into the fields, where a hut is constructed far from the village. There, with two or three companions, she spends a month, returning home late and starting before dawn in order not to be seen by the men. The women of the village visit her, bringing food and honey, and singing and dancing to amuse her. At the end of a month her husband comes and fetches her. It is only after this ceremony that women have the right to smear themselves with ochre."81 We may suspect that the chief reason why the girl during her seclusion may visit her home only by night is a fear, not so much lest she should be seen by men, as that she might be seen by the sun. Among the Wafiomi, as we have just learned, the young woman in similar circumstances is even free to dance with men, provided always that the danc

t puberty among the T

onth. They are shut up in a hut, and whenever they come outside they must wear a dirty greasy cloth over their faces as a veil. Every morning they are led to a pool and plunged in the water up to their necks. Initiated girls or women accompany them, singing obscene songs and driving away with sticks any man who meets them; for no man may see a girl during this time of seclusion. If he saw her, it is said that he woul

uberty among the Caffre

te than usual. She is led forth from the hut by a son of her father's councillor, who, wearing the wings of a blue crane, the badge of bravery, on his head, escorts her to the cattle kraal, where cows are slaughtered and dancing takes place. Large skins full of milk are sent to the spot from neighbouring villages; and after the dances are over the girl drinks milk for the first time since the day she entered into retreat. But the first mouthful is drunk by the girl's aunt or other female relative who had charge of her during her seclusion; and a little of it is poured on the fire-place.87 Amongst the Zulus, when the girl was a princess royal, the end of her time of separation was celebrated by a sort of saturnalia: law and order were for the time being in abeyance: every man, woman, and child might appropriate any article of property:

ls at puberty in

panions reside in the hut with her and prepare the paint for her use. A woman is appointed to take charge of the hut and to keep off intruders. At the end of her confinement she is taken to water by the women of her family and bathed; the paint is rubbed off her body, her arms and legs are loaded with brass rings, and she is led in solemn procession under a

t Puberty in New Ireland,

irls at puberty

who had charge, and who alone is allowed to open the doors. While we were waiting we could hear the girls talking to the chief in a querulous way as if objecting to something or expressing their fears. The old woman came at length and certainly she did not seem a very pleasant jailor or guardian; nor did she seem to favour the request of the chief to allow us to see the girls, as she regarded us with anything but pleasant looks. However, she had to undo the door when the chief told her to do so, and then the girls peeped out at us, and, when told to do so, they held out their hands for the beads. I, however, purposely sat at some distance away and merely held out the beads to them, as I wished to draw them quite outside, that I might inspect the inside of the cages. This desire of mine gave rise to another difficulty, as these girls were not allowed to put their feet to the ground all the time they were confined in these places. However, they wished to get the beads, and so the old lady had to go outside and collect a lot of pieces of wood and bamboo, which she placed on the ground, and then going to one of the girls, she helped her down and held her hand as she stepped from one piece of wood to another until she came near enough to get the beads I held out to her. I then went to inspect the inside of the cage out of which she had come, but could scarcely put my head inside of it, the atmosphere was so hot and stifling. It was clean and contained nothing but a few short lengths of bamboo for holding water. There was only room for the girl to sit or lie down in a crouched position on the bamboo platform, and when the doors are shut it must be nearly or quite dark inside. The girls are never allowed to come out except once a da

puberty in New Guinea,

female relatives. At the end of the time she bathes, her person is loaded with ornaments, her face is grotesquely painted with red stripes on a white ground, and thus adorned she is brought forth in public to be admired by everybody. She is now marriageable.95 Among the Ot Danoms of Borneo girls at the age of eight or ten years are shut up in a little room or cell of the house, and cut off from all intercourse with the world for a long time. The cell, like the rest of the house, is raised on piles above the ground, and is lit by a single small window opening on a lonely place, so that the girl is in almost total darkness. She may not leave the room on any pretext whatever, not even for the most necessary purposes. None of her family may see her all the time she is shut up, but a single slave woman is appointed to wait on her. During her lonely confinement, which often lasts seven years, the girl oc

berty in the Torres Straits I

at puberty in Mabu

rl is forbidden to eat turtle or turtle eggs during the season when the turtles are breeding; but no vegetable food is refused her. No man, not even her own father, may come into the house while her seclusion lasts; for if her father saw her at this time he would certainly have bad luck in his fishing, and would probably smash his canoe the very next time he went out in it. At the end of the three months she is carried down to a fresh-water creek by her attendants, hanging on to their shoulders in such a way that her feet do not touch the ground, while the women of the tribe form a ring round her, and thus escort her to the beach. Arrived at the shore, she is stripped of her ornaments, and the bearers stagger with her into the creek, where they immerse her, and all the other women join in splashing water over both the girl and her bearers. When they come

s at puberty in No

re she squats first on the right side, then on the left side, and then on the lap of her future husband, who has been previously selected for her.102 Among the natives of the Pennefather River, in the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, when a girl menstruates for the first time, her mother takes her away from the camp to some secluded spot, where she digs a circular hole in the sandy soil under the shade of a tree. In this hole the girl squats with crossed legs and is covered with sand from the waist downwards. A digging-stick is planted firmly in the sand on each side of her, and the place is surrounded by a fence of bushes except in front, where her mother kindles a fire. Here the girl stays all day, sitting with her arms crossed and the palms of her hands resting on the sand. She may not move her arms except to take food from her mother or to scratch herself; and in scratching herself she may not touch herself with her own hands, but must use for the purpose a splinter of wood, which, when it is not in use, is stuck in her hair. She may speak to nobody but her mother; indeed nobody else would think of coming near her. At evening she lays hold of the two digging-sticks and by their help frees herself from the superincumbent weight of sand and returns to the camp. Next morning she is again buried in the sand under the shade of the tree and remains there again till evening. This she does daily for five days. On her return at evenin

t puberty in the isla

shallow hole on the beach, over which a hut is built. At night she may get out of the hole, but she may not leave the hut. Her paternal aunt looks after her, and both of them must abstain from eating turtle, dugong, and the heads of fish. Were they to eat the heads of fish no more fish would be caught. During the time of the girl's seclusion, the aunt who waits upon her has the right to enter any house and take from it anything she likes without payment, provided she does so before the sun rises. When the time of her retirement has come to an end, the girl bathes in the sea while the morning star is rising, and after performing various other ceremonies is readmitted to society.106 In Saibai, another island of Torres Straits, at her first monthly sickness a girl lives secluded in the forest for about a fortnight, during which no man may see her; even the women who have spoken to her in the forest must wash in salt water before they speak to a man. Two girls wait upon and feed the damsel, putting the food into her mouth, for she is not allowed to touch it with her own hands. Nor may she eat du

at Puberty among the I

t puberty among the I

r the girl, was practised nearly everywhere. Such ceremonies were well developed in Southern California, where a number of actions symbolical of the girl's maturity and subsequent life were performed."108 Thus among the Maidu Indians of California a girl at puberty remained shut up in a small separate hut. For five days she might not eat flesh or fish nor feed herself, but was fed by her mother or other old woman. She had a basket, plate, and cup for her own use, and a stick with which to scratch her head, for she might not scratch it with her fingers. At the end of five days she took a warm bath and, while she still remained in the hut and plied the scratching-stick on her head, was privileged to feed herself with her own hands. After five days more she bathed in the river, after which her parents gave a great feast in her honour. At the feast the girl was dressed in her best, and anybody might ask her parents for anything he pleased, and they had to give it, even if it was the hand of their dau

puberty among the India

t full length, in which she is compelled to remain for twenty days, cut off from all communication with her friends, and is obliged to hide her face at the appearance of a man. Provisions are supplied her daily. After this, she is required to perform repeated ablutions, before she can resume her place in the family. At every return, the women go into seclusion for two or more days."112 Among the Chinook Indians who inhabited the coast of Washington State, from Shoalwater Bay as far as Grey's Harbour, when a chief's daughter att

berty among the Nootka In

onour is it to the parents; but she is disgraced for life if it is known that she has seen fire or the sun during this initiatory ordeal."114 Pictures of the mythical thunder-bird are painted on the screens behind which she hides. During her seclusion she may neither move nor lie down, but must always sit in a squatting posture. She may not touch her hair with

y among the Haida Indians of

several months or even half a year the girl was bound to wear a peculiar cloak or hood made of cedar-bark, nearly conical in shape and reaching down below the breast, but open before the face. After the twenty days were over the girl took a bath; none of the water might be spilled, it had all to be taken back to the woods, else the girl would not live long. On the west coast of the islands the damsel might eat nothing but black cod for four years; for the people believed that other kinds of fish would become scarce if she partook of them. At Kloo the young woman at such times was forbidden to look at the sea, and for forty days she might not gaz

puberty among the Tli

with nourishment. Her food was put in at the little window; she had to drink out of the wing-bone of a white-headed eagle. The time of her seclusion was afterwards reduced in some places to six or three months or even less. She had to wear a sort of hat with long flaps, that her gaze might not pollute the sky; for she was thought unfit for the sun to shine upon, an

among the Tsetsaut and Bella Co

the hat and lives in a hut by herself, although she is allowed to see other people. At the end of two years a man takes the hat from her head and throws it away.118 In the Bilqula or Bella Coola tribe of British Columbia, when a girl attains puberty she must stay in the shed which serves as her bedroom, where she has a separate fireplace. She is not allowed to descend to the main part of the house, and may not sit by the fire of the family. For four days she is bound to remain motionless in a sitting posture. She fasts during the day, but is allowed a little food and drink very

berty among the Tinneh In

d keep a small stick to scratch their heads with. They remain outside the lodge, all the time they are in this state, in a hut made for the purpose. During all this period they wear a skull-cap made of skin to fit very tight; this is never taken off until their first monthly sickness ceases; they also wear a strip of black paint about one inch wide across their eyes, and wear a fringe of shells, bones, etc., hanging down from their foreheads to below their eyes; and this is never taken off till the second monthly period arrives and ceases, when the nearest male relative makes a feast; after which she is considered a fully matured woman; but she has to refrain from eating anything fresh for one year after her first monthly sickness; she may however eat partridge, but it must be cooked in the crop of

puberty among the Tin

large hood, which she must pull down over her eyes whenever she leaves the hut, and she must keep it down till she returns. She may not speak to a man nor see his face, much less touch his clothes or anything that belongs to him; for if she did so, though no harm would come to her, he would grow unmanly. She has her own dishes for eating out of and may use no other; at Kaltag she must suck the water through a swan's bone without applying her lips to the cup. She may eat no fresh meat or fish except the flesh of the porcupine. She may not undress, but sleeps with all her clothes on, even her mittens. In her socks she wears, next to the skin, the horny soles cut from the feet of a porcupine, in order that for the rest of her life her shoes may never wear out. Round her waist she

erty among the Thompson In

less of limb. She dug trenches, in order that in after life she might be able to dig well and to work hard. These and other ceremonies she repeated for four nights or mornings in succession, four times each morning, and each time she supplicated the Dawn of the Day. Among the Lower Thompson Indians she carried a staff for one night; and when the day was breaking she leaned the staff against the stump of a tree and prayed to the Dawn that she might be blessed with a good husband, who was symbolized by the staff. She also wandered some nights to lonely parts of the mountains, where she would dance, imploring the spirits to pity and protect her during her future life; then, the dance and prayer over, she would lie down on the spot and fall asleep. Again, she carried four stones in her bosom to a spring, where she spat upon the stones and threw them one after the other into the water, praying that all disease might leave her, as these stones did. Also she ran four times in the early morning with two small stones in her bosom; and as she ran the stones slipped down between her bare body and her clothes and fell to the ground. At the same time she prayed to the Dawn that when she should be with child, she might be delivered as easily as she was delivered of these stones. But whatever exercises she performed or prayers she offered on the lonely mountains during the hours of darkness or while the morning light was growing in the east, she must always be back in her little hut before the sun rose. There she often passed the tedious hours away picking the needles, one by one, from the cones on two large branches of fir, which hung from the roof of her hut on purpose to provide her with occupation. And as she picked she prayed to the fir-branch that s

erty among the Lillooet In

sk of the evening she left the hut and wandered about all night, but she returned before the sun rose. Before she quitted the hut at nightfall to roam abroad, she painted her face red and put on a mask of fir-branches, and in her hand, as she walked, she carried a basket-rattle to frighten ghosts and guard herself from evil. Among the Lower Lillooets, the girl's mask was often made of goat-skin, covering her head, neck, shoulders and breast, and leaving only a narrow opening from the brow to the chin. During the nocturnal hours she performed many ceremonies. Thus she put two smooth stones in her bosom and ran, and as they fell down between her body and her clothes, she prayed, saying, "May I always have easy child-births!" Now one of these stones represented her future child and the other represented the afterbirth. Also she dug trenches, praying that in th

erty among the Shuswap Ind

nor less than the quantity it holds. Every night she walks about her hut, and plants willow twigs, which she has painted, and to the ends of which she has attached pieces of cloth, into the ground. It is believed that thus she will become rich in later life. In order to become strong she should climb trees and try to break off their points. She plays with lehal sticks that her future husbands might have good luck when gambling."126 During the day the girl stays in her hut and occupies herself in making miniature bags, mats, and baskets, in sewing and embroidery, in manufacturing thread, twine,

uberty among the Delawar

some distance from the village. Her head is wrapped up for twelve days, so that she can see nobody, and she must submit to frequent vomits and fasting, and abstain from all labor. After this she is washed and new clothed, but confined to a solitary life for two months, at the close of which she is declared marriageable."128 Again, among the Cheyennes, an Indian tribe of the Missouri valley, a girl at her first menstruation is painted red all over her body and secluded in a special little lodge for four days. However, she may remain in her father's lodge provided that there

ls at puberty amo

. All this time she was regarded as an unclean being with whom no one might hold intercourse. At the end of the year she was received back by her parents and a great feast held.130 Again, among the Malemut, and southward from the lower Yukon and adjacent districts, when a girl reaches the age of puberty she is considered unclean for forty days and must therefore live by herself in a corner of the house with her face to the wall, always keeping her hood over her head and her hair hanging dishevelled over her eyes. But

at Puberty among the I

ong the Guaranis, Chiriguanos, an

ox; if an owl, she was lazy and useless for domestic labours, and so on.132 In similar circumstances the Chiriguanos of southeastern Bolivia hoisted the girl in her hammock to the roof, where she stayed for a month: the second month the hammock was let half-way down from the roof; and in the third month old women, armed with sticks, entered the hut and ran about striking everything they met, saying they were hunting the snake that had wounded the girl.133 The Lengua Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco under similar circumstances hang the girl in her hammock from the roof of the house, but they leave her there only three days and nights, during which they give her nothing to eat but a little Paraguay tea or boiled maize. Only her mother or grandmother has access to her; nobody else ap

t puberty among the Y

they have all done so and seated themselves again gravely in the circle, the girl offers to each of them a calabash full of very strong chicha. Before the wassailing begins, the various fathers perform a curious operation on the arms of their sons, who are seated beside them. The operator takes a very sharp bone of an ape, rubs it with a pungent spice, and then pinching up the skin of his son's arm he pierces it with the bone through and through, as a surgeon might introduce a seton. This operation he repeats till the young man's arm is riddled with holes at regular intervals from the shoulder to the wrist. Almost all who take part in the festival are covered with these wounds, which the Indians call culucute. Having thus prepared themselves to spend a happy day, they drink, play on flutes, sing and dance till evening. Rain, thunder, and lightning, should they befall, have no effect in

puberty among the Ind

the forest, where her mother brings her food daily.138 When a girl of the Peguenches tribe perceives in herself the first signs of womanhood, she is secluded by her mother in a corner of the hut screened off with blankets, and is warned not to lift up her eyes on any man. Next day, very early in the morning and again after sunset, she is taken out by two women and made to run till she is tired; in the interval she is again secluded in her corner. On the following day she lays three packets of wool beside the path near the house to signify that she is now a woman.139 Among the Passes, Mauhes, and other tribes of Brazil the young woman in similar circumstances is hung in her hammock from the roof and has to fast there for a month or as long as she can hold out.140 One of the early settlers in Brazil, about the middle of the sixteenth century, has described the severe ordeal which damsels at puberty had to undergo among the Indians on the south-east coast of that country, near what is now Rio de Janeiro. When a girl had reached this critical period of life, her hair was burned or shaved off close to the head. Then she was placed on a fl

dians of Guiana; custom of beating the girl

d breathing on her and on the more valuable of the things with which she has come in contact. The pots and drinking-vessels which she used are broken and the fragments buried. After her first bath, the girl must submit to be beaten by her mother with thin rods without uttering a cry. At the end of the second period she is again beaten, but not afterwards. She is now "clean," and can mix again with people.142 Other Indians of Guiana, after keeping the girl in her hammock at the top of the hut for a month, expose her to certain large ants, whose bite is very painful.143 Sometimes, in addition to being stung with ants, the sufferer has to fast day and night so long as she remains slung up on high in her hammock, so that when she comes down she is reduced

using young men to be stung wi

at his fearfully swollen arms with fresh juice of the manioc; and on his recovery he has to shew his strength and skill in bending a bow. This cruel ordeal is commonly repeated again and again, till the lad has reached his fourteenth year and can bear the agony without betraying any sign of emotion. Then he is a man and can marry. A lad's age is reckoned by the number of times he has passed through the ordeal.147 An eye-witness has described how a young Mauhe hero bore the torture with an endurance more than Spartan, dancing and singing, with his arms cased in the terrible mittens, before every cabin of the great common house, till pallid, staggering, and with chattering teeth he triumphantly laid the gloves before the old chief and received the congratulations of the men and the caresses of the women; then breaking away from his friends and admirers he threw himself into the river and remained in its cool soothing water till nightfall.148 Similarly among the Ticunas of the Upper Amazon, on the border of Peru, the young man who would take his place among the warriors must plunge his arm into a

ung with ants to improve their character

iri. Every one undergoes the maraké at least twice in his life, sometimes thrice, and oftener if he likes. It may be had from the age of about eight years and upward, and no one thinks it odd that a man of forty should voluntarily submit to it."152 Similarly the Indians of St. Juan Capistrano in California used to be branded on some part of their bodies, generally on the right arm, but sometimes on the leg also, not as a proof of manly fortitude, but because they believed that the custom "added greater strength to the nerves, and gave a better pulse for the management of the bow." Afterwards "they were whipped with nettles, and covered with ants, that they might become robust, and the infliction was always performed in summer, during the months of July and August, when the nettle was in its most fiery state. They gathered small bunches, which

ginally a purification; at a later time it is

l operation with us; it was a necessary accident, that was all. In later times such customs were interpreted otherwise, and the pain, from being an accident, became the prime object of the ceremony, which was now regarded either as a test of endurance imposed upon persons at critical epochs of life, or as a mortification of the flesh well pleasing to the god. But asceticism, under any shape or form, is never primitive. The sava

g the South American Indians; treatment of a girl at puberty among the Banivas of

ony comes armed with a scourge of cords or of fish skins; some of them reinforce the virtue of the instrument by tying little sharp stones to the end of the thongs. Then, to the dismal and deafening notes of shell-trumpets blown by two or three supernumeraries, the men circle round and round the post, every one applying his scourge as he passes to the girl's back, till it streams with blood. At last the musicians, winding tremendous blasts on their trumpets against the demon, advance and touch the post in which he is supposed to be incorporate. Then the blows cease to descend; the girl is untied, often in a fainting state, and carried away to have her wounds washed and simples applied to them. The youngest of the executioners, or rather of the exorcists, hastens to inform her betrothed husband of the happy issue of the exorcism. "The spirit," he says, "had cast thy beloved into a sleep as deep almost as that of death. But we have rescued her from his attacks, and laid her down in such and such a place. Go seek her." Then going from house to house through the village he cries to the inmates, "Come, let us burn the demon who would have taken possession of such and such a girl, our friend." The bridegroom at once carries his wounded and suffering bride to his own house; and all the people gather round the post for the pleasure of burning it and the demon together. A great pile of firewood has meanwhile been heaped up about it, and the women run round the pyre cursing in shrill voices the wicked spirit who has wrought all thi

Girls at Puberty i

ong the Hindoos; seclusion of gir

rther, she may not see the sky, and woe betide her if she catches sight of a crow or a cat! Her diet must be strictly vegetarian, without salt, tamarinds, or chillies. She is armed against evil spirits by a knife, which is placed on the mat or carried on her person.159 Among the Kappiliyans of Madura and Tinnevelly a girl at her first monthly period remains under pollution for thirteen days, either in a corner of the house, which is screened off for her use by her maternal uncle, or in a temporary hut, which is erected by the same relative on the common land of the village. On the thirteenth day she bathes in a tank, and, on entering the house, steps over a pestle and a cake. Near the entrance some food is placed and a dog is allowed to partake of it; but his enjoyment is marred by suffering, for while he eats he receives a sound thrashing, and the louder he howls the better, for the larger will be the family to which the young woman will give birth; should there be no howls, there will be no children. The temporary hut in which the girl passed the days of her seclusion is burnt down, and the pots which she used are smashed to shivers.160 Similarly among the Parivarams o

girls at puber

the shade." During her retirement, which, according to the rank and position of her family, may last any time from a few days to several years, she has to observe a number of rules, such as not to be seen by a strange man, not to eat flesh or fish, and so on. She goes nowhere, not even to the pagoda. But this state of seclusion is discontinued during eclipses

f Girls at Puber

puberty in folk-tales. Danish story o

he fresh air, and see the sun. But she and her gallant young bridegroom loved each other and they were happy. Often they sat hand in hand at the window looking out to the north and talked of what they would do when they were free. Still it was a little dull to look out always at the same window and to see nothing but the castle woods, and the distant hills, and the clouds drifting silently over them. Well, one day it happened that all the people in the castle had gone away to a neighbouring castle to witness a tournament and other gaieties, and the two young folks were left as usual all alone at the window looking out to the north. They sat silent for a time gazing away to the hills. It was a grey sad day, the sky was overcast, and the weather seemed to draw to rain. At last the prince said, "There will be no sunshine to-day. What if we were to drive over and join the rest at the tournament?" His young wife gladly consented, for she longed to see more of the world than those eternal green woods and those eternal blue hills, which were all she ever saw from the window. So the horses were put into the coach, and

the girl who migh

ded they were weary and begged for a lift in the coach. At first the brother refused to take them in, but his tender-hearted sister entreated him to have compassion on the two poor footsore women; for you may easily imagine that she was not acquainted with their true character. So down he got rather surlily from the box, opened the coach door, and in the two witches stepped, laughing in their sleeves. But no sooner had the bro

s of the maid who mi

twelve, the mother closed the doors and windows, and stopped up all the chinks and crannies, to prevent the Sun from coming to fetch away her daughter. But she forgot to stop up the key-hole, and a sunbeam streamed through it and carried off the girl.169 In a Sicilian story a seer foretells that a king will have a daughter who, in her fourteenth year, will conceive a child b

and its parallel i

might see her. An old woman tended her; and when the girl was grown to maidenhood she asked the old woman, "Where do you go so often?" "My child," said the old dame, "there is a bright world. In that bright world your father and mother live, and all sorts of people live there. That is where I go." The maiden said, "Good mother, I will tell nobody, but shew me that bright world." So the old woman to

f women by the

e rising sun. His wishes were fulfilled, for one of the damsels conceived and after nine months gave birth to an emerald. So she wrapped it in cotton and placed it in her bosom, and in a few days it turned into a child, who received the name of Garanchacha and was universally recognized as a son of the sun.173 Again, the Samoans tell of a woman named Mangamangai, who became pregnant by looking at the rising sun. Her son grew up and was named "Child of the Sun." At his marriage he applied

of the belief that women can

e is not considered ratified till the rising sun shines on their feet the succeeding morning."175 At old Hindoo marriages the first ceremony was the "Impregnation-rite" (Garbh[=a]dh[=a]na); during the previous day the bride was made to look towards the sun or to be in some way exposed to its rays.176 Amongst the

mpregnation of w

r wives a visit and caress them; for which reason no woman dare sleep lying upon her back, without she first spits upon her fingers and rubs her belly with it. For the same reason the young maids are afraid to stare long at th

the Seclusion o

n of women at puberty is the

under which women lie at their first menstruation are usually more stringent than those which they have to observe at any subsequent recurrence of the mysterious flow. Some evidence of the fear and of the customs based on it has been cited in an earlie

enstruous women among the

seeing the women, some of whom may be menstruating; and if looked upon by the young males, it is supposed that dire results will follow."182 And amongst these tribes women in their courses "are not allowed to eat fish of any kind, or to go near the water at all; it being one of their superstitions, that if a female, in that state, goes near the water, no success can be expected by the men in fishing."183 Similarly, among the natives of the Murray River, menstruous women "were not allowed to go near water for fear of frightening the fish. They were also not allowed to eat them, for the same reason. A woman during such periods would never cross the river in a canoe, or even fetch water for the camp. It was sufficient for her to say Thama, to ensure her husband getting the water himself."184 The Dieri of Central Australia believe that if women at these times were to eat fish or bathe in a ri

cted for breaches of th

is a regulation relating to camps in the Wakelbura tribe which forbids the women coming into the encampment by the same path as the men. Any violation of this rule would in a large camp be punished with death. The reason for this is the dread with which they regard the menstrual period of women. During such a time, a woman is kept entirely away from the camp, half a mile at least. A woman in such a condition ha

women in the Torres Straits Islands

fection extends to her husband, who may not himself harpoon or otherwise take an active part in catching turtle; however, he is permitted to form one of the crew on a turtling expedition, provided he takes the precaution of rubbing his armpits with certain leaves, to which no doubt a disinfectant virtue is ascribed.190 Among the Kai of German New Guinea women at their monthly sickness must live in little huts built for them in the forest; they may not enter the cultivated fields, for if they did go to them, and the pigs were to taste of the blood, it would inspire the animals with an irresistible desire to go likewise into the fields

enstruous women among the

t their cattle would die if the milk were drunk by a menstruous woman;195 and they fear the same disaster if a drop of her blood were to fall on the ground and the oxen were to pass over it. To prevent such a calamity women in general, not menstruous women only, are forbidden to enter the cattle enclosure; and more than th

truous women among the tribe

her husband, indeed capable of killing him. Hence, before he went to war, he used to wound her slightly with his spear so as to draw blood; this was thought to ensure his safe return.200 Apparently the notion was that if the wife did not lose blood in one way or another, her husband would be bled in war to make up for her deficiency; so by way of guarding against this undesirable event, he took care to relieve her of a little superfluous blood before he repaired to the field of honour. Further, the Baganda would not suffer a menstruous woman to visit a well; if she did so, they feared that the water would dry up, and that she herself would fall sick and die, unless she confessed her fault and the medicine-man made atonement for her.201 Among the Akikuyu of British East Africa, if a new hut is built in a village and the wife chances to menstruate in it on the day she lights the first fire there, the hut must be broken down and demolished the very next day.

menstruous women among t

them must spend their time secluded from intercourse with other people. Sometimes these huts stand by themselves in public places; sometimes they are mere shelters built either at the back or front of the ordinary dwelling-houses. A woman is punishable if she does not pass the time of her monthly sickness in one of these huts or shelters provided for her use. Thus, if she shews herself in her own house or even in the yard of the house, she may be fined a sheep, which is killed, its flesh divided among the people, and its blo

scribed to menstruous

uch was the custom of the place. Now it fell out that, while she tarried there, Sapor saw her and loved her, and she loved him; for he was a handsome man and she a lovely maid. And she said to him, "What will you give me if I shew you how you may destroy the walls of this city and slay my father?" And he said to her, "I will give you what you will, and I will exalt you above my other wives, and will set you nearer to me than them all." Then she said to

menstruous women among

o burn everything on which they had trodden; a man who spoke with such a woman or who was merely exposed to the same wind that blew over her, became thereby unclean.209 Peasants of the Lebanon think that menstruous women are the cause of many misfortunes; their shadow causes flowers to wither and trees to perish, it even arrests the movements of serpents; i

ion of menstruous

milk, not to milk cows, not to touch fire, not to lie on a high bed, not to walk on common paths, not to cross the track of animals, not to walk by the side of flowering plants, and not to observe the heavenly bodies.215 The motive for these restrictions is not mentioned, but probably it is a dread of the baleful influence which is supposed to emanate from women at these times. The Parsees, who reverence fire, will not suffer menstruous women to see it or even to look on a lighted taper;216 during their infirmity the women retire from their houses to little lodges in the country, whither victuals are brought to them daily; at the end of their seclusion they bathe and send a kid, a fowl, or a pigeon to the priest as an offering.217 In Annam a woman at her monthly periods is deemed a centre of impurity, and contact with her is avoided. She is subject to all sorts of restrictions which she must

ruous women among the Indians

among the Indians of the Mosquito territory in Central America, when a woman is in her courses, she must quit the village for seven or eight days. A small hut is built for her in the wood, and at night some of the village girls go and sleep with her to keep her company. Or if the nights are dark and jaguars are known to be prowling in the neighbourhood, her husband will take his gun or bow and sleep in a hammock near her. She may neither handle nor cook food; all is prepared and carried to her. When the sickness is over, she bathes in the river, puts on clean clothes, and returns to her household duties.222 Among the Bri-bri Indians of Costa Rica a girl at her first menstruation retires to a hut built for the purpo

enstruous women among the

that it would make his nose bleed and his head ache, and that he would fall sick in consequence. If an Indian's wooden pipe cracked, his friends would think that he had either lit it at one of these polluted fires or had held some converse with a woman during her retirement, which was esteemed a most disgraceful and wicked thing to do. Decent men would not approach within a certain distance of a woman at such times, and if they had to convey anything to her they would stand some forty or fifty paces off and throw it to her. Everything which was touched by her hands during this period was deemed ceremonially unclean. Indeed her touch was thought to convey such pollution that if she chanced to lay a finger on a chief's lodge or his gun or anything else belonging to him, it would be instan

us women among the Creek, Chocta

hat some mishap would overtake them when they went to the wars.226 When an Omaha woman has her courses on her, she retires from the family to a little shelter of bark or grass, supported by sticks, where she kindles a fire and cooks her victuals alone. Her seclusion lasts four days. During this time she may not approach or touch a horse, for the Indians believe that such contamination would impoverish or weaken the animal.227 Among the Potawatomis the women at their monthly periods "are not allowed to associate with the rest of the nation; they are completely laid aside, and are not permitted to touch any article of furniture or food which the men have occasion to use. If the Indians be stationary at the time, the women are placed outside of the camp; if on a march, they are not allowe

nstruous women among the I

of British Columbia every woman had to isolate herself from the rest of the people during every recurring period of menstruation, and had to live some little way off in a small brush or bark lodge made for the purpose. At these times she was considered unclean, must use cooking and eating utensils of her own, and was supplied with food by some other woman. If she smoked out of a pipe other than her own, that pipe would ever afterwards be hot to smoke. If she crossed in front of a gun, that gun would thenceforth be useless for the war or the chase, unless indeed the owner promptly washed the weapon in "medecine" or struck the woman with it once on each pr

menstruous women among

ay not walk on the common paths nor cross the tracks of animals. They "are never permitted to walk on the ice of rivers or lakes, or near the part where the men are hunting beaver, or where a fishing-net is set, for fear of averting their success. They are also prohibited at those times from partaking of the head of any animal, and even from walking in or crossing the track where the head of a deer, moose, beaver, and many other animals have lately been carried, either on a sledge or on the b

e Tinneh or Déné Indians; customs and beliefs of

to those practised by the Hebrew women, so much so that, were it not savouring of profanity, the ordinances of the Déné ritual code might be termed a new edition 'revised and considerably augmented' of the Mosaic ceremonial law. Among the Carriers,235 as soon as a girl has experienced the first flow of the menses which in the female constitution are a natural discharge, her father believed himself under the o

Carrier girl

ration ceased, only this same aunt had the right to take off her niece's ceremonial head-dress. Furthermore, the girl's fingers, wrists, and legs at the ankles and immediately below the knees, were encircled with ornamental rings and bracelets of sinew intended as a protection against the malign influences she was supposed to be possessed with.236 To a belt girding her waist were suspended two bone implements called respectively Tsoenkuz (bone tube) and Tsiltsoet (head scratcher). The former was a hollowed swan bone to drink with, any other mode of drinking being unlawful to her. The latter was fork-like and was called into requisition whenever she wanted to scratch her head-immediate contact of the fingers with the head being reputed injurious to her health. While thus secluded, she was called asta, that is 'interred alive' in Carrier, and she h

ying down, especially in course of each monthly flow, not only as a natural consequence of the prolonged fast and resulting weakness; but chie

nthly periods; reasons for the seclusio

riter tells us that most of the devices to which these Indians used to resort for the sake of ensuring success in the chase "were based on their regard for continence and their excessive repugnance for, and dread of, menstruating women."238 But the strict observances imposed on Tinneh or Déné women at such times were designed at the same time to protect the women themselves from the evil consequences of their dangerous condition. Thus it was thought that women in their courses could not partake of the head, heart, or hind part of an animal that had been caught in a snare without exposing themselves to a premature death through a kind of rabies. They might not cut or carve salmon, because to do so would seriously endanger their health, and especially would enfeeble their arms f

ed on menstruous women in ancient

natural uncleanness of woman at her monthly periods is a conception which has occurred, or been revealed, with singular unanimity to several ancient legislators. The Hindoo lawgiver Manu, who professed to have received his institutes from the creator Brahman, informs us that the wisdom, the energy, the strength, the sight, and the vitality of a man who approaches a woman in her courses will utterly perish; whereas, if he avoids her, his wisdom, energy, strength, sight, and vitality will all increase.242 The Persian lawgiver Zoroaster, who, if we can take his word for it, derived his code from the mouth of the supreme being Ahura Mazda, devoted special attention to the subject. According to him, the menstrous flow, at least in its abnormal manifestations, is a work of Ahrim

enstruous women in anc

ings, blasted gardens, brought down the fruit from trees, dimmed mirrors, blunted razors, rusted iron and brass (especially at the waning of the moon), killed bees, or at least drove them from their hives, caused mares to miscarry, and so forth.244 Similarly, in various parts of Europe, it is still believed that if a woman in her courses enters a brewery the beer will turn sour; if she touches beer, wine, vinegar, or milk, it will go bad; if she m

e the dangerous influences which are thought to emanate from

, as in South America, or raised above the ground in a dark and narrow cage, as in New Ireland, she may be considered to be out of the way of doing mischief, since, being shut off both from the earth and from the sun, she can poison neither of these great sources of life by her deadly contagion. In short, she is rendered harmless by being, in electrical language, insulated. But the precautions thus taken to isolate or insulate the girl are dictated by a regard for her own safety as well as for the safety of others. For it is thought that she herself would suffer if she were to

ules of seclusion observed by divine kings and

girls at puberty, divine personages may neither touch the ground nor see the sun, the reason is, on the one hand, a fear lest their divinity might, at contact with earth or heaven, discharge itself with fatal violence on either; and, on the other hand, an apprehension that the divine being, thus drained of his ethereal virtue, might thereby be incapacitated for the future performance of those magical functions, upon the proper discharge of which the safety of the pe

attained by suspension b

e been preserved in a jar or urn which hung in a temple of Apollo at Cumae; and when a group of merry children, tired, perhaps, of playing in the sunny streets, sought the shade of the temple and amused themselves by gathering underneath the familiar jar and calling out,

ondon is a

ayed to liv

of the holy bread in her mouth, and that is all she has to live on. Long, long has she rued her fatal wish who set this transient life above the eternal joys of heaven.253 A third German story tells of a noble damsel who cherished the same foolish wish for immortality. So they put her in a basket and hung her up in a church, and there she hangs and never dies, though many a year has come and gone since they put her there. But every year on a certain day they give her a roll, and she eats it and cries out, "For ever! for ever! for ever!" And when she has so cried she falls silent again till the same time next year, and so it will go on for ever and f

te

e, "Indiscretes aus Loango," Zeitsch

, Superstitions, and Religions of South African Tribes," J

the reason for it, by L. Alberti (De Kaffersaan de Zuidkust van Afrika, Amsterdam, 1810, p. 79), George Thompson (Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa, London, 182

hnology of A-Kamba and other East Afr

See J.H. Weeks, "Notes on some Customs of the Lower Congo People," Folk-lore, xix. (1908) p. 431. Among the Baganda the separation of children from their parents took place after weaning; girls usually went to live either with an elder married brother or (if there was

n) Rev. J. Roscoe,

ravancore it is believed that women at puberty and after childbirth are peculiarly liab

n) Rev. J. Roscoe,

H. Sheane, The Great Plateau of Northe

ray, Some Folk-lore, Stories and Songs i

Wagogo of German East Africa," Journal of the An

R. Sutherland Rattra

ed by H. Oldenberg, Part i. p. 357, Part ii. p. 2

coe, The Baganda (London, 1911),

) See Totemism and E

y H. Johnston, British Central

umann, Durch Massailand zur Ni

n, 1898), p. 78. Compare E. Jacottet, études sur les Langues du Haut-Za

uin, Les Ma-rotsé (Lausanne

d, The Life of a South African Trib

cCall Theal, Kaffir Folk-l

st van Afrika (Amsterdam, 1810), pp. 79 sq.; H. Lichtenste

borenen Süd-Afrika's (Breslau, 1872), p. 112. T

G. McCall Theal, Kaf

and London, 1868), p. 182, note 20. From one of the Zulu texts which the author edits and translates (p. 189

. Casalis, The Basutos

go through these ceremonies, they would "never be fit for procreation." The other consequences supposed to flow from the omission of the rites are mentioned by Father Campana. From Mr. Dennett's account (op. cit. pp. 53, 67-71) we gather that drought and famine are thought to result from the intercourse of a man with a girl who has not yet passed through the "

ndon, 1883, p. 249). According to him, the girls wear wreaths of scented herbs round the waist and neck; an old woman or a little child occupies the lower floor of the cage; and the confinement lasts only a month. Probably the long period mentioned by Dr. Brown is that prescribed for chiefs' daughters. Poor people could not afford to keep their children so long idle. This distinction is sometimes expressly stated. See above, p. 30. Among the Goajiras of Colombia rich people keep their daughters shut up in separate huts at puberty for periods varying from o

by Dr. George Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians

e natives told Mr. Parkinson that the confinement of the girls lasts from twelve to twenty mon

d W. Wyatt Gill, Work and Adventure

), iii. 298, 418-420. The customs of the two tribes seem to be in substantial agreement, and t

msterdam, 1853-1854), ii. 77 sq.; W.F.A. Zimmermann, Die Inseln des Indischen und Stillen Meeres (Be

sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Sel

rolineninsel Yap," Petermanns Mitteilungen, xlix. (1903) p. 53; id., "

l Institute, xxix. (1899) pp. 212 sq.; id., in Reports of the Cambridge An

in Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to T

d, in Journal of the Anthropologi

rn) Dr. C.G. Seligm

nsland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 5, Superstition,

urn) Walter E. Rot

ports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expeditio

her for the purpose of producing a sweat than for the sake of concealment. The treatment lasted only twenty-four hours, during which the patient was removed from the ground and washed thr

in Reports of the Cambridge Anthropologic

of California," University of California Publications in American

," Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, vol.

f California (Washington, 1877), p. 85 (Contrib

urn) Stephen Power

ative of the United States Exploring Expedi

The account, taken down from the lips of a Chinook Indian, is not perfectly clear

at, Scenes and Studies of Savage

puberty by Tsimshian girls, who always sit propped up between boxes and mats; their heads are covered with small mats, and they may not look at men nor at fresh salmon and olachen. See Franz Boas, in Fifth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada, p. 41 (separate reprint from th

ic Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural History, New York). Speaking of the customs observed at Kloo, where the girls had to abstain from salmon for five years, Mr. Swanton says (p. 49): "When five years had passed,

Erman, "Ethnographische Wahrnehmungen und Erfahrungen an den Küsten des Berings-Meeres," Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, ii. (1870) pp. 318 sq.; H.H. Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States (London, 1875-1876), i. 110 sq.; Rev. Sheldon Jackson, "Alaska and its Inhabitants," The American Antiquarian, ii. (Chicago, 1879-1880) pp. 111 sq.; A. Woldt, Captain Jacobsen's Reise an

orth-Western Tribes of Canada, p. 45 (separate reprint from the Report of th

from the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Newcastle-upon-Tyne meeting, 1889); id., in Seventh Repo

, or Fraser Lake Tribes," from information supplied by Gavin Hamilton, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company's service, who has been for many years among thes

t, Traditions Indiennes du Canada N

.J., "On the Superstitions of the Ten'a In

are The Magic Art and the E

Memoir of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, April, 1900). As to the customs observed among these Indians by

Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural History, New York). Compare C. Hill Tout, "Report on

rth-Western Tribes of Canada, pp. 89 sq. (separate reprint from the Report of

w York, 1909), pp. 587 sq. (The Jesup North Pacific Expeditio

e Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians

pp. 13 sq. The Cheyennes appear to have been at first settled on the Mississippi, from which they were driven westward t

" Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae, iv. (Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 401 sq.; Iv

ering Strait," Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau o

e Angelis, Coleccion de Obras y Documentos relativos a la Historia antigua y moderna de las Provincias del Rio d

1783), viii. 333. As to the Chiriguanos, see C.F. Phil. von Martius, Zur Ethnographie Amerika's, zumal Brasili

the latter account is based on the reports of the Rev. W.B. Grubb, a missionary who has been settled among the Indians of the Chaco for many years and is our principal authority on them, I assume that the ascription of the custom to the Lenguas is correct. However, in the volume on the Lengua Indians, which has been edited from Mr. Grubb's papers (An Unk

ge dans l'Amérique Méridionale vol. iii. 1to

du Sud (Paris, 1891) pp. 56 sq.; Father Cardus, quoted in J.

eturn) A. Thouar

, Expédition dans les parties centrales de

uenches y los demas espacios hasta el rio de Chadileuba," p. 62, in Pedro de Angelis, Coleccion de Obras y Documentos relativos a la Historia

C.F. Ph. von Martius, Reise in Brasilien

80] sq.; id., Les Singularites de la France Antarctique, autrement nommée Amerique (Antwe

(Leipsic, 1847-1848), ii. 315 sq.; C.F.Ph. von Martius, Zur Et

Marchais en Guinée, Isles voisines, et à Cayenne, iv

(1779), p. 93. A similar custom, with the omission of the stinging, is reported of the Tamanaks i

Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, p. 496 (p.

the Perils of the Soul, pp. 105

and C.F.Ph. von Martius, Reise in Bra

, who witnessed it at Manduassu, a village on the Tapajos river. Mr. Herndon adds: "The Tocandeira ants not only bite, but are also armed with a sting like the wasp; but the pain felt from it is more vi

, Expédition dans les parties centrals de l

ris), vi. Série, iii. (1872) pp. 21 sq. The writer says that the candidate has to keep his arms plunged up to the sh

ux, Voyages dans l'Amérique du

dans la Guyane Fran?aise (Paris, 1895), p. 228. For details as to th

"Chinigchinich," in Life in California by an Ame

ann, Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz vo

ly want to take something out the next day, and that she was driving off the bu-ku-rú. A house long unused must be swept, and then the person who is purifying it must take a stick and beat not only the movable objects, but the beds, posts, and in short every accessible part of the interior. The next day it is fit for occupation. A place not visited for a long time or reached for the first time is bu-ku-rú. On our return from the ascent of Pico Blanco, nearly all the party suffered from little calenturas, the result of extraordinary exposure to wet and cold and of want of food. The Indians said that the peak was especially bu-ku-rú since nobody had ever been on it before." One day Mr. Gabb took down some dusty blow-guns amid cries of bu-ku-rú from the Indians. Some weeks afterwards a boy died, and the Indians firmly believed that the bu-ku-rú of the blow-guns had killed him. "From all the foregoing, it would

ffanjon, L'Orénoque et le Cau

ly forbidden to see the sun. He may not eat salt, and he is enjoined to sleep either on a carpet or a deer's skin, without a mattress or mosquito curtain (ibid. p. 186). In Bali, boys who have had their

Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Ethnographi

ton, Castes and Tribes of Southern

rn) Edgar Thurston,

urn) Edgar Thursto

ateer, Native Life in Trava

a, "Glimpses of Singhalese Social Life

Moura, Le Royaume du Cambo

bodgiens," Cochinchine Fran?aise: Excursions et Reconnaissances, No. 16 (Saigon, 1883), pp. 193 sq. C

he Volks-m?rchen, übersetzt von A. Strodtmann,

ller, M?rchen und Sagen aus W?lschtiro

midt, Griechische M?rchen, Sagen un

iechische und albanesische M?rchen (Leip

e should infer that it is a rule with savages not to let women handle the bones of animals during their monthly seclusions. We have already seen the great respect with which the savage treats the bones of game (Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild ii. 238 sqq., 256 sqq.); and women in their courses are specially forbidden to meddle with the hunter or fisher, as their contact or neighbourhood would spoil his sport (see below, pp. 77, 78 sq., 87, 89 sqq.). In folk-tales the hero who uses the bone is sometimes a boy; but the incident might easily be transferred from a girl to a boy after its real meaning had been forgotten. Amongst the T

sqq.; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, ii. 4. I; Hora

Volks-litteratur der türkischen St?mme Süd-Sib

x-Compans, Essai sur l'ancien Cu

h Bastian, Die Voelker des Oestlichen Asien, i. 416, vi. 25; Panjab Notes and Queries, ii. p. 148, § 797 (June, 1885); A. Pfizmaier, "Nachrichten von den a

hnological Society of London, N.S. iii. (1865) p. 327. Amongst the Lengua Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco the marriage

liams, Religious Thought and Life

. Vambery, Das Türkenvol

Egede, A Description of Gree

evue des Traditions Popu

Taboo and the Perils of

the Aborigines of the Encounter Bay Tribe, South Australia,"

als of Expeditions of Discovery into Ce

turn) E.J. Eyre,

myth, The Aborigines of Victoria (

n, in Journal of the Anthropologic

ve Tribes of Central Australia (London, 1899), p. 473; idem,

Australian Aborigines (Melbourne, Syd

nd Traditions," Journal of the Anthropological Institute, ii. (1873) p. 268.

p. 776 sq., on the authority of Mr. J.C. Muirhead. The Wakelbura are in Central Queensland. Comp

ridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres

em Leben der Kaileute," in R. Neuhauss's D

n Overleveringen der Galelareezen," Bijdragen tot de Taal-La

Minangkabauer der Padangsche Bovenlanden," Bijdragen tot de Taal-

Brief Account of Bushman Folk-lore (Lon

nd Religions of South African Tribes," Journal of the Anthropological Institute

., Religion and Myth (London, 1893), p. 198. Compare Henri A. Junod, "Les conceptions physiologiques des Bantou Sud-Africains et leurs tabous," Revue d'Ethnographie et de Sociologie, i. (1910) p. 139. The danger of death to the

ma, a Cow Tribe of Enkole," Journal of the Royal

ev. J. Roscoe, The Bagan

rn) Rev. J. Roscoe,

the Anthropological Institute, xxxi. (1901) p. 121; id., "Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of

rn) Rev. J. Roscoe,

o Kikuyu and Kamba Religious Beliefs and Customs," Journal

. Beech, The Suk, their Language

ournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xl. (1910) p. 305; R. Sutherland Rattray,

kob Spieth, Die Ewe-St?mm

ion und Pubert?tsfeier der M?dchen in Kpanduge

o thank my friend Professor A.A. Bevan for pointing out to me this passage. Many ancient cities had talismans on the preservation of which their safety was believed to depend. T

Die Medezin der Talmudisten (Lei

der Ssabismus (St. Petersburg, 1856), ii. 483. According to the editor (p

Chémali, "Naissance et premier age a

tniss abergl?ubischer Gebr?uche in Syrien," Zeitschrif

"Toaripi," Journal of the Anthropolo

s and Castes of the North-Western Provi

, in North Indian Notes and Quer

ntates et à la Chine (Paris, 1782), i. 31; J.A. Dubois, Moeurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de l'Inde (Paris, 1825), i. 245 sq. Nair women in Malabar seclude themselves for three days at menstruation

persisischer Martyrer übersetzt (Leipsic, 1880), p. 99. This

r, Voyages en Turquie, en Perse, et

an, Magie et Religion Annamites

istoire Naturelle, Civile, et Géographiq

unos et le delta de l'Orénoque," Bulletin de la Socié

3), p. 526. As to the customs observed at menstruation by Indian women in Sou

Mosquito Territory," Journal of the Royal

in Costa Rica," Sitztungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen Classe der

ondon, 1905), iii. 90 (original edition, 1814); Rev. Jedidiah Morse, Report to the Secretary of War of the United States on Indian Affairs (New Haven, 1822), pp. 136 sq.; Annales de l'Association de la Propagation de la Foi, iv, (Paris and Lyons, 1830) pp. 483, 494 sq.; George Catlin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, Fourth Edition (London, 1844), ii. 233; H.R. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes of the United States (Philadelphia,

air, History of the American In

ouveaux Voyages aux Indes occid

nt of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to th

Narrative of an Expedition to the Source

yenne Woman Customs," American Anthropolog

and Skaulits Tribes of the Halokmelem Division of the Salish of British

Columbia, pp. 326 sq. (The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir

rthern Ocean (London, 1795), pp. 314 sq.; Alex. Mackenzie, Voyages through the Continent of North A

nibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua vita et r

ering Strait," Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau o

t their name from a custom observed among them by widows, who carry, or rather u

r in Victoria, a girl at puberty used to have cords tied very tightly round several parts of her body. The cords were worn for several days, causing the whole body to swell very much and inflicting gre

ian Institute, Toronto, Third Series, vii. (1888-89) pp. 162-164. The writer has repeated the substance of this account

92-93) pp. 106 sq. Compare Rev. Father Julius Jetté, "On the Superstitions of the Ten'a Indians," Anthropos, vi. (1911) pp. 703 sq., who tells us that Tinneh wo

in Transactions of the Canadian In

sh Columbia, p. 327 (The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir

(return) See

d by G. Buhler (Oxford, 1886), ch. iv. 41 sq.,

eter, i. (Oxford, 1880) p. xcii. (Sacred Books of the East, vol.

sq., xxviii. 77 sqq. Compare Geoponica, xii. 20.

years ago, "every one pickled their own beef, and it was held that if the pickling were performed by a woman during her menstrual period the meat would not keep. If the cook were incapacitated at the time when the pickling was due, another woman was sent for out of the village rather than risk what was considered a certainty." Another correspondent informs me that in some of the dales in the north of Yorkshire a similar belief prevailed down to recent years with regard to the s

dree, Braunschweiger Volksku

W.R. Paton, in Folk-l

one or two transverse lines tattooed on the arms or legs of a young man by a pubescent girl are a specific against premature weakness of these limbs. See A.G. Morice, "Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, and Sociological, on the Western Dénés," Transactions of the Canadian Institute, iv. (1892-93) p. 182. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia thought that the Dawn of Day could and would cure hernia if only an adolescent girl prayed to it to do so. Just before daybreak the girl would put some charcoal in her mouth, chew it fine, and spit it out four times on the diseased place. Then she prayed: "O Day-dawn! thy child relies on me to obtain healing from thee, who art mystery. Remove thou the swelling of thy child. Pity thou him, Day-Dawn!" See James Teit, The Thompson Indians of British Columbia, pp. 345 sq. (The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, April, 1900). To cure the painful and dangerous wound inflicted by a ray-fish, the Indians of the Gran

Taboo and the Perils

a cow-stable, or near an udumbara tree, or in a clump of darbha grass, with the words, "Where Pushan, Brihaspati, Savitri, Soma, Agni dwell, they have in many ways searched where they s

34 c (ed. 1742). According to another account, the remains of the Sibyl were enclosed in an iron cage whi

. This and the following German parallels to the story of the Sibyl's wish were first indicated by Dr. M.R. James (Classical

Kuhn und W. Schwartz, op.

. Kuhn und W. Schwartz,

M?rchen und Lieder der Herzogthümer Holstein un