views  very  much  to  their  own  astonishment.  Thus
Father  Dobritzhoffer  says :  '  Theologians  agree  in
denying  that  any  man  in  possession  of  his  reason
can,  without  a  crime,  remain  ignorant  of  God  for
any  length  of  time.  This  opinion  I  warmly  de-
fended in  the  University  of  Cordoba,  where  I  fin-
ished the  four  years'  course  of  theology  begun  at
Gratz,  in  Styria.  But  what  was  my  astonishment
when,  on  removing  from  thence  to  a  colony  of
Abipones,  I  found  that  the  whole  language  of  these
savages  does  not  contain  a  single  word  which  ex-
presses God  or  a  divinity.  To  instruct  them  in
religion,  it  was  necessary  to  borrow  the  Spanish
word  for  God,  and  insert  into  the  catechism  "  Dios
ecnam  coogerik,"  *'  God  the  creator  of  things." '
We  have  already  observed  a  case  of  this  kind  in
Kolben,  who,  in  spite  of  the  assertions  of  the  na-
tives themselves,  felt  quite  sure  that  certain  dances
must  be  of  a  religious  character,  '  let  the  Hotten-
tots say  what  they  will.'  Again,  Mr  Matthews,
who  went  out  to  act  as  missionary  among  the  Fue-
gians,  but  was  soon  obliged  to  abandon  the  hope-
less task,  observed  only  one  act  *  which  could  be
supposed  devotional.'  He  sometimes,  we  are
told,  *  heard  a  great  howling  or  lamentation  about
sunrise  in  the  morning ;  and  upon  asking  Jemmy
Button  what  occasioned  the  outcry,  he  could  ob-
tain no  satisfactory  answer  :  the  boy  only  saying,
"  People  very  sad,  cry  very  much."  '     This  appears


Sir  y.  LubbocJcs  Instances  Examined.       277

so  natural  and  sufficient  an  explanation,  that  why
the  outcry  should  be  supposed  devotional,  I  must
confess  myself  unable  to  see.  Once  more,  Dr
Hooker  states  that  the  Khasias,  an  Indian  tribe,
had  no  religion.  Colonel  Yule,  on  the  contrary,
says  that  they  have ;  but  he  admits  that  breaking
hens'  eggs  is  '  the  principal  part  of  their  religious
practice,'  But  if  most  travellers  have  expected  to
find  a  religion  everywhere,  and  have  been  con-
vinced, almost  against  their  will,  that  the  reverse
is  the  case,  it  is  quite  possible  that  there  may  have
been  others  who  have  too  hastily  denied  the  exist-
ence of  a  religion  among  the  tribes  they  visited.
