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98
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[APRIL, 1897.
child's blood," and spat in his face. In North India, itch is cured by rubbing in saliva.91 Among the Roman Catholics of North Kanara, at baptism, the priest wets the tip of his thumb with spittle, and with it touches the child's ears and nostrils. Dubois (A. D. 1810) describes a monastery, ten miles from Chinneråyapatan (Seringâpatam) where lived a Hindu teacher whose followers quarrelled for his spittle.93 In agreement with one of the traditions of the Prophet, Muhammadans, in wakening after a bad dream, spit on the left side and ask divine protection against Satan."
Among the Kirghis tribes of Central Asia, the sorcerers or spirit-scarers whip the sick till blood comes and then spit in his face.95 The Polynesian legends tell that spirits were made from the spittle of the gods.86 The Australians throw dust on their feet and spit as signs of hostility.97 Among the Masalmans of North-West Africa, the spittle of a madman or a lunatic is considered a blessing. The saying is: -- "O blessed Nazarene, what God has given let not man wipe away. Thou shalt be happy, Sidi Moma has spat upon thee.98
When a Hottentot has to pass the night in the wilds he chews a root, and spits in a circle round him, and within this circle no evil animal can come.90 In preparing #cbarm, the negroes of West Africa matter sentences, and spit thrice on & stone.100 Barbot (1700), quoted by Burton, notices that the interpreter of the king of Zanap in West Africa took one of the royal feet in his hands, spat on the sole, and licked it. The priest of the Waruas gets an offering of six fowls from the chief's wife, spits in her face, and she is happy. Stanleys says that king Lukongeh of Ukerewe in East Africa is believed to have superhuman powers. When his subjects approach him they clap their hands and kneel. If the king is pleased be blows and spits into their hands, and they rub their faces with the spittle. In inner West Africa, when a child is named, the schoolmaster spits thrice into its face, and when the people see the new moon they spit on their hands and rub them over their faces. At a big festival the king of Dahomey, in Western Africa, spits on the drum-sticks before they are used. The people of Madagascar think that the fasting spittle cures sore ears and eyes. Also when they smell a bad smell they spit.7 Among the Waruas of Central Africa spitting on a person is considered an attempt to bewitch. Among the Dyers of the White Nile the nsnal salatation, when two people meet, is to spit on each other. The spitting is a token of affection and good-will. In Central Africa, on the seventh day after birth, the priest spits thrice on the child's face.10 When a South African Bakwain sees an alligator, he says, " There is Sin," and spits on the ground. The West African negro will not pass the rock or tree where a spirit lives without laying or it a leaf, a shell and some spittle.12 When Mungo Park (1800) started on his journey up the Niger, his Negro guide picked up a stone, murmured some words over it, spat on it, and threw it in front to drir away evil influences. Here the stone is a spirit-bome, the words made a spirit pass into the stone, the spittle kept the spirit from harm, and the spirit, coaxed into becoming a guardian, drove off all other spirits. In North-East Africa, certain tribes salute by spitting into each other's faces. The traveller Johnson was much sought after as a medicine-man, and his salute
Government of India Records, Home Department, Vol. V. p. 52. ol Folk-Lore Record, Vol. IV. p. 133.
3 Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. xv. Dubois, Vol. I. p. 177. Seafield's Dreams, Vol. I. p. 414; Napier's Folk-Lore, p. 101. Lenormant's Chaldean Magic, p. 213. * Fornander's Polynesian Races, Vol. I. p. 83. 07 Descriptive Sociology, No. 8, p. iv. ** Hay's Western Barbary, p. 100.
9 Hahn's Touni Goam, p. 82. 190 Park's Travels, Vol. I. p. 48.
1 Barton's Dahomey, Vol. I. p. 259. • Cameron's Across Africa, Vol. II. p. 82. Stanley's Dark Continent, Vol. I. p. 253. • Park's Travels, Vol. I. p. 260.
• Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 272. • Barton's Visit to Dahomey, Vol. I. p. 361. "Sibree's Madagascar, D. 286: Polk. Lore Record, Vol. II. p. 37. • Thomson's Laker of Central Africa, Vol. II. p. 164,
Schweinfurth's Heart of Africa, Vol. I. p. 205. 10 Tylor's Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 481. 11 Dr. Livingstone's Travels in South Africa, p. 255. 11 Reville les Religions des Peuples non-Civilisé., Vol. II. (1) p. 73.
18 Reference mislaid.
