SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ON SAVAGES.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 6962, 16 January 1888, Page 6

SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ON SAVAGES.

In connection with the series of winter lectures given at the Royal Victoria Hall, Waterloo Bridge road, Siv John Lubbock, on November 22nd, addressed a numerous audience in that building on the customs and ideas of savages. Mr S. W. Preston presided. Our empire, Sir John Lubbock ' pointed out, was inhabited by races in every stage of progress, and it was Important that Englishmen should under, stand, as far as possible, tho ideas, wants ' aud wishes of their fellow .subjectsla - other parts of the world. So. varied were ideas and customs that we had great diffl. culty, sometimes, in understanding the natives, and they us. For instance, onAustralian race could not understand the yoking of oxen, taking the horns for spears hi the head, and the animals for wives of their owners, because they carried the baggage. Some races did not know the method of showing affection by kissing. The uegroes never kissed until they were taught by tbe white people. He remembered that when he stated this on the first occasion, a West Indian negro wrote him in abusive style for making such a statement, and threatened to drink his heart's blood. Among the Esquimaux it was considered a compliment to pull a man's nose, and in some tribes it was deemed a gracious salute to apply the thumb to the nose. The Chinese held it a thoughtful action to present an ailing relative with a cofffn, The "medicine man" among African negroes endeavored to exorcise the evil spirit with which he supposed the patient Avas tenanted; in some instances he took the medicine himself—a custom which had its advantages for the patient, but was not conducive to a large 1 practice. In other parts of the world, In case of a birth, it was not the mother, but the father, who was put to bed and carefully nursed. Again, the children of a marriage were not considered as belonging to the father, but as of the mother's family, insomuch that when the father left property it went not to his own offspring, bnt to his sister's. "Unfortunately, in many instances, savages treateel their wives as mere property, and, in fact, they were often the captives of war. Where that was not the case ceremony of marriage ' frequently consisted of a form of capture. Among an Australian tribe blows inflicted by relatives on the head illustrated capture and marriage. In a Central Asian tribe the bride was put on a horse and was followed by the bridegroom on another horse, and if ho failed to catch her within a certain time the marriage was considered as not having taken place. An uuwilling bride took care not to be caught. Arithmetic was a puzzle among savages. The Australian tribes had no equivalent for" five," and when they got to that number they said "many. 11 Writing, j-uzzling to savages. In South America on one' occasion., a native was sent by a missionary to a frienel with a note and four loaves of bread. The native ateone on the way, and was amazed; r to find that the note discovered his theft. On the next occasion that he was sent -y with four loaves he sat on the note while eating oue of them. In North America writing was considered a charm. One native, seeing a white man reading a V newspaper, considered he was doing so,. for the benefit of sore eyes; another put writing on , a wall and washed it off, giving the water to the; patient to drink. Mahommedans ex• plained the fact that writing was not ft;-,.. charm against dreams by stating that they Were not invented at the time oi Mahomet. The religious ideas of savages, where they had not risen in the human scale, gave rise to horrible cruelties and grim superstitions. As they progressed, curious difficulties arose. A missionary asked an Australian tribe what was their word for sin, and he understood them la reply " thin. He used the word in pointing out how badly a man stood who sinned. Shortly he found the natives eating as much as they could, that they might not fall under the ban of the sinner. The North American Indians believed in spirits Inhabiting nature. The Lake of Saratoj*a was supposed to be inhabited by a spirit who would not permit anyone to talk*. Mrs Thompson, rowed across by two native's, talked in ths middle of the passage that she might convince them ot their error. The Indian chief replied with dignity, "Tho Spirit is merciful, and kuows that white women cannot hold their tongues." Sir John Lubbock then *' fave several interesting illustrations el urial customs, among thetn notably that of being killed before vigor has departed, that a life of vigor might be lived in the future state; and concluded by drawing tho moral that an acquaintance with all the ways of the many races within out Empire would lead to a better understanding of their feelings and r wishes, would facilitate government, and would be of mutual benefit to the ruler _njj ruled. Such an investigation wouia prove that although there had been . exceptional periods of degradation, on the whole the history of mankind had been one of progress, and that we might lew* forward to the future of other races with confidence and hope.