[120] The _pĕtara_ of the Borneans is at times used as a personal name of the chief divine being, at others in the vague sense of “duty” or “supernatural.” Ling Roth, _Natives of Sarawak_, vol. i., 179. Analogous instances have already been mentioned.
[122] Sir George Grey, _Polynesian Mythology_, p. 164.
[123] Hyades et Deniker, _Mission Scientifique au Cap Horn_, p. 376. Earlier voyagers write: “They certainly have ideas of a spiritual existence.”—_Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle_, vol. ii., p. 179.
[124] _Ancient Nahuatl Poetry_ (Philadelphia, 1890); _Rig Veda Americanus_ (Philadelphia, 1890).
[125] Dr. W. Matthews, _The Mountain Chant of the Navahoes_, p. 465.
[126] Clark, _Indian Sign Language_, p. 309.
[127] Sahagun, _Hist. de Nueva España_, lib. vi. Other examples are given by this writer.
[128] _Encyclopédie des Sciences Religieuses_, s. v. Prière.
[129] Other forms are _tapui_, to make sacred; _tabui_, to keep from; _tabuaki_, to bless. Here, as elsewhere, there is a synonomy between “sacred” or “holy” and “accursed,” because it is accursed to defile that which is holy. Another, and less probable, derivation is given by Frazer, in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, s. v. “Taboo.” He is perfectly right, however, in saying that the original form of the _tabu_ is due, not to its civil, but to its religious element.
[130] Klemm, _Culturgeschichte_, vol. ii., pp. 368, _sq._, after Steller, who visited Kamschatka about 1740.
[131] Man, in _Jour. Anthrop. Society_, vol. xii., pp. 159, 173.
[132] Authorities above quoted, and Darwin, _Descent of Man_, p. 95.
[133] For abundant examples of the _tabu_ in various nations see Frazer’s article in the _Encyc. Britannica_ above referred to.
[135] Filling in manuscript, he says, seventy-seven quarto volumes, and far from exhausting the supply! _Bushman Folk-lore_, p. 6. (London, 1875.)
[137] Morice, _Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada_, 1892, p. 125.
[138] This branch of the subject has been fully discussed by Keary, _Outlines of Prim. Belief_, Preface and chapter i.; and Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, _passim_.
[139] See _Myths of the New World_, chap. iii.; also, an article on symbolism in ancient American art, by Prof. Putnam and Mr. Willoughby in _Proc. Am. Ass. Adv. Science_, vol. xliv., p. 302.