[94] Schuermann, loc. cit. p. 244. Ridley, Kámilarói, p. 158. Fison and Howitt, op. cit. p. 256. Lumholtz, Among Cannibals, pp. 199, 343. Stirling, Report of the Horn Expedition to Central Australia. Part IV. Anthropology, p. 36.
[95] Curr, The Australian Race, i. 62.
[96] Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 50.
[97] Collins, English Colony in New South Wales, i. 549.
Passing to savages and barbarians who have reached a somewhat higher level of culture:—We are told by Mr. Catlin, with reference to the North American Indians, that, “to their friends, there are no people on earth that are more kind.”[98] According to Adair, “they are very kind and liberal to every one of their own tribe, even to the last morsel of food they enjoy”; Nature’s school “teaches them the plain easy rule, ‘do to others, as you would be done by.’”[99] Harmon praises the generosity of the Indians:—“They are more ready, in proportion to their means, to assist a neighbour who may be in want, than the inhabitants, generally, of civilised countries. An Indian rarely kills an animal, without sending a part of it to a neighbour if he has one near him.”[100] The Naudowessies “supply the deficiency of their friends with any superfluity of their own,” and “in dangers they readily give assistance to those of their band who stand in need of it, without any expectation of return.”[101] Among the Iroquois “kindness to the orphan, hospitality to all, and a common brotherhood, were among the doctrines held up for acceptance by their religious instructors”; an Iroquois “would surrender his dinner to feed the hungry, vacate his bed to refresh the weary, and give up his apparel to clothe the naked.”[102] Among the Omahas grades of merit or bravery were of two sorts: to the first class belonged such as had given to the poor on many occasions, and had invited guests to many feasts. To the second class belonged those who, besides having done these things many times, had killed several of the foe, and had brought home many horses. When a person sees a poor man or woman, they said, he should make presents to the unfortunate being; thus he can gain the goodwill of Wakanda as well as that of his own people.[103] The Ahts of Vancouver Island succour any one in need of help, without looking for any ulterior benefit.[104] The Aleuts were instructed to be kind to others and to refrain from selfishness; it was the custom for the successful hunter or fisher, particularly in times of scarcity, to share his prize with all, not only taking no larger share, but often less than the others.[105] Among the Eskimo about Behring Strait, whenever a successful trader accumulates property and food, and is known to work solely for his own welfare, he becomes an object of enmity and hatred among his fellow-villagers, which ends in one of two ways—the villagers may compel him to make a feast and distribute his goods, or they may kill him and divide his property among themselves.[106] According to the Greenland creed, all those who had striven and suffered for the benefit of their fellow-men should find a happy existence after death in the abodes of the supreme being, Tornarsuk.[107] “The Greenlander,” says Dr. Nansen, “is the most compassionate of creatures with regard to his neighbour. His first social law is to help others.”[108] Captain Hall holds an equally favourable opinion of those Eskimo with whom he came in contact. “As between themselves,” he says, “there can be no people exceeding them in this virtue kindness of heart. Take, for instance, times of great scarcity of food. If one family happens to have any provisions on hand, these are shared with all their neighbours. If one man is successful in capturing a seal, though his family may need it all to save them from the pangs of hunger, yet the whole of his people about, including the poor, the widow, the fatherless, are at once invited to a seal-feast.”[109] They believe that all Innuits who have been good, “that is, who have been kind to the poor and hungry,” will after death go to Koodleparmiung, or heaven, whereas those who have been bad, “that is, unkind to one another,” will go to Adleparmeun, or hell.[110] Many of the South American peoples are praised for their kind disposition of mind;[111] the Guiana Indians seemed to a Christian missionary to be “generous to a fault.”[112] The Caribs had all their interests in common, lived in great harmony, and loved each other heartily.[113]
[98] Catlin, North American Indians, ii. 241.
[99] Adair, History of the American Indians, pp. 431, 429.
[100] Harmon, op. cit. p. 349.
[101] Carver, op. cit. p. 247.
[102] Morgan, League of the Iroquois, pp. 172, 329.