rain has fallen, that they may have fair weather; thus, also, in case of winds, storms, and everything, they would either deprecate or implore.”[1] Amongst the Barotse, a tribe on the upper Zambesi, “there is an old, but waning belief, that a chief is a demigod, and in heavy thunderstorms the Barotse flock to the chief’s yard for protection from the lightning. I have been greatly distressed at seeing them fall on their knees before the chief, entreating him to open the water-pots of heaven and send rain upon their gardens. . . . The king’s servants declare themselves to be invincible, because they are the servants of God (meaning the king).”[2] The chief of Mowat, New Guinea, is believed to have the power of affecting the growth of crops for good or ill, and of coaxing the dugong and turtle to come from all parts and allow themselves to be taken.[3]
Amongst the Antaymours of Madagascar the king is responsible for the growth of the crops and for every misfortune that befalls the people.[4] In many places the king is punished if rain does not fall and the crops do not turn out well. Thus, in some parts of West Africa, when prayers and offerings presented to the king have failed to procure rain, his subjects bind him with ropes and take him by force to the grave of his forefathers, that he may obtain from them the needed rain.[5] It appears that the Scythians also, when food was scarce, put their king in bonds.[6] The Banjars in
- ↑ Dos Santos, “History of Eastern Ethiopia,” in Pinkerton, Voyages and Travels, xvi. 682, 687 sq.
- ↑ F. S. Arnot, Garengauze; or Seven Years’ Pioneer Mission Work in Central Africa, London, N.D. (preface dated March 1889), p. 78.
- ↑ MS. notes by E. Beardmore.
- ↑ Waitz, Anthropologie der Naturvölker, ii. 439.
- ↑ Labat, Relation historique de l’Ethiopie Occidentale, ii. 172-176.
- ↑ Schol. on Apollonius Rhod. ii. 1248 καὶ Ἡρόδωρος ξένως τερὶ τῶν δεσμῶν τοῦ Προμηθέως ταῦτα. Εἶναι γὰρ αὐτὸν Σκυθῶν βασιλέα φησί καὶ μὴ δυνάμενον παρέχειν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις τὰ ἐπιτήδεια, διὰ τὸν καλούμενον Ἀετὸν ποταμὸν ἐπικλύζειν τὰ πεδία, δεθῆνια ὑπὸ τῶν Σκυθῶν.
