At the conclusion, they spit, upon their
hands, and rub them over their faces. This seems to be nearly the same
ceremony which prevailed among the Heathens in the days of Job.[17]
[17] Chap. xxxi. ver. 26, 27, 28.
Great attention, however, is paid to the changes of this luminary in its
monthly course; and it is thought very unlucky to begin a journey, or any
other work of consequence, in the last quarter. An eclipse, whether of
the sun or moon, is supposed to be effected by witchcraft. The stars are
very little regarded; and the whole study of astronomy appears to them as
a useless pursuit, and attended to by such persons only as deal in magic.
Their notions of geography are equally puerile. They imagine that the
world is an extended plain, the termination of which no eye has
discovered; it being, they say, overhung with clouds and darkness. They
describe the sea as a large river of salt water, on the farther shore of
which is situated a country called _Tobaubo doo_; "the land of the white
people." At a distance from Tobaubo doo, they describe another country,
which they allege is inhabited by cannibals of gigantic size, called
_Koomi_. This country they call _Jong sang doo_, "the land where the
slaves are sold." But of all countries in the world their own appears to
them as the best, and their own people as the happiest; and they pity the
fate of other nations, who have been placed by Providence in less fertile
and less fortunate districts.
