Several writers who are quoted, whilst they deny the existence of any notion of religion among a particular people, mention facts which are incompatible with that statement. I may also say, parenthetically, that to detect or elicit the sentiment of religion in others, one must have something of the sentiment in ourselves; _e.g._ there is the instance of Kolben (Lubbock, p. 469), "who, _in spite_ of the assertions of the natives themselves, _felt quite sure_ that certain dances _must be_ of a religious character, let the Hottentots say what they will." Now I must say there is great _à priori_ probability in the truth of Kolben's conviction, although he was probably led to it merely by the insight of his own mind. Let it be taken in connection with the following evidence in Washington Irving's "Life of Columbus," iii. 122-124:-- "The _dances_ to which the natives seemed so immoderately addicted, and which had been _at first_ considered by the Spaniards mere idle pastimes, were _found_ to be often _ceremonials of a serious and mystic character_." Again--"Peter Martyn observes that they performed these dances to the chant of certain metres and ballads _handed down from_ generation to generation, in which were rehearsed the deeds of their ancestors. Some of these ballads were of a _sacred_ character, containing their _traditional_ notions of theology, and the superstitions and fables which comprised their religious creeds." Pritchard, "Researches into Phys. Hist. of Man" (i. p. 205), quoting Oldendorp, and speaking of the African negroes, says:--"At the annual harvest feast, which _nearly all_ the nations of Guinea solemnise, thank-offerings are brought to the Deity. These festivals are days of rejoicing, which the negroes pass with feasting and dancing." _Vide_ also "Hist. of Indian Tribes of North America, 120 portraits from the Ind. Gal. in Depart. of War at Washington, by T. M'Kenney (late Ind. Dep. Wash.) and J. Hall of Cincinnati" (Philadelphia, 1837). "Dancing is among the most prominent of the aboriginal _ceremonies_; there is no tribe in which it is not practised. The Indians have their _war_ dance and their _peace_ dance, their dance of _mourning for the dead_, their _begging_ dance, their pipe dance, their green-corn dance, and their Wabana (an offering to the devil). Each of these is distinguished by some peculiarity ... though to a stranger they appear much alike, except the last.... It is a ceremony and not a recreation, and is conducted with a seriousness belonging to an important public duty."