240-241-242 30 373 196 obfervances are thefe:Of their divinities 66, Vefta is without competition the firft, then Jupiter, and 243 LX. Their mode of facrifice in every place ap- 166 Of their divinities.]-It is not unworthy the attention of * Papaus]-or Pappaus, fignifying father; as being, ac- fice 7, ftanding behind, throws the animal down by means of this rope; as it falls he invokes the name of the divinity to whom the facrifice is offered; he then faftens a cord round the neck of the victim, and strangles it, by winding the cord round a ftick; all this is done without fire, without li bations, or without any of the ceremonies in use amongst us. When the beaft is ftrangled, the facrificer takes off its skin, and prepares to dress it. LXI. As Scythia is very barren of wood, they have the following contrivance to drefs the fleth of the victim:-Having flayed the animal, they ftrip the flesh from the bones, and if they have them at hand, they throw it into certain pots made in Scythia, and resembling the Lesbian caldrons, though fomewhat larger; under these a fire is made with the bones 68. If thefe pots cannot be procured, they enclofe 1 Who offers the facrifice.]-Montfaucon, in his account of the gods of the Scythians, apparently gives a tranflation of this paffage, except that he fays" the facrificing priest, after having turned afide part of his veil:" Herodotus fays no fuch thing, nor does any writer on this fubject which I have had the opportunity of confulting.-T. 68 Fire is made with the bones.]-Montfaucon remarks on this paffage, that he does not fee how this could be done. Resources equally extraordinary feem to be applied in the eaftern countries, where there is a great fcarcity of fuel. In Perfia it appears from Sir John Chardin they burn heath; in Arabia they burn cow-dung; and according to Dr. Ruffel they burn parings of fruit, and fuch like things. The prophet Ezekiel was ordered to bake his food with human dang. See Ezekiel, chap. iv. 32 enclose the flesh with a certain quantity of water in the paunch of the victim, and make a fire with the bones as before. The bones being very inflammable, and the paunch without difficulty made to contain the flesh separated from the bone, the ox is thus made to drefs itself, which is alfo the cafe with the other victims. When the whole is ready, he who facrifices throws with fome folemnity before him the entrails, and the more choice pieces.They facrifice different animals, but horfes in par ticular. LXII. Such are the facrifices and ceremonies obferved with refpect to their other deities; but to the god Mars the particular rites which are paid are thefe-In every district they conftruct a temple to this divinity of this kind; bundles of small wood are heaped together, to the length of three ftadia, and quite as broad, but not fo high; the top is a regular fquare, three of the fides are fteep and broken, but the fourth is an inclined plane forming 12. Thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man." Voltaire, in his remarks on this paffage, pretends to understand that the prophet was to eat the dung with his food." Comme il n'eft point d'ufage de manger de telles confitures fur fon pain, la plupart des hommes trouvent ces commandemens indignés de la Majefté divin." The paffage alluded to admits of no fuch inference: but it may be concluded, that the burning of bones for the purpose of fuel was not a very unusual circumftance, from another paffage in Ezekiel See chap. xxiv. 5. "Take also the choice of the flock, and burn the bones under it, and make it boil well." T. the afcent. To this place are every year brought one hundred and fifty waggons full of these bundles of wood, to repair the structure, which the severity of the climate is apt to deftroy. Upon the fummit of fuch a pile each Scythian tribe places an ancient fcymetar 9, which is confidered as the fhrine of Mars and is annually honoured by the facrifice of fheep and horfes; indeed to this deity more victims are offered than to all the other divinities. It is their custom alfo to facrifice every hundredth сарtive, but in a different manner from their other victims. Having poured libations upon their heads, they cut their throats into a veffel placed for the purpose. With this, carried to the fummit of the pile, they besmear the above-mentioned scymetar. Whilft this is doing above, the following ceremony is obferved below:-From thefe human victims they cut off the right arms clofe to the fhoulder, and throw them up into the air. This 69 Ancient fcymetar.]-It was natural enough that the Scythians fhould adore with peculiar devotion the god of war; but as they were incapable of forming either an abstract idea, or a corporeal reprefentation, they worshipped their tutelar deity under the fymbol of an iron cimeter.Gibbon. In addition to this iron cymetar or cimeter, Lucian tells us that the Scythians worshipped Zamolxis as a god. See alfo Ammianus Marcellinus, xxx. 2.-Nec templum apud eos vifitur, aut delubrum, ne tugurium quidem culmo tectum cerni ufquam poteft, fed gladius Barbarico ritu humi figitur nudus, eumque et Martem regionem quas circumcircant præfulem verecundius colunt. Larcher, who quotes the above paffage from Am. Mar. tells us from Varro, that anciently at Rome the point of a spear was confidered as a reprefentation of Mars.-T. ceremony ceremony being performed on each victim severally, they depart: the arms remain where they happen to fall, the bodies elfewhere. LXIII. The above is a description of their fa crifices. Swine are never used for this purpose, as they will not fuffer them to be kept in their coun try. 34 LXIV. Their military cuftoms are thefe Every Scythian drinks the blood of the firft per! fon he flays; the heads of all the enemies who fall by his hand in battle he presents to his king: this offering entitles him to a fhare of the plunder, which he could not otherwife claim. Their mode of ftripping the fkin from the head is this! they 7 The fkin from the bead.]-To cut off the heads of enemies Aain in battle, feems no unnatural action amongst a race of fierce and warlike barbarians. The art of scalping the head was probably introduced to avoid the trouble and fatigue of carrying thefe fanguinary trophies to any confiderable distance, Many incidents which are here related of the Scythians, will neceffarily remind the reader of what is told of the native Americans. The following war fong, from Boffu's Travels through Louisiana, places the refemblance in a striking point of view:-" I go to war to revenge the death of my brothers-I hall kill-I fhall exterminate-I hall burn my enemies-I fhall bring away flaves-I shall devour their hearts, dry their fleth, drink their blood-I fhall tear off their fcalps, and make cups off their fculls." The quickness and dexterity with which the Indians perform the horrid operation of fcalping, is too well known to require any deftription. This coincidence of manners is very ftriking, and |