t, was seeking to
devour the Sun and Moon, would dance and howl in concert all night long
to scare him away. The Peruvians, imagining such an evil spirit in the
shape of a monstrous beast, raised the like frightful din when the Moon
was eclipsed, shouting, sounding musical instruments, and beating the
dogs to join their howl to the hideous chorus.[536:3]

The starry band that lies like a road across the sky, known as the
_milky way_, is called by the Basutos (a South African tribe of
savages), "The Way of the Gods;" the Ojis (another African tribe of
savages), say it is the "Way of Spirits," which souls go up to heaven
by. North American tribes know it as "the Path of the Master of Life,"
the "Path of Spirits," "the Road of Souls," where they travel to the
land beyond the grave.[536:4]

It is almost a general belief among the inhabitants of Africa, and was
so among the inhabitants of Europe and Asia, that monkeys were once men
and women, and that they can even now really speak, but judiciously hold
their tongues, lest they should be made to work. This idea was found as
a serious matter of belief, in Central and South America.[536:5] "The
Bridge of the Dead," which is one of the marked myths of the Old World,
was found in the New.[536:6]

It is well known that the natives of South America told the Spaniards
that inland there was to be found a fountain, the waters of which turned
old men back into youths, and how Juan Ponce de Leon fitted out two
caravels, and went to seek for this "Fountain of Youth." Now, the
"Fountain of Youth" is known to the mythology of India.[536:7]

The myth of foot-prints stamped into the rocks by gods or mighty men, is
to be found among the inhabitants of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Egyptians, Greeks, Brahmans, Buddhists, Moslems, and Christians, have
adopted it as relics each from their own point of view, and _Mexican_
eyes could discern in the solid rock at Tlanepantla the mark of hand and
foot left by the mighty Quetzalcoatle.[536:8]

The Incas, in order to preserve purity of race, married their own
sisters, as did the Kings of Persia, and other Oriental nations.[537:1]

The Peruvian embalming of the royal dead takes us back to _Egypt_; the
burning of the wives of the deceased Incas reveals _India_; the
singularly patriarchical character of the whole Peruvian policy is like
that of _China_ in the olden time; while the system of espionage, of
tranquillity, of physical well-being, and the i