hich he hangs round his
neck, and wears as a sacred relic. Some of the tribes on the Perene
and Capanegua do not, like most wild nations, respect the remains of
the dead, but throw the bodies into the forest unburied, to be
devoured by beasts of prey.

Very little is correctly known of the religion of the Peruvian Indios
Bravos. All believe in the existence of superior beings, and distinguish
them as good and evil; and they are accordingly venerated from
gratitude, or from fear. The former they regard as beneficent; but the
latter as having the power of bringing into exercise all the destroying
forces of nature. These people, therefore, find in the sky, in the air,
and on the earth, objects for their adoration. Certain constellations
are regarded as favorable phenomena, while others are looked at with a
secret horror. The sun is by all gladly worshipped, more particularly by
the descendants of those who in early times stood in connexion with the
Incas. On the other hand, they pay but a reluctant tribute to the moon,
perhaps because by its pale light fearful images are reflected around
them in the forests, and because its phases are to them involved in
impenetrable mystery. They ascribe thunder and lightning to demoniacal
influences, and to the same origin they attribute certain winds which
have an injurious influence on their health. But their religious notions
are not connected exclusively with the phenomena of nature, which are to
them inexplicable. With all their ideas on surrounding nature, two
conflicting principles are invariably connected, one of which is
believed to be beneficial, the other injurious to them. In the animals
of the forest, the plants, the stones, in everything, they trace these
beneficent or demoniacal powers. Every idea, every action is with them a
consequence of the influence of one of these two powers, and free will
is impossible. Though a rude materialism cripples the intelligence of
these Indians, yet they seem to be sensible of the connexion between
that which is perceptible to their senses, and something
higher--something beyond the sphere of corporeal perception. But of the
nature of this higher something they have no comprehension, nor do they
endeavor to render to themselves any account of it. They are satisfied
with an obscure idea of the difference between the visible and the
invisible; but still this idea is so contracted that they always give to
the spiritual a corporeal form: and t