n Swift to the
Yahoos, so foul an origin does it allot to mankind.

(1) Meyer, Aborigines of Encounter Bay. See, later, "Gods of the Lowest
Races".

Australian myths of creation are by no means exclusive of a hypothesis
of evolution. Thus the Dieyrie, whose notions Mr. Gason has recorded,
hold a very mixed view. They aver that "the good spirit" Moora-Moora
made a number of small black lizards, liked them, and promised them
dominion. He divided their feet into toes and fingers, gave them noses
and lips, and set them upright. Down they fell, and Moora-Moora cut off
their tails. Then they walked erect and were men.(1) The conclusion of
the adventures of one Australian creator is melancholy. He has ceased to
dwell among mortals whom he watches and inspires. The Jay possessed many
bags full of wind; he opened them, and Pund-jel was carried up by the
blast into the heavens. But this event did not occur before Pund-jel had
taught men and women the essential arts of life. He had shown the former
how to spear kangaroos, he still exists and inspires poets. From the
cosmogonic myths of Australia (the character of some of which is in
contradiction with the higher religious belief of the people to be
later described) we may turn, without reaching a race of much higher
civilisation, to the dwellers in the Andaman Islands and their opinions
about the origin of things.

(1) Gason's Dieyries, ap. Native Tribes of South Australia, p. 20.

The Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, are remote from any shores,
and are protected from foreign influences by dangerous coral reefs,
and by the reputed ferocity and cannibalism of the natives. These are
Negritos, and are commonly spoken of as most abject savages. They are
not, however, without distinctions of rank; they are clean, modest,
moral after marriage, and most strict in the observance of prohibited
degrees. Unlike the Australians, they use bows and arrows, but are
said to be incapable of striking a light, and, at all events, find the
process so difficult that, like the Australians and the farmer in the
Odyssey,(1) they are compelled "to hoard the seeds of fire". Their
mythology contains explanations of the origin of men and animals, and of
their own customs and language.

(1) Odyssey, v. 490.

The Andamanese, long spoken of as "godless," owe much to Mr. Man, an
English official, who has made a most careful study of their beliefs.(1)
So extraordinary is the contradiction