Spiritism Among the Esquimaux.
By Prof. Sountag
THE religion of the Esquimaux is, of all curious systems of theology, the most curious. Nevertheless they are not polytheists, demon-worshipers, nor even idolators, in the common acceptance of that term. They believe in one Supreme Deity, whom they call Toongarsoon; likewise in a devil, who is of the feminine gender, but whose proper name, if she has one, I could never ascertain. Their god is supposed to reside in a handsome stone dwelling, situated somewhere in the sea. His occupation, according to their notion, is a very benevolent one; for he is said to keep large herds of seals, sea-horses, etc., for the express purpose of providing entertainments for the souls of good men, which are transported immediately after death to the apartments assigned them in the marine palace where his godship resides. A large apartment of this palace is said to be fitted up with cooking apparatus, on the most exstensive scale; pots and kettles of such dimensions that walruses, sea unicorns, seals, etc., in large numbers are boiled or baked therein every day, to furnish a perpetual banquet for the happy spirits of deceased Esquimaux hunters, or such of them as behaved themselves with tolerable propriety while in the flesh. Hence it will appear that the Esquimaux heaven consists of a never-ending feast of fat things, an eternity of well-cooked walrus meat and seal's blubber. The devil (a female one, remember) is supposed to be an unworthy sister of the divine Toongarsoon. She resides at some distance from her brother's palace, on an island, where game of all kinds is very scarce, where she takes charge of deceased sinners, who, under her domestic management, fare worse, if possible, than the inmates of some of the cheap boarding houses in New York. In fact, these delinquent spirits suffer the pangs of starvation, and their cries and shrieks of agony are often heard above the howlings of the Arctic gales and the angry war of the mountain torrents.—Prof. Sountag's Narrative.