The course of the sun determines the variation between day and night, and causes the natural phases of the year. From the position of the sun the times of the day can be given with ease and certainty, but not so the seasons of the year,—to the exceptions I shall recur in chapter XII. From the fixed stars the hours of the night can be determined, and still more frequently are the seasons regulated by them. But this kind of time-determination necessarily refers to points of time, and not to periods. Only for one or two days has the star the position which serves for the determination of time. No division of the year into parts can be carried out by this method, the most that can be done is to regulate the already existing divisions by it.
As well as the sun and the fixed stars the moon appears in the heavens. It does not entirely vanish before the sunlight like the fixed stars, in the night-time its light eclipses that of the smaller stars. Its shape, the strength of its light, and the time of its appearance vary quite perceptibly from day to day. As long as the human race has existed, man’s attention must have been drawn to the moon. The course of the moon, thanks to the rapid revolution of the planet round the earth, forms a shorter unit, which steps in between day and year. The shorter interval of time defined by it, unlike the too lengthy period of the year, is easily kept in mind and taken in at a glance. This unit has further its peculiar characteristics. In the first place it has nothing to do with the natural phases conditioned by the course of the sun: it is in fact incommensurable with the seasons. In the second place it immediately obtrudes itself into notice as a unit. The time-reckoning according to the moon is in its nature continuous. One moon follows another with a short interruption, to which at first little attention is paid: for compared with the 27–28 days in which the moon can be seen in the sky the 1–2 days in which it is invisible are little noticed. The phases of the moon represent a gradual waxing and waning, a continuous development. The principle of continuous time-reckoning is therefore suggested by the moon, in opposition to the time-indications from natural phases and from the stars.
The observation of the moon is often said to be the oldest form of time-reckoning. This statement involves a certain danger, viz. the overlooking of the fact that the time-indications from natural phases and from the stars—as I hope has been shewn above—are just as primitive and must be just as old. But if by time-reckoning the continuous principle and measure of time are implied the statement is in that sense true. The moon is indeed the first chronometer, and this fact is due to the nature of its concrete appearance, which draws attention to the duration, and not to the point, of time. And this, as always, is the starting-point: practically everywhere the month as a unit of enumeration or a measure is denoted by the same word as the moon. The linguistic distinction between ‘moon’ and ‘month’ only follows at a stage which primitive peoples still living have not yet reached. All peoples know the moon and use it for time-reckoning. Of the S. American Indians, who observe the stars so well, it is stated that the month is everywhere the natural division of time[623].
While the human mind therefore arrives only gradually at the conception of the year, the month is already given by the natural phenomenon. Consequently it is only to be expected that it should be expressly stated that the revolution of the moon determines the greatest measure of time[624], and that we should find peoples who can count reckoning by months and not by years. Thus, for example, it was often said in southern Nigeria: “I sold this canoe to him eight moons ago”[625]. As in the counting of the years a well-known event is used as a starting-point, so it is also with the months. In the New Hebrides they said:—“Two moons have gone since this or that event took place”[626]. But this principle has not prevailed in the counting of the months, since it gives too many months in the course of one human life, and since the months are drawn into another connexion, to which the following chapter is devoted. Only in one case is a reckoning of this nature common, viz. in pregnancy. Examples are superfluous, but I give at least one:—The Samoan woman looks at the moon and expects the beginning of menstruation at a quite definite position of that planet, each woman naturally having a different position of the moon in view. If menstruation does not take place then, she perceives that she is pregnant, and expects her confinement after ten moon-months[627].
No attention is paid at first to the number of days in the month: many primitive peoples cannot even count so far as thirty. A significant passage in a Ho text originating from a native runs:—“The months are reckoned from the moon (the same word is used for both), which stands in the sky. When the moon appears, remains long in the heavens, and then again for a short time is invisible, we say that a month has just gone. We know nothing about the number of days constituting a month. When we see the moon and then it is lost again a month has gone”[628]. A native Basuto says that little regard is paid as to counting the number of days in any month, since the bulky moon itself fills up the deficiency[629]. When men begin to count the days great uncertainty at first prevails: in Buin, for example, the statements vary between 15 and 31 days[630]; the Caffre month is said to have 25 days. Apparently only the time during which the moon is visible is at first counted. So it is said of the Caffres that they count the month from the phases of the moon during its visibility, and that the days of its invisibility are not counted: the moon has gone to sleep[631]. For the Basuto on the other hand only expressions for the two days of the moon’s invisibility are mentioned: the first, ‘the moon has gone into the dark’, the second, ‘the moon is greeted by the apes’, since this animal can see the moon sooner than man[632]. The Ibo-speaking peoples also reckon only 28 days to the month[633], and so do the Dakota[634]. It is only natural that the days of the darkness should soon be included, so that the following month follows directly upon the preceding; many peoples say, like the Banyankole, that the month lasts 29 days: for 28 days the moon is visible, and for one day hidden[635]. As always, therefore, the concrete phenomenon is the starting point. Here, however, not only the varying shape of the moon, not only its phases, are taken into account, but also, as in the case of the sun and the stars, its position in the sky. On the analogy of the rising and setting of the stars the new moon can be described as the evening setting, the full moon as the evening rising or morning setting, and the disappearing of the moon as the morning rising of that planet. A description of this nature, of course without the above scientific terminology, does occur, but in isolated instances. In the above-mentioned Ho text a further passage runs:—“When the moon appears and comes nearer, we say ‘it stands overhead’. After this it stands in the middle (of the sky). When the moon does not rise until after night-fall we say that it ‘stands on the edge (of the sky)’. When it does not rise until very long after night-fall we say ‘it shines unto day-break’. When the moon is once more on the wane, it will not be long before another appears.” Other expressions are:—‘the moon falls upon the forest’, i. e. stands low on the horizon, ‘it sleeps in the open air’, when it is in the sky at day-break[636]. At the south of Lake Nyassa the day of the month is denoted by indicating the position of the moon in the sky at day-break[637]. Of the Seminole of Florida it is reported that the months seem to be divided simply into days, and that the latter are, at least in part, described by reference to the successive positions of the moon in the sky at sunset. When our informant asked a native how long he would remain at his present camp, he answered by pointing to the new moon in the west, and sweeping his hand from west to east to the spot where the moon would be when he should go home. He meant to answer, “About ten days hence”[638].
To indicate the day by the position of the moon in the sky is however exceptional, and it is just as exceptional for descriptions of the day according to the position of the moon to be consistently carried out. The Ewe tribes also have expressions which refer to the shapes of the moon. These different shapes have in general attracted most attention, and serve for time-reckoning. At first the phases of the moon are distinguished only roughly, but greater and greater refinement of observation is ever being attained, until every day of the moon’s revolution is described by a name, and the names not only refer to the phases of the moon but also indicate its position in the sky.
Among the different phases of the moon’s light two stand out with especial prominence—the first appearance of the crescent of the new moon in the evening twilight, and the full moon. Both events are joyfully greeted and celebrated among many peoples, in particular the appearance of the new moon, the full moon also, but not so often. The explanation of this fact must partly lie in the circumstance that the full moon does not suddenly appear like the new moon, but fills its disc gradually, so that the days of full moon are more numerous, instead of being one exactly determined day like the day of the new moon. Hence there may be a counting of the months in new moons instead of a continuous reckoning in moons, as when the natives of the Solomon Islands count the months which must elapse before the funeral feast by making a notch in a stick or a knot in a rope at the appearance of the new moon[639].
The hailing of the new moon with joy is wide-spread[640]. The Dieri of Australia relate that there was once no moon, so that the old men held a council and a Mura-mura gave them the moon; in order that they might know when to hold their ceremonies, he gave them a new moon at certain intervals[641]. Heathen Eskimos in West Greenland celebrate at every new moon a feast with a performance of the sorceror, an extinguishing of lamps, and the barter of women[642]. The Patagonians welcome the new moon by patting their heads and murmuring an incantation[643]. Certain tribes of North America at the eagerly expected appearance of the new moon uttered loud cries and stretched out their hands towards it[644]. The Natchez of Louisiana at every new moon celebrated a feast which took its name from the principal fruits reaped in the preceding moon, or from the animals that were usually hunted then[645]. In the villages of Port Moresby (British New Guinea) the people at the first sight of the new moon give a prolonged somewhat shrill cry which is taken up by all and repeated in chorus: there is no mention of any time-reckoning[646]. On the southern side of Dutch New Guinea we learn that the first sight of the new moon was signalised by a short sharp bark rather than a shout. Several times on the day following the first sight of the new moon our authority noticed that a spear decorated with white feathers was exposed in a conspicuous place in the village. The author states that he is unable to say whether this custom had any connection with the calendar[647]. In Buin at the appearance of the quarter (sic!) of the new moon the people immediately utter the ‘war-cry’, ‘so that the new moon may not break the cocoa-nuts’. When the new moon comes up, the people of Buin trill with their under-lip, plucking at it with the forefinger and at the same time sending out a high note (‘a’). In Lambutjo the people howl and strike themselves on the mouth with their hands, at the same time uttering ‘a’, so that a kind of quacking is heard. On the Gazelle Peninsula the natives put their forefingers in their mouths and trill a high ‘u’, the result being a gurgling noise[648].
The same custom recurs in Africa. When the Bushmen catch sight of the new moon they pray:—“Young Moon! Hail, Young Moon, hail, hail, Young Moon! Young Moon, speak to me, hail, hail, Young Moon! Tell me of something! Hail, hail! When the sun rises, Thou must speak to me, that I may eat something. Thou must speak to me about a little thing, that I may eat. Hail, hail, Young Moon!”[649]. The Bechuana watch most eagerly for the first glimpse of the new moon, and when they perceive the faint outline after the sun has set deep in the west, they utter a loud shout of kua! and vociferate prayers to it, e. g. “Let our journey with the white man be prosperous!”[650]. The Ba-Ronga always greet the apparition of the new moon with cheers. The first person who sees it shouts kengelekezee (kenge = ‘half-moon shaped’), and this exclamation is repeated from one village to another. According to a Nkuma informant the day of the new moon is shimusi, a day of rest. The appearance of the crescent was carefully examined. If the horns were turned towards the earth, this shewed that there was nothing to fear, the dangers of the month had been poured out. If the opposite was the case, it shewed that the moon was full of weapons and misfortunes[651]. As soon as the new moon is seen, the Banyankole of Uganda come out of their huts and clap their hands. Everyone lights a fire in front of his hut and lets it burn for four days continuously. A number of royal drums are brought out and beaten without cessation for four days[652]. The Wadschagga climb a hill in order to see the crescent properly, and pray at its appearance:—“One, two, three, four (the day of the new moon is reckoned as the fourth day of the month), give me peace, give me food, send me blessing, and drive want far away. O my moon, break him (my enemy) neck and throat!” Since in the evening so many curses are uttered, this day is also termed an evil day. Its peculiarities decide the character of the whole month. For this reason no one should go to rest on this evening hungry or only half-satisfied, or else he will be hungry the whole month long. The master of the house admonishes his wife:—“Day of the moon! Honour the moon, and go in quest of food for the children, that they may not go to sleep hungry every day.” On this day no legal business is done and no debts are paid. But whoever can manage to get his debt paid on that day will have luck and his possessions will increase[653]. This custom is of a highly developed order and exactly resembles the well-known ancient Roman and modern New Year superstition, in which moreover the new moon also plays a prominent part; one can hardly avoid suspecting foreign influence. At Nibo when the new moon comes out they salute it with:—“u-u, don’t let disease catch me, or a bad moon!”; the Ibo celebrate a children’s festival at the time of the new moon[654].
The full moon also gives rise to special feasts: half Africa dances in the light of the nights of full moon. The Bushmen, for example, never neglected the dance at the time of the new and full moon. Dancing began with the new moon and was continued at the full moon[655]. In Dahomey the festivals take place at full moon, the days being fixed by the native government[656]. This is also the case elsewhere. The people of Timor on the night of the full moon dance from night-fall till sunrise: the dancing songs are principally of an erotic character[657]. On the Nicobars at new and full moon feasts were celebrated in which great quantities of an intoxicating beverage prepared from the juice of the cocoa-palm were drunk[658]. The Celtic Iberians of ancient Spain assembled outside their gates on the nights of full moon and celebrated a feast and danced in honour of an unknown god[659]. Who can help thinking here of the well-known words of Tacitus about the Germans?—“Their meetings are, except in case of chance emergencies, on fixed days, either at new moon or full moon: such seasons they believe to be the most auspicious for beginning business”[660]. A fact is here mentioned to which we shall recur below, viz. that the feasts and religious festivals are often celebrated during the time of full moon. This is due not only to the full light of the moon but also to the world-wide idea that everything which is to prosper belongs to the time of the waxing moon, and above all to the days when it has reached its complete phase[661].
New moon and full moon, therefore, by the religious significance attached to them, prove themselves to have been the two phases which were first observed. It is certainly no mere accident that in a word-list of an Australian tribe, the Kakadu of North Territory, only terms for new moon and full moon exist (malpa nigeri and mirrawarra malpa respectively)[662]. Starting from these two phases, the whole period of the moon can be divided into two halves, formed by the waxing and the waning moon. The phases are the same in both halves, but follow one another in the inverse order. Hence they can be described by the same word, with an additional word for the half of the month: but this is only vouched for in one instance, viz. for the Mendalam Kayan of Borneo[663]. On the other hand this division is extremely common, especially among more highly developed peoples, in the counting of the days of the month, to which I return below. Quite primitive peoples cannot count so far as 15, or do so only with difficulty: instead of this they distinguish still further phases of the moon.
In the next place the crescent of the wasting moon is added, so that three phases are given: waxing, culmination, and waning. Thus the Andamanese call the new moon ogur-lo-latika, the full moon ogur-dah, and the waning moon ogur-boi-kal[664]. Another writer gives different names, no doubt for another tribe:—New moon = ‘moon-baby-small’, first quarter = ‘moon-big’, full moon = ‘moon-body’, last quarter = ‘moon-thin’[665]. The literal translation shews however that this author wrongly makes these phases equivalent to our quarters; the full moon and the third quarter are not identical. In reality, besides the full moon, two phases are distinguished during the time of the waxing moon, and only one when the moon is on the wane. The Indians of Pennsylvania distinguish by special names the new, the round (i. e. the full), and the waning moon: the last-named they call the half-round moon[666]. The Negritos of Zambales have periods corresponding to the phases of the moon: the new moon they call bay’-un bu’-an, the full moon da-a’-na bu’-an, the waning moon may-a’-mo-a bu’-an[667]. In Wuwulu and Aua there were words for the full moon, the waxing and the waning moon, and for the time of the moon’s invisibility[668]. This last is not a phase in the proper sense: as soon as it was recognised, however, it was natural that it should be introduced as equivalent to the phases and should thus complete the circle of the month.
In regard to the further development of the phases it is to be noted that this does not as a rule take place with any regularity, but the phases are more specialised during the period of the waxing than in that of the waning moon. The Karaya of Central Brazil were overjoyed to note the first appearance of the crescent. Apparently five phases of the moon are distinguished, for which our authority obtained the following names from an Indian:—First crescent, ahandu loita; not yet quite full moon, ahandu laläli; full moon, djulum läaläli; last crescent, ahandu aluläna; new moon, ikona. Of these ahandu laläli denotes a phase between half and full moon: ‘there are two moons’. Probably the bright and the dark moon are meant. This was confirmed for other Indians, but without its being possible to obtain any accurate account, says our authority. The theory however fits badly, since the earth-light disappears in the second quarter, but is very prominent in the first. The people however were themselves not clear as to the succession of the phases, they gave different orders and often corrected themselves[669].
The Hottentots call the just emerging, hardly yet perceptible crescent by a name which means ‘unripe’ and is also used to denote a premature fruit. The slender shining crescent, in which the moon as it were ‘revives’, is called by a name with that significance. The first two quarters have two names common to both of them, ‘the moon which becomes great or old’, and ‘the moon which becomes wise’. In the last quarter only the slender crescent is distinguished: it is called ‘the dying moon’[670]. In exceptional cases no name for the full moon is given, but we can hardly conclude that such a name was wanting. An Australian tribe of the North Territory calls the full moon igul, the half-moon idadad, and the crescent of the new moon wurdu[671]. The terminology in Central Australia is far richer:—atninja quirka utnamma = new moon, a. q. iwuminta = half-moon, a. urterurtera = three-quarter moon, a. aluquirta = full moon[672]. No terms whatever are given for the waning moon, but that they were entirely lacking is doubtful, though it is also to be doubted whether terms for the half and three-quarter moon cannot also be applied to the waning moon. It should be noted that in Central Australia, as the words shew, the new and the full moon are the original phases.
The observation and naming of the phases of the moon long remain quite unsystematic. The names are mingled with terms arising from other circumstances. Of the Thonga of S. E. Africa it is reported:—When the first quarter appears, the moon is said to thwasa, a Zulu word which corresponds to tjhama in Thonga, and is very much used in the terminology of possessions. Eight days later it is said to basa, to be white or brilliant; full moon is said to sima or lata batjongwana, to put the little children to bed, because when it rises it finds them already sleeping on their mats. The wane is called kushwela dambo, the moon is then found by the rising sun to be still in the sky, not having yet dipped below the horizon. When at last it disappears, it is munyama, the obscurity, the moon is said to fa, to have died[673]. The position of the moon in the sky is also taken into consideration, but not to such an extent as among the Ewe tribes[674]; the latter however are also acquainted with another terminology. Full moon is called ‘the moon fits’, i. e. nothing of it is wanting, new moon ‘the moon is dead’. In the first quarter and at the half-moon they say: ‘the moon is half round’ or ‘falls upon the wood’, i. e. stands low on the horizon; shortly before full moon ‘the moon is about to become complete’, ‘is on the increase’; after the full moon ‘the moon is about to wane’; three days after full moon ‘the moon has cheated some people’, since it leaves in the lurch those who wish to play in the evening; in the last quarter ‘the moon is like the tail of the cock’ or ‘sleeps in the open’, since it stands in the sky at day-break[675]. For the pagan races of the Malay Peninsula words are given for the new moon, the crescent of the moon, the half-moon, the end of the waning moon, no moon[676]. The Bontoc Igorot of Luzon describe three phases between full moon and the waning moon, and three between new moon and full moon, eight altogether therefore, and have special names for them, but rarely make use of them in time-reckoning[677]. The Nabaloi have other words for the same phases, and also one for the moon showing a rim of light[678]. The natives of New Britain (Bismarck Archipelago) observed the phases of the moon (kalang), and had separate terms for them, e. g. ‘moon not visible’, ‘first quarter of the moon (sic!)’, ‘nearly full moon’ (in which they hunted for the land-crabs), full moon, ‘beginning to wane’, ‘moon when seen in the morning’, etc. They also measured time between sunset and moon-rise by the ‘smouldering of a torch’, the time occupied in cooking yams, taro, and wild taro[679]. In Buin the crescent as it becomes visible is first called rubui, ‘the pupil (of the eye) is dead’, since the whole moon is often to be seen as a dark disc when the crescent is first formed. Later they say motoguba, ‘a hook is made’. Still later, nobele, ‘a piece’, ‘a bit’. When the moon’s disc is full, mairen, ‘it is ripe’ or ‘old’, and roukeu, ‘it is equal’, i. e. full. When the moon begins to wane, it is called ingom, ‘puffed out’. The ‘puffing out’ becomes weaker, and now the moon will die, ekio buagi. Throughout the period of the waning moon the expression used is buan-gubio-eiraubi, ‘it is on the point of passing away to die’. During the period of the waxing moon they say (ekio) duabegubi-eiraubi, ‘(the moon) is about to pass away to the sun(light)-making’. During the time of new moon they say mamarabui, ‘the great kobold is dead’, or ekio buaguro, ‘the moon is dead’. When it appears again they say ekio rukui, ‘the moon again makes pupils’, i. e. is in the sky. From the appearance of the moon until the time of new moon they reckon 25 days. The number however is not always the same, but is variously given as 30–31 days or sometimes as only 15. It must be supposed that thick clouds often hinder the observation. The natives count from the rising of the moon[680]. Of the tribes of the Torres Straits we are told:—In Mabuiag the following descriptions of the phases of the moon are used:—dang mulpal, ‘tooth-moon’, since the crescent at its first appearance is described as unmarried: a little later the moon is called kisai, and termed young. The half-moon is ipi laig, ‘married person’; the moon in the third quarter is described as kazi laig, ‘person with child’, and is regarded as having one child, i. e. presumably as being pregnant; the full moon is badi, which is said to mean ‘big one married’. In Mer the crescent of the moon when first observed was called aketi meb, the moon in the first quarter was meb digemli, in the third meb zizimi, almost full eip meb, and full moon giz meb[681].
Among the tribes of Central Brazil (the Bakairi), as also elsewhere, the phases of the moon have found mythological expression. The moon is represented as a shuttle-cock; the phases start from the full moon. First a lizard comes and takes hold of it, on the second day an armadillo, and then a Giant armadillo, whose thick body soon quite covers the yellow feathers[682]. The phases are similarly explained among the Paressi[683].
In regard to the more accurate determination of the days of the moon-month up to the point when each day has its separate name, it is possible to proceed in two ways, either to develop more and more elaborately the concrete descriptions from the phases and positions of the moon, until every day thus takes its name from the shape or the position of the moon, or else simply to number the days. The simple counting and numbering of all the days of the month from the new moon up to 29 or 30 is the most abstract method, and it is only found among the most highly developed peoples. Commonly a mixed system obtains, such, for instance, as that of the Romans, so that within the month, from the starting-points offered by the phases, the days of a certain smaller division are counted, or a short phase is distinguished by means of adjectives in the first, the second, and even the third day of the phase.
The following may serve as an example of a purely concrete system. Among the Mendalam Kayan of Borneo the different days of the period of the moon’s visibility have the following names in the Busang language (the common commercial tongue of the Bukau):—njina (see) dang (pretty well); matau (eye) dang; lekurdang; butit (belly) halab (tetrodon, a trunk-fish) ok (little); butit halab aja (big); keleong (body) paja ok; keleong paja aja; beleling (edge) dija; and kamat (full moon). The days following have the same names, but in the inverse order, and with the addition of uli, i. e. to go home. The days of the moon’s invisibility are not reckoned[684]. The days mentioned amount to only 2 × 8; others must therefore be lacking, or do the names given apply to moon-phases of more than one day’s duration? The author’s wording seems to contradict this. The Batak of Sumatra describe the days by the names of the planets (borrowed from the Sanskrit), repeated four times. To distinguish one from another they make use of additions some of which may probably be referred to original Batak terms[685]. A complete system exists among the Toradja of the Dutch East Indies, in connexion with a fully developed day-superstition such as so often accompanies the moon-month. On certain days, here distinguished by an asterisk, it is forbidden to work in the fields: other work is however permitted. *1, eo mboeja, ‘day of the moon’, from the evening on which the crescent of the moon was first seen. 2 to 9 have no special names: they are called altogether oeajoeeo, ‘the eight days’; the people count ka’isanja oeajoe, ‘the first of the eight’, or oejoeënja, ‘the beginner’, then the second, the third, etc., and so on up to kapoesanja oeajoe, ‘the end of the eight’. 10, woeja mbawoe kodi, ‘the little pig moon’. *11, woeja mbawoe bangke, ‘the great pig moon’; there is a danger that the pigs may break into the fields. *12, taoe koi, 13, taoe bangke, ‘the little’ and ‘the great man moon’; 14, kakoenia, from koeni, ‘yellow’ (among the To Pebato sompe, ‘lying’, i. e. on the horizon). *15, togin enggeri, from gengge, ‘to run to and fro’ (of animals seeking food), i. e. one is annoyed by those who run to and fro. *16, pombarani, ‘the burner’, since the moon in the morning shines on the house-door; or more rarely pombontje. 17 to 20, wani, ‘dark’. 21, merontjo, among the To Pebato wani of kapoesa mbani, the last dark day. *22, kawe, ‘to wink’, 23–25, the second, third, and last kawe. *26, toe’a marate, ‘the long tree-trunk’ (trunk of a felled tree). 27, toe’a rede, ‘the short stump’, in the east ojonja saeo, ‘with a day in between’, i. e. until the vanishing of the moon. 28, polioenja, ‘passing’, i. e. the moon goes past the sun. 29, soea, ‘going inside’, ‘inside’, because the moon is then completely inside. Every second month has 30 days; the *30th is called soea ma’i, the soea ‘on this side’, the second soea. The days are named from the position of the moon at sunrise, since only the agricultural day is of any importance[686].
In Micro- and Polynesia this kind of terminology is best developed. In Samoa the period of the new moon has few names; the new moon is called masina pupula, the nights after this—when a little of the moon is once more visible—mu’a mu’a. On the other hand the days up to and after the full moon have separate names, and are of importance on account of the palolo, which is then eagerly sought after. Full moon, masina ’atoa, ‘full’; 1, night after full moon, masina le’ale’a; 2, masina fe’etelele; 3, masina atatai, the sea sparkles at the rising; 4, fana’ele’ele, according to Stair ‘paling tide’; 5, sulutele, the mali’o-crab is caught with torches (sulu), according to Stair poolesa, night of the lesa; 6, masina mauna, according to Stair popololoa, ‘long nights’; 7, masina mauna; 8 (the first palolo-day), usunoa, ‘wandering about aimlessly’, also called salefu, since foam (lefu) appears as the first sign of the palolo; 9, masina motusaga (second palolo-day), motu ‘fragile’, saga ‘continuing’; 10, tatelego, great palolo-day, which may also begin on the 9th, ta = to fish; 11 (new moon), masina punifaga, ‘only a little covered’; 12, masina tafaleu, ‘little cut away’; 13, masina tafaleu. The crescent shortly before new moon is called masina fa’atoaoina[687].
In Hawaii the system was very elaborately developed. The month had thirty days; 17 of these had compound names (inoa huhui), and 13 had simple names (inoa pakahi). These names were given to the different nights to correspond with the phases of the moon. There were three phases—ano—, marking the moon’s increase and decrease of size, (1) the first appearance of the new moon in the west at evening, (2) the time of full moon when it stood directly overhead (lit. over the island) at midnight, (3) the period when the moon was waning, when it shewed itself in the east late at night. It was with reference to these three phases of the moon that names were given to the nights that made up the month[688]. In former times there is said to have been a division of the month into periods of ten days, corresponding to the increase, the full, and the decline of the moon[689]. The names of the nights were:—1, hilo, ‘to twist’, because the part then seen was a mere thread; 2, hoaka, ‘crescent’; 3, kukahi; 4, kulua; 5, kukolu; 6, kupua; 7, olekukahi; 8, olekulua; 9, olekukolu; 10, olekupau. When the sharp points were lost in the moon’s first quarter, the name of that night was 11, huna, ‘to conceal’; the next, on its becoming gibbous, was 12, mohalu; 13, hua, ‘egg’; and when its roundness was quite obvious, 14, akua, ‘God’. The nights in which the moon was full or nearly so were:—15, hoku; 16, marealaui; 17, kolu. The night in which the moon’s decrease became perceptible was called 18, laaukukahi. As it continued to diminish the nights were called:—19, olaaukulua; 20, laaupau; 21, olekukahi; 22, olekulua; 23, olepau; 24, kaloakukahi; 25, kaloakulua; 26, kaloapau; when the moon was very small, 27, mauli; the night in which it disappeared, 28, muku. This is Dibble’s list (pp. 24 ff.). Fornander (p. 126) counts in the same way up to 26, kaloapau, and then continues, 27, kaue; 28, lono; 29, mauli; 30, muku. Malo gives the same names as Dibble, with the following additions:—The 15th night had two names. If the moon set before daylight it was called hoku palemo, ‘sinking star’, but if, when daylight came, it was still above the horizon, it was called hoku ili, ‘stranded star’. The second of the nights in which the moon did not set until after sunrise (the 16th) was called mahealaui. When the moon’s rising was delayed until after the darkness had set in, it was called 17, kulua, and the second of the nights in which the moon made its appearance after dark was 18, laau-ku-kahi; the moon had now waned so much as again to shew sharp horns. The night when the moon rose at dawn of day was kane (the 27th), and the following night, in which the moon rose only as the day was breaking, lono (the 28th). When the moon delayed its rising until daylight had come, it was called mauli (the 29th), ‘fainting’, and when its rising was so late that it could no longer be seen for the light of the sun, it was called muku (the 30th), ‘cut off’. Thus were accomplished the thirty days and nights of the month. A bare list of the thirty names of the days is given for the Marquesas[690]. Alongside of these a bipartite division of the month is mentioned—the moon arriving, and the moon about to be extinguished[691]. In New Zealand there are various lists of the nights of the moon. The month is also sometimes divided into halves according to the waxing and waning moon[692].
I give the Tahitian names in order to point out that here, as also in Hawaii, some days in the middle of both halves of the month have the same names, which are distinguished from the next following by additions the sense of which is unfortunately not always given. Thus:—1, tirreo; 2, tirrohiddi; 3, o-hatta; 4, ammi-amma; 5, ammi-amma-hoi; 6, orre-orre; 7, orre-orre-hoi; 8, tamatea; 9, huna; 10, orabu; 11, maharru; 12, ohua; 13, mahiddu; 14, ohoddu; 15, marai; 16, oturu; 17, ra-au; 18, ra-au-hoi; 19, ra-au-haddi; 20, ororo-tai; 21, ororo-rotto; 22, ororo-haddi; 23, tarroa-tahai; 24, tarroa-rotto; 25, tarroa-haddi; 26, tane; 27, oro-mua; 28, oro-muri; 29, omuddu (28 and 29 together matte-marama, on the Society Islands they say during these days that the moon is dead)[693]. In the islands just mentioned the names of three successive days are often formed from mua, ‘fore’, roto, ‘in the middle’, and muri, ‘hinder’[694], and in the Carolines names of the days are similarly combined in groups. From these lists it becomes plain how the names of the separate days have been first worked out from the phases of the moon. When only 29 names are given, the thirtieth day occurring only in every other month has evidently been left out. This must be the case, because the month always begins with the new moon. We further possess lists of the days of the month for the Mortlock Islands, and some for the Carolines, Ponape, Yap, Uleai, Lamotrek[695]; the lists for Lamotrek, Uleai, and the Mortlock Islands differ only in the dialect. It is to be noted that in some cases the month falls into smaller subdivisions, as in Ponape, where it begins after the full moon and consists of three periods:—1, rot, ‘darkness’, i. e. nights when there is no moon, 13 days; 2, mach, new moon, 9 days, which are numbered consecutively; 3, pul, the time of full moon, 5 days. Three days are therefore lacking (the time of invisibility?). In Yap 1, pul, new moon, 13 days; 2, botrau, full moon, 9 days; 3, lumor, ‘darkness’, 8 days.
The very fully developed system of the Nandi is curious in that not the phase but the time of the moon’s rising chiefly gives the name of the day. 1, ‘the tanners have seen the moon’; 2, ‘the moon is white’ or ‘new’; 3 and 4, ‘the moon has cast a light’; 5 and 6, ‘the moon has become warm’; 7 and 8, ‘the moon has leisure’; 9 and 10, ‘the herdsmen play in the moonlight’; 11 and 12, ‘the moon is high in the evening’; 13, ‘the moon turns’; 14, ‘the moon has accompanied the goats to the kraal’[696]; 16 (full moon), ‘the moon has passed along (the heavens)’; 17, (morning) ‘the birds have driven away the moon’, (evening) ‘the moon has disappeared for a short while’; 18, ‘the moon has commenced to rise late’; 19 to 21, ‘the moon is late’; 22, ‘the moon has climbed up’ (i. e. stands high in the heavens in the morning); 23 to 25, ‘the moon is late up above’; 26 and 27, ‘the moon has turned’ (i. e. goes towards the west); 28, ‘the moon is nearing death’; 29, ‘the people discuss the moon’ (discuss whether it is dead), or ‘the sun has murdered the moon’; 30, ‘the moon is dead’, or ‘the moon’s darkness’[697].
An example of the naming of smaller groups of days after the phases of the moon is afforded by the old Arabian names for the nights of the month[698]. The nights are grouped in threes, and are called:—1–3, ghurar, ‘the bright ones’; 4–6, nufal, ‘the overlapping nights’ (?); 7–9, tusa’, ‘the nine’; 10–12, ‘ushar, ‘the ten’; 13–15, ‘the white nights’, lit. ‘ajjam al-lajālī l-bidi, ‘the days of the white nights’, the time of full moon; 16–18, dura’, ‘the white nights with black heads’, since the moon does not rise until the night; 19–21, zulam, ‘the dark nights’; 22–24, hanadis or duhm, ‘the very dark nights’; 25–27, da’ādī’, perhaps after mihaq; 28–30, mihaq, from mhq, ‘to extinguish’. The time of the moon’s invisibility, mihaq, consists of the following days:—1, ad-da’dja, ‘the black one’; 2, as-sirār, from srr, ‘to be hidden’; 3, al-falta, ‘sudden event’, ‘attack’. According to some this last name is used only on the night before, according to others after, a holy month. This looks like an attempt to regulate the insertion of the 30th day.
Hitherto we have observed the division of the month into small and the smallest phases of the moon, in which three or at most four days have the same name, and are numbered in order that they may be distinguished. Other peoples count the days beginning at the principal moon-phases. The Central Eskimos can determine the days of the month very accurately from the age of the moon[699], the terms are unfortunately not given. So also for the Kaigan of N. W. America names of the nights reckoned from the phases of the moon are quoted; unfortunately only very confused and inaccurate information could be obtained, and only 14 names are given:—1, new moon; 2, ‘second sleep’, etc., up to 9, full moon or ‘great moon’, the third night after which is ‘the first night after the full moon’[700]. For the inhabitants of southern Formosa the bare and therefore almost useless statement is made that they reckon according to the age of the moon[701]. Of the Wagogo of what was formerly German East Africa we are told that the phases of the moon and the numbers of the nights serve as more accurate determinations of time. For instance, the third night after the next appearance of the moon will be the day following the third night after the moon’s appearance, and therefore the fourth of a month, since the crescent is visible exactly on the first day of a month[702]. Unfortunately we are not told what phases, other than the new moon, serve as starting-points for the reckoning. The same remark applies to an account for Sumatra. The Central Sumatran Expedition has proved that names for days of the week and for months are unknown among the Rawa and the Djambi Kubu of Djipati Mando. The people count by the phases of the moon, and say e. g. the 1st, 2nd, 3rd day of the moon[703].
These accounts are unfortunately of little use, since they say too little about the method of the counting. Even when a complete list of the days or nights of the month does seem to be forthcoming (the Wagogo, the Kubu), it generally happens that the counting proceeds from several starting-points, so that the month is divided up into smaller divisions. This is natural, since primitive peoples not only possess small capacity for counting but also prefer to keep the concrete phenomenon in view. It has already been pointed out that the counting frequently begins at the two most prominent phases, the new and the full moon; by this means the month is divided into the two corresponding halves of the waxing and the waning moon, or in respect of the appearance or non-appearance of the moon in the evening and early night into the light and the dark halves. The difference between these halves follows from direct observation of nature, and they are therefore known even to peoples which do not count the days, e. g. the inhabitants of Buin[704], the Germanic tribes, and others. In Swedish the distinction between ny and nedan, i. e. the time of the waxing and of the waning moon, is still known. The Masai, besides a full list of the days of the month, have a second reckoning according to the light and the dark halves of the month[705]. The Hindus and the civilised peoples of S. E. Asia reckon in the same way: of these systems of time-reckoning the Hindu has exercised a powerful influence. Avesta shews the same reckoning. In the old Gallic calendar of Coligny each month is divided into two sharply distinguished halves. The Romans indeed, in the form of their calendar known to us, reckoned so many days before the Kalends (the first day of the month), the Nones (the 5th or 7th), and the Ides (the 13th or 15th), but before their calendar settled into its curious and quite irrational historic form the Kalendae must have been the day of the new moon, which was publicly proclaimed, and the Idus the day of full moon. The Nonae are secondary: the word simply means the ninth (day), i. e. before the Ides, which position the day occupies in the inclusive reckoning employed. The Greek reckoning in decades is well-known, but in earlier times a bipartite division of the month appears. Homer divides the month into ἱστάμενος and φθίνων (‘rising’ and ‘fading’), Hesiod once mentions a ‘thirteenth day of the rising moon’[706].
We have seen above how to the phases of the new and the full moon that of the waning moon is added as a third. When the gradual development of the moon is regarded—as is done when numbers are used—and not the particular shape of it appearing on a certain day, we also get three periods, since between the waxing and the waning occurs the full moon, and this, although not in the strictest sense, lasts longer than a day, and unlike the waxing and the waning moon remains in the sky the whole night long. The time of full moon therefore appears as a third independent period between the waxing and the waning. The impulse to a tripartite division hereby given clashed with the decimal system of enumeration of most peoples; as a rule the counting was suspended at the basal series of numbers. In this manner we may account for the not uncommon phenomenon that only ten months are numbered, the two others being called by special names[707]. Thus arises the division of the month into three decades, in which however the last decade may vary between 9 and 10 days.
The division into decades is not so common as the halving of the month. The Zuñi of Arizona divide the month into three decades, each of which is called a ‘ten’[708]. The Ahanta of the western Gold Coast divide the moon-month into three periods, two of ten days each, the third—which lasts until the new moon appears—of about 9½ days (more correctly, no doubt, varying between 9 and 10 days). The Sofalese of East Africa must have done the same, since de Faria says that they divided the month into 3 decades and that the first day of the first decade was the feast of the new moon[709]. The Masai, who number either the days of the whole month consecutively or the days of its two halves, nevertheless give special prominence to the initial days of the decades (alongside of other notable days), and call them negera[710].
Among the Greeks the division into decades displaced the older bisection. Of the names of the decades the first and third refer to the concrete form of the moon: μὴν ἱστάμενος, older ἀεξόμενος[711], literally ‘the appearing, waxing moon’, and μὴν φθίνων, ‘the waning moon’. For originally μήν must here have had the sense of ‘moon’ which the etymology suggests. The second decade was called μὴν μεσῶν, ‘the month at the middle’: the epithet shews that μήν here means ‘month’, and not ‘moon’. This name is therefore younger than the two others, which must once have been used to describe the two halves of the month, and do so still in Homer[712].
The custom of reckoning on the fingers or on a notched stick has doubtless lent assistance to the counting of the days of the month. The Wa-Sania make a notch in a stick for every day, and when the month is ended they put this stick aside and begin a new one[713]. At the southern corner of Lake Nyassa the days are counted by means of pieces of wood threaded on a string[714]. A complete enumeration of the days however only exists among highly developed peoples who have discarded a more concrete time-reckoning in favour of an abstract system, just as the civilised peoples of modern Europe abandoned the Roman system of time-reckoning, which was still often used in the Middle Ages (though indeed it had long since departed from its concrete basis), in favour of a simple enumeration of the days of the month.
Finally a couple of curious East African reckonings of the days of the month are to be mentioned, although they are not primitive but have a lengthy development behind them. A common feature of both is that the day of the new moon is already the fourth day, so that the counting of the days begins with the moon’s invisibility, which can hardly have been the original practice. The Wadschagga divide the month into four parts the days of which are numbered, the first and third parts consisting of ten days each, and the second and fourth of five days each. Accordingly they begin to count the new moon at ‘the fourth day, which brings the moon’, the day on which the slender delicate crescent of the moon first reappears after sunset: for the rites of this day see above, p. 153. On the fourth day of the second division (the eleventh after new moon) they say that ‘the moon turns to the back of the house’: when twilight falls it is already seen beyond the culmination-point. The fourth day of the third division (the 16th after new moon) is called ‘the day that brings the moon up from below’ (i. e. from the eastern horizon), where ‘it appears like a pot’; the fourth day of the last division is called ‘the four, which dismisses the moon’, and the first of the first division, when the moon vanishes, ‘the one, which floats away the moon so that it is no longer visible’: it ‘tramples into pieces the days of the God’[715]. The natural phases of the moon therefore make themselves felt in spite of the counting. With this, as is so often the case, is connected a fully developed superstition concerning the days of the month. The Masai in ordinary life reckon their moon-months as consisting of 30 days, and number the days from 1 to 30 or 29. Besides this there is a second way of counting which begins at the 16th and reckons the days of darkness (en aimen). Further, special prominence is given to certain days and groups of days, e. g. to the 4th, the new-moon day, hence called also ertaduage duo olaba, ‘the moon is to be seen’, to the 15th, ol gadet, i. e. the rising moon ‘looks over’ to the sun which has not yet set, and to the concluding day, the eng ebor olaba, ‘the brightness of the moon’, but especially to the days of the dark half of the month, en aimen. The 16th is called ol onjori, ‘the greenish day’, the 17th, ol onjugi, ‘the red’, 18 to 20, es sobiaïn, 21 to 23, nigeïn, 27 etc., en aimen nerok, ‘the black darkness’. The people also emphasise the concluding days of the decades[716]. The natural foundation afforded by the phases of the moon therefore appears very clearly: the only noteworthy feature is that the days of the moon’s invisibility are included in the division which is called ‘the brightness of the moon’. An outside influence must no doubt be assumed. Among the Masai also the selection of lucky and unlucky days is common.
The starting-points in the counting of the days of the month also afford evidence for the question as to which phases of the moon are the oldest, and were already utilised for this purpose. Both the methods of counting and the phases themselves are based upon a bisection or trisection of the month: to this were then added other phases, originally quite unsystematically. Among us the quarters of the moon are common; but of their use among primitive peoples I have found only a single instance. Of the Papuans of the Indian Archipelago it is stated that they divide the month into four parts according to the phases of the moon: paik baleo, the new moon, paik jouwar, the first quarter, paik plejif, the waning of the moon, and paik imar, the old moon[717]. It must not, of course, be taken for granted that these phases are of equal length, as ours are.
That the quadripartite division of the month should be practically non-existent among primitive peoples is easily to be understood in view of the considerations already mentioned. Unlike the halving it is not based upon any very clearly distinguishable phases, nor is there in the phases any such suggestion of a quadripartite division as is offered for a tripartite. The shape of the moon on the 8th or the 22nd day differs very little from that of the previous and the following days, and does not constitute a turning-point like the full moon. From the phases of the moon no quadripartite division can arise: the brightest phase of all, the full moon, has an unnatural position in such a division. It can only be understood as a halving of the halves of the month, and this presupposes that the moon’s variation in light is regarded as a unity and divided into parts. The primitive peoples however start not with the abstract unity but with the concrete phases, proceeding at first quite unsystematically, and only subsequently combining them into a system. The quadripartite division therefore is in its very nature a numerical system. That it has penetrated so profoundly into our natures that even ethnological scholars and travellers are not always able to get away from it, is due to the connexion with the seven-day week, which is regarded as a division of the month, and also to the fact that we so seldom take any notice of the concrete phenomena of the heavens.
The quadripartite division must therefore be described as not original (the case is different when the time of the moon’s invisibility is added as a fourth phase to the three already mentioned). To the best of my knowledge it appears first in Babylonia[718], and gains ground together with the sabattu, i. e. the appointing of every seventh day of the month as tabooed: it has become common among us on account of the seven-day week, which was conceived as a division of the month. In reality the tripartite division is also the natural one, since it arises from the concrete phenomenon of the moon, and not from any division of the month into parts consisting of a certain number of days. Here the full moon takes its proper place, which it misses in the quadripartite division. The limitation of the divisions to a definite number of days is secondary throughout.