Our Debt to Old Arab Culture

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 44, 10 May 1935, Page 14

Our Debt to Old Arab Culture

Varied Realms of Inquiry which: Benefits Modern Civilisation-Passing on the Old Maori Tapu--Amazing South American. Countries- — Witches and Their Cult.

MR. L. R. R. DENNY (3A) O far’we. have seen little to justify any claims to greatness on the part of the Arab peoples. What was it that wrought so vast a change in Arab history and invested their natiou with an- importance apparently out of all proportion to their previous history? The military campaigns which began are among the most brilliant in history. Arabia seems suddenly to have becom? a stronghold of splendid;men who propagated the new religion at the poiur of the sword. ‘The rate at which it progressed can be judged when we remember that by the year 656 (34 years after Mohammed’s death) it embraced Persia, including Bagdad, Syria, including Damascus, and part of northern BEgypt. The pace continued, and by 750. all Northern Africa, Spain and Sardinia were included. For some generations before Mohammed the Arab mind had, as it were, been smouldering-it had been producing some poetry and much religious discussion; but under the stimulus of these national and racial successes it pre sently blazed out with a brilliance second only to that of the Greeks in their best period. From 4 new angle and with renewed vigour it took up that systematic development of positive knowledge which the Greeks had begun and relinquished, It revived the pursuit of science. If the Greek was the father, then the Arab was the fosterfather of scientific method in dealing with reality; the method, that is, of absolute frankness, accurate statement and explanation, and. exhaustive criticism. T was through the Arabs, and not by any Latin route, that the modern world received that gift of knowledge and power, and it was Greek civilisation in Persian, Byzantine and Syriae forms which stimulated them. There is something inspiring about their enthusiasm, They created algebra; they developed spherical trigonometry, inventing the sine, tangent and cotangent. In physics they iuvented the pendulum and produced work on optics. Like the ancient Chaldeans, the desert had bred in them iu naturfal desire for star-gazing. Much of the groundwork of their astronomical knowledge was Greek; they added to it by building several observatories, and constructed many. astronomical instruments which are still used. Ultimately their knowledze of astronomy was very considerable. N medicine they made great advances over the work of the Greeks. Tor the Greeks it was’in theory and gen‘eralisation that their interest lay, and they were careless of facts. The Arabic and Moorish inquiries were punctilious of their facts. In geography one of their officials required an accurate ac-

count of all their land and sea routes, und each place mentioned had to he localised by accurate longitudes and latitudes. One chemist travelled 40 years collecting mineralogical data. A botanist collected botanical specimens, and compared the flora of India and Persia with those-of Greece and. Spain. and produced a monumental work comprising 1400 plants. Their medic:! practice seems. to have reached. very high levels indeed, and their teaching in physiology and hygiene is not to be scorned to-day. , MR. A. A..M. GRUNDY (3YA).. [N a previous narrative I mentioned that while at Cerro de Pascoe, in Peru, at an altitude of 17,500 feet. I contracted soroche-that is, bleeding at the nolse, a disease prevalent in the’ mountainous regions. Both at La

Paz and Potosi the air is so rarified that the average European when he first arrives cannot walk many yards Without stopping to take a breath. The highlands had a depressing effect on me, so, when I decided to, leave, it was in company with Craigie. He was yagabonding to Asunscion, in Paraguay, and "wanted to see the coun try." Captain Craigie, apart from be-: ing a wonderful linguist, as well as « Clever dialectist, could also speak many South American tribal languages. He proved an admirable and indispensable companion. Natives of various tribes are to be found in Bolivia, the Indians being divided into three classes-the civilised, the semi-civilised and the uncivilised. To the first belong the Inca Indians. These natives ure not over-fond of indulging in baths They think it a luxury to -wash their hands, and sleep in their Glothes. which they wear until they drop off They are consequently swarmed in vermin. RAIGIE and I made a journey ov muleback to the low-lying district of Yungas, the plains which mark the southern limit of the great Amazonian forest. -This surpasses most countries in fertility and natural . resources The jnhabitants, like the Peruvian cholos, chew raw cocaine leaves. This narcotic acts as a stimulant on long journeys or when they are exposed to hunger. They use resin, -which they extracted from copal trees, to light. up their huts.. e plains suffer from intense heat and humidity, but they are fortunately exempt from:

fevers and other epidemics. Most of the transport is done by llamas, the South American camel. They are domesticated animals, and yield milk, flesh, wool and leather. ‘The natives ure a lethargic race, and only work for a few months in the year. They have a weakness for gambling and drinking. YER six mouths of vagabonding Craigie and I found ourselves. iu the province of Chiquitos, and some ‘time later at the famous Guarida, or resort of wild animals and boa-con-staictors, known as: El Gran. Chaco or Chacu, that illimitable expanse of prehistoric forests-the Green Hell. Tt was here I was awakened by shots in the early hours of the morning, when, within twenty feet of our camp, [ saw my companion pumping lead into a boa-constrictor. This reptile was a baby about eight feet long, and it has been- known for them to: gorge themselves with a whole deer. In the rainy season these great snakesy cause havoe among the vicunas and other harmless animals. Pl Chaco is the hunting ground of many Indian tribes-but to-day the battlefield of the Bolivians’and Paraguayans, who are slaughtering one another daily in a futile struggle. We met a few Guarani Indians, men who man the Paraguayan army. ‘They make wonderful soldiers, and are absolutely fearless of death, but I believe the Women are generally better workers than the men. They all smoke, and are mostly seen with a huge cigar in their mouths. Even their children smoke, and often to quieten a baby I have seen a mother cramming the cigar which she has just been puffing ut into the child’s mouth. MR. C. M. BENNETT (3YA). OW were all the Maori myths, lore and historical traditions, an abundance of them, handed down from one generation to another almost word perfect? They certainly were not handed down in writing, for the Maori did not posses§ any graphic system. They had no form of script with which to preserve their store of kvowleJge. They were handed down through the ages simply by word of mouth, and it is here that we come across one of the most interesting institutions of Maoriland .the whare wananga. ‘This institution was the school or college of the ancient Maori, and its sole purpose was to preserve and hand down to sucseeding generations all desirable knowledge, As any departure from ils stablised teachings and doctrines was regarded as extreme heresy and as an open defiance against Tane the origin und patron of a}l knowledge, and as such an attitude was payable only by death to the sceptic, the character and content of the teachings were remarkably stable. The institution, was known among the Maoris by different

names, acording to its locality. The methods and procedure of teaching seem to have varied slightly in different places, but on the whole it tended to follow along more or less common lines. All knowledge taught in. the whare wananga was divided into two main parts, the names of which; translated, meant the "upper jaw" and the "lower jaw." The first class signified celestial knowledge, or such things as pertained to dieties, astronomy, better class history, sacred mythology and the Secrets of life and death. ‘The "lower. jaw," on the other hand, embraced terrestial knowledge, such as agriculture, practical astronomy, which would include such things as the proper planting seasons, the most opportune time for procuring all the different sea foods and so on. Init might also be included knowledge of hunting and fishing and the making of weapons. MRS. SYLVIA SMITH (3YA). WIItCHES were not stray, isolated old women-they were the priests and kings and gods of a widespread religion, and witchcraft was an ancient, deeply-rooted religious cult. We must remove certain prejudices which have arisen through jts struggle with a higher religion, We think of it as evil, sinister, and of the devil. This is partly because ‘all records of witches and their practices haye been made by their enemies. It is a well-known fact that in the clash of two religions the gods of the old become the devils of the new. Even Milton, in "Paradise Lost," places the pagan gods in the hierparchy of Satan’s following. So when we read of witches communing with the devil,.this does not mean the Devil of the Bible, but the pagan god of the witch religion. If we substitute "god" for "devil"’.in our reading of witchcraft we s@e at once that we. are not dealing with evil powers, but merely with a pagan religion as different froin Christianity as are the religions of Central Africa. Probably because it was fighting for existence against Christianity, ‘the witch cult developed. anti-Christian ritual-hence we get the "Black Mass" and definite anti-Christian features. But this was as holy to witch followers as the Mass was to Christians, and it is misleading to depict it-as it usually is jn novels-as an essentially wicked cult. The devil was not an evil. power to the witches. He was their god, the giver of life and fertility. HE strong appeal of witchcraft to simple folk lay jn several features. In the first place it was magic, Sir James Frayer in "The Golden Bough" makes a vital distinction between magic and religion. Magic he defines as implying a control over the forces of nature, Religion propitiates supernatural powers. Very primitive people cannot. see any greater difficulty in controlling rainfall, winds and sun than planting growing seeds. But as man progresses he learns that Nature works. by immutable laws, and his respect and awe of the Creator and Controller .of. all nature becomes so, great that he can only worship and petition God. Primitive man cannot see this, and ignorant and simple people naturally prefer charms and spells, which seemed certain, to prayers which might not be answered. Byennowadays many people love spells and charms, though most of the presentday ones are negative-that is, to prevent evil. ‘