Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/531

Rh In Rome it was regarded as "the Heavenly Girdle," and as a Circle.

The ancient inhabitants of Britain called it "Watling Street."

One of the Celtic titles is "King of Fairies," and the Celts also fancied that it was the road along which Gwydyon pursued his erring wife.

In the mediaeval ages it was known as "the Way to Rome."

The ancient Germans called it "Irmin's Way"; Germans to-day call it "Jacob's Road," while the French peasants call it "St. James's Road."

The Norsemen and Scandinavians knew it as the path to Valhalla, up which went the souls of heroes who fell in battle. The Swedish peasantry call it "Winter Street."

In Japan and China it was known as "the Celestial River," and "the Silver River." The Chinese also called it "the Yellow Road."

The Arabs knew it as "the River," while the Eskimos of the far north call it "the Path of White Ashes." The Bushmen, far removed from these dwellers in the Frigid Zone, thought that the Milky Way was composed of wood ashes thrown up into the sky by a girl, that people might see their way home at night.

The Australians call it "the fire smoke of an ancient race." The Masai name for it is "the road across the sky."

The Dutch, Basutos, and Zulus call it "the neck of the sky."

The Peruvians and the Incas knew it as the "dust of stars," while the Patagonians thought that it was the road on which their dead friends were hunting ostriches.

The early Hindus knew it as "the Path of Āryamān" leading to his throne in Elysium.

In the Punjab it was "the Path of Noan's Ark," while in northern India it was "the Path of the Snake."

The Ottawa Indians believed it to be the muddy water