distinction existing between the Evil Spirit, or Maboya, of the Carib Islanders, and their Good Spirit, or Chemin, when pursuing evil courses. It will be convenient to rectify this error, as far as possible, here. Maboya, or Maboia, was undoubtedly of human origin. Thus, of the several spirits which the body possesses (Sect. 69) some "remain on earth changed into beasts or into Maboia" (BBR, 237): they go and live in the woods and forests and are called Maboyas (RoP, 484). That is to say, in the same way that others of the body's spirits attach themselves to the waters, mountains, skies, etc., and remain there, so the Maboya attaches itself to the bush and forest. Indeed, there can be no doubt that the Maboya of the Antilleans corresponds in every sense with the mainland Spirit of the Forest, that is, the Yawahu, Hebu, Yurokon, etc. (Sect. 94). The Mainland Caribs of Cayenne actually used the identical term Maboya (PBa, 206). The people never invoke Maboya, as some imagine (RoP, 472): notwithstanding the extent to which he or it may be feared, and in spite of the brutality of the treatment received at his hands, the folk do not honor him with offerings, prayers, adoration, or sacrifice (ibid., 476). When the proverbial "pain and anguish wring the brow," Indians believe that these are due to the Familiar Spirits of some of their enemies by whom they have been sent (ibid., 473). When a person is sick, the offerings (anacri, Sect. 89) laid on the little table (matutu) are not for the Maboya, as (incorrectly) stated in one passage by Rochefort and Poincy (ibid., 563), but for that Familiar Spirit which had been instructed to convey the sickness, or for that Familiar Spirit which had played an important part in effecting the cure, as (correctly) mentioned by the same authors in another passage (ibid., 472). It is known also that the Island, as well as the Mainland, Caribs painted or carved a hideous figure of this spirit in front of their canoes, not only to frighten their enemies, but in order that the spirit's contemplation of its own likeness might divert its attention into other channels. This figure was said to be Maboia (e. g., BBR, 236), but as it would be ridiculous to assume the existence of Bush or Forest Spirits upon the bosom of the waters, I am forced to the conclusion that it represented a Chemin, or Familiar Spirit, capable of course of committing good or evil according to its "master's" instructions (cf. Sect. 48). 85. Individuals can be relieved of the presence of undesirable spirits by means of the piai-rattle (Sect. 289), as well as by so-called "kissing" and "blowing." It is this latter method that I propose discussing here. While one writer talks of kissing being "unknown among Indians" (IT, 193), another speaks of these people expressing tenderness by kissing, not on the lips, but on all parts of the body (Cr, 175). If osculation is to be regarded as a sign of amativeness, the former is an error, because certainly among Caribs, Akawai, Warraus, and Arawaks, this is expressed by man or woman, in the protrusion of the tip of the tongue between the loosely closed lips. What can also be considered a form of kissing is the custom of one individual blowing upon another under particular circumstances. The object of this blowing is explained by Schomburgk (ScR, 11, 254) on the principle that both by the Indians "and the Orientals, the breath is regarded as an emanation of the most inward spiritual and mental vigor." A far more satisfactory explanation, however, would seem to lie in the fact that the blowing is intended to drive away an attached Evil Spirit, etc., as is indeed the belief among the Galibi piai (Sect. 310) and elsewhere (Sects. 14, 59, 72, 246, 319), a view which is only strengthened by the particular circumstances, above referred to, under which it is practised, namely, in sickness, or in absence of adequate protecting influences. On the way to Roraima, the Serekong "women brought us several of their sick children for us to breathe upon their faces, and so restore them to health" (ScR, 11, 253). At Curasawaka streamlet, "a pretty-looking Makusi mother insisted upon my blowing in the face of her sickly infant, which she believed would act as a charm, and restore her child to health" (ScE, 177). "Before we left, she [the old Indian woman] made the entire party [on our way to Roraima] blow three times on her back for good luck, but whether the luck was for her or for us we never found out" (BW, 217). [At Taiepong Village, upper Potaro] when on the point of leaving, a woman stepped forward to an old Indian in one of our canoes, and held up her head. He tapped her forehead with his fingers, muttered a few words, and then blew on her temple. This was done to charm away a pain in the head, the old fellow being a peaiman, and capable of effecting such cures. On our arrival at villages I have sometimes seen a woman carry her infant round to one after another of the Indians of my party, each man as she passed stooping down and blowing gently on the face of the child. [Bro, 202.] Among the Arawak and the Warrau, when the child cries, or when father or mother leave it to set out on the chase, to work in the field, etc., they will blow either on the child's face or hand; but they do nothing of the sort on their return. It is a Makusi custom for the infant to be blown upon (angeblasen) by the relatives, before its parents take to their hammocks (ScR, п, 314) to keep the couvade. With the same tribe, the piai will blow upon the girl after the menstruation ceremony with the object of disenchanting her (Sect. 267). CHAPTER VI DREAMS; IDIOCY Head Spirits are the causes of Dreams (86); the Unreality and Reality of Dreamlife (87). Idiocy (88). 86. From Mainland Caribs, those on the Pomeroon and Moruca Rivers, I have learned that the Aka, or Akari, Spirit (Sect. 69) resides in the head. Yurokon, their Bush Spirit (Sect. 94), comes along when the person is asleep, seizes the Akari, and takes it with him into the forest; this causes people to dream, but sometimes Yurokon forgets, and does not bring it back, with the consequence that the individual dies. In dreaming, the Indians say that the spirit is paying a visit to the world to come (KG, 1, 167) or has gone for a walk, etc. (ibid., II, 151). 87. While Coudreau (II, 198) seems emphatic in his remark concerning the Uaupes River Indians, that they have the correct idea of a dream, and do not take for reality the visions of sleep, im Thurn would seem to have an equally positive opinion to the contrary. The latter (344-345) tells us how One morning when it was important for me to get away I found that one of the invalids, a young Macusi, though better in health, was so enraged against me that he refused to stir, for he declared that, with great want of consideration for his weak health, I had taken him out during the night and had made him haul the canoe up a series of difficult cataracts. Nothing could persuade him that this was but a dream, and it was some time before he was so far pacified as to throw himself sulkily into the bottom of the canoe. . . . More than once, the men declared in the morning that some absent man, whom they named, had come during the night, and had beaten or otherwise maltreated them; and they insisted upon much rubbing of the bruised parts of their bodies. Laborde records similar experiences from the Island Caribs: "At night, I have heard them, sometimes two at once, complain, cry, wake with a start, and tell me that the devil wanted to beat them. They went on screaming when quite awake," etc. (BBR, 236). Rochefort and Poincy confirm this for the same people: the Caribs are also subject to other ills which they say come from Maboya, and often complain that he is hitting them, especially during sleep (ROP, 474). The medicine-men appear generally to have enjoyed a great reputation as dreamers (Sects. 264,300). More than this, dreams were sometimes interpreted as omens and auguries; thus, in token of the missionary coming to visit them, and a sign of his approach, a certain cacique told Gumilla that he had dreamed that his lands sewn with seed were very dry, and that the rain had fallen just in the nick of time (G, 1, 311). 88. In connection with the idea of at least one of the individual's Spirits being located in his head, it is of interest to record Schomburgk's observations among the Wapisiana on the Takutu River with regard to idiocy: Imbeciles are regarded with awe by the Indians, for according to their traditions, these are in close intimacy with good Spirits, and hence their words and actions are regarded as signs of divinity (ScR, 11, 54); their doings and sayings are considered oracular (ScT, 44). True it is also that imbeciles are regarded as "uncanny" and that they will often carry out with impunity and success many a deed which people in their right senses would not even attempt. Here is a case in point, from the Warraus. THE IDIOT WHO WANTED TO FLY (W) A man was blessed with a sister and mother, but unfortunately was without good sense, and for this reason he was known as Wabassi (lit., a sickly person). His sister had a dog called Warribisi (lit., a wasp). One day Wabassi went down to the seashore to catch big buñari crabs, and just as he was about to step out of the boat, an immense tiger approached; thinking it was his sister's dog, he exclaimed:"Warribisi! Warribisi! Come on! What are you doing here?" And as the creature trotted up quite close, he seized it round the waist, and tried to pull it into the boat. Of course the tiger growled, but all Wabassi said was, "Don't bite me, Warribisi," and as the animal was too heavy and clumsy to be dragged in, he lost his temper and said: "Stupid Warribisi. Stay where you are, then, and may Tiger come and eat you!" When Wabassi got home, he told his sister that he had seen her dog. She said: "No, you did not. You can not be in your right senses. Warribisi has been here with me all the time." On another occasion Wabassi joined some friends and relatives on a hunting expedition: they came across a herd of bush-hog, and Wabassi shot one. By and by, his friends collected into one big heap all the hogs that they had shot, and Wabassi came to have a look at their spoil, leaving his own quarry behind. "Oh!" said he, "my bush-hog is different from these. Mine has a mark on his head, and a flat nose." So the other hunters told him to go and fetch it and let them have a look. When they saw it, they were much surprised to recognize a tiger, and still more so to learn that his captor had not even met with a scratch. Next day after they reached home. Wabassi dressed himself like a bird, with a feather (representing the tail) stuck into his belt behind; he climbed a high tree and jumped from limb to limb three times; on the fourth occasion he alighted on a dry limb, which broke, and he fell to earth. "How splendidly I can fly!" he remarked, when he picked himself up. 88A. The picking up, or handling of, certain birds' feathers conduces to loss of memory and to insanity (Sect. 223). CHAPTER VII FAMILIAR SPIRITS The cult of Familiar Spirits reached a high development among the Island Carib folk (89). Though presented with offerings and other things, these Spirits could be invoked only by the Medicine-man (90), and, being more or less intimately associated with human bones, were often called into requisition for purposes of Witchcraft and Prophecy (91). The Island Arawak people also had similar Familiar Spirits (92), the belief in whose existence is even yet traceable on the Guiana mainland (93). Familiar Spirits and Couvade (93A). 89. The cult of the Familiar Spirit would appear to have reached a high stage of development among the island tribes; at any rate, it is from these people that comparatively complete records of its existence have come down to us. Thus with the Carib Islanders: "The good spirits which are their gods are more particularly expressed as Ichĕiri (by men) and Chemin (by women): They believe that these good spirits, or these gods, are in great numbers, and in this plurality each person believes he has a special one for himself-his own particular spirit, his own familiar: They say that these gods reside in the sky, but do not know what they do there, and they themselves show no signs of recognizing them as the creators of the world and of things that are" (RoP, 471). The precise source or origin of these Familiar Spirits is unfortunately nowhere given, beyond the statement that they leave the human body at death in company with the particular spirit connected with the deceased's heart (ibid., 484). Again: The Island Caribs dedicated no temples or altars to their divinities, these Icheiri or Chemin: they made them no sacrifices. They simply made them offerings of cassava, and their first fruits. Above all, when they believed that they had been cured by them of some illness, they had a feast in their honor and offered them cassava and oüicou. All these offerings are known as anacri [alakri]: they place these at one end of the hut in vessels, according to the nature of the thing, on one or several matutus, or small tables plaited of rushes and palm leaves. Each one in the hut can make these offerings to his [Familiar] Spirit; but such offerings are not accompanied by any adoration or prayer, and consist only of the actual presentation of the gifts (ibid., 472). 90. To invoke them, however, requires the Boyé (medicine-man), together with incantations and tobacco smoke. This is the case chiefly on four occasions: (a) to be revenged on some one who has done them harm, and so draw punishment on him; (b) to get cured of some illness and learn the results of it; (c) to consult them on the |