child is already in existence, its body being attached to, and by some mysterious means passing into, the body of the mother. As to the origin of such babies, all I can gather is that they arrive in the water or in the bush, and hence may make their appearance in our mundane world either as a gift from the Water Spirits (Sect. 186), or at the instigation of the Spirits of the Forest (Sects. 117, 302), with or without the agency of the piai. The following is a Warrau story bearing on this subject:

THE LITTLE BUSH CHILD (W)

A long time ago it was customary for a woman, when she yearned for a child, to wander about in the forest until she found one. It so happened that a certain woman, Yaburawáko, in going to her field found a little child on the road-a pretty boy he was-and she brought him home. She minded him, and he had sense enough to call her "Máma." By and by, however, the child got mischievous, and made her vexed. She said, "You have really nothing to do with me; so why should you annoy me?" The husband remonstrated with her, expressing himself to her somewhat as follows: "You must not be angry with the child, but must mind him carefully." She continued, however, to be cross with the boy, and finally ill-treated him. "I am not going to be bothered with you any more, " she exclaimed. "You have nothing to do with me. You are not mine. You don't belong to me." With this, the child disappeared, whereupon the husband said: "Well, he's gone now, but he will come back again, and this time enter your body, and you will have trouble enough to get rid of him." Sure enough, after a time the child did enter her womb, and, oh! the trouble and the pains she suffered before she was delivered of him. Women ever since have borne children in this manner just because Yaburawáko was so unkind to the little bush child.

284B. Arawaks believe that birth-marks and moles (namarakan) are due to the failure of the mother, during pregnancy, to get what she wanted. She may have said, "Oh! how I should like to have just a bit of marudi!" thoughtlessly placing her hand on her face, breast, body, or thigh; her baby will be born with a corresponding mark on the particular part touched. The "Mongolian spot" is regarded by the women as due to the position of the afterbirth being near the surface in the corresponding part of the mother's body. The Moruca River Arawaks call this spot tu-tebe, but as it begins to fade it is known as anakwarro.

CHAPTER XVII

THE MEDICINE-MAN

Medicine-men practise what they preach: Names (285); respected and feared both alive or dead and may be given offerings (286), but occupy no position necessarily distinctive, as captain of tribe (287).

Insignia and paraphernalia: bench (288), rattle (289), doll or manikin, identical with idol or zemi of Antilleans (290), quartz crystals (291); miscellaneous kickshaws (292).

Office, hereditary (293). Female doctors (294). Consulting-room (295). First Piai (296). Apprenticeship and Installation (297).

Power over Spirits: of animals (298), of himself (e. g. invisibility) and of other Indians (299).

As interpreter of dreams (300); seer or prophet (301); his general versatility (302– 303); guardian of the tribal traditions (304); the giver of personal names (305); his treatment of sickness and disease (306).

Disease and treatment: signification (307); usual treatment by Arawak piai (308); by Carib (309); by Galibi (310); by ?Oyampi (311); by Makusi (312); by Indians of Caracas (313); by Carib Islanders (314). Spirits specially invoked in cure (315); objects extracted from patients (316); dieting of patient's relatives and family (317); medical fees (318); Quack doctors (319).

285. There is abundant evidence that the medicine-men practised what they preached, and had every confidence in the powers with which they had been intrusted. "They practise those incantations over their own sick children, and cause them to be practised over themselves when sick" (BrA, 117). "They act the farce on themselves when they are disordered: a practice which has not a little contributed to overthrow all doubts of the sincerity of their pretensions" (Ba, 314). "The piai himself believes in it: one will put himself in the hands of another when sick" (Go, 13). Schomburgk was "convinced that the piai believes in the efficacy of his witchcraft as firmly as his protéges" (ScR, II, 146). The real causes of the existing prejudice against the medicine-men are not far to seek, and have often been clearly expressed. "As doctors, augurs, rain-makers, spell-binders, leaders of secret societies, and depositaries of the tribal traditions and wisdom, their influence was generally powerful. Of course it was adverse to the Europeans, especially the missionaries, and also of course it was generally directed to their own interest or that of their class; but this is equally true of priestly power wherever it gains the ascendency, and the injurious effect of the Indian shamans on their nations was not greater than has been in many instances that of the Christian priesthood on European communities".

(Bri, 55). On the other hand, there is not a single recorded instance of the Guianese Indian priesthood ever having submitted those of their people holding religious views different from their own to either torture or the block. The Creole term for the priest-doctor is piaiman, a hybrid that seems to have been first recorded by Waterton in the form of pee-ay-man, who is an enchanter; he finds out things lost (W, 223). In its simple form, the word of course came into use much earlier, and is seemingly derived from the Carib piache, which Gumilla employs, and is still met with among the Pomeroon group of these Indians as piésan. Brett (Br, 363) derives it from the Carib word puiai, which denotes their profession. The Akawais call it piatsan. Dance seems to derive the name from that of the tribal hero, Pia (Sect. 41). Crévaux in Cayenne speaks of piay, de Goeje in Surinam of piai, and Bates, throughout the extent of the Amazons visited by him, of pajé. The Warrau word for the priest-doctor is wishidatu (wisidaā, according to Brett), similarly applied to the kickshaws. In some of the Orinoco nations, they call these men Mojan: in others Piache: in others Alabuqui, etc. (G, 11, 25). The Piapocos Indians of the lower Guaviar River speak of them as Kamarikeri (Cr, 526); the Caribs of the lower Caroni River as Marirri (AVH, ш, 89), and the Island Caribs as Bové (RoP, 473). The Arawak designation is of equal interest and also of extended range: it is Semi-tchichi or Semi-cihi, the same term applied generally to the kickshaws and various apparatus employed in the pursuit of the craft (Sect. 93).

286. Both alive and dead, the medicine-men had the respect and fear of the community. They were the teachers, preachers, counsellors, and guides, of the Indians; "regarded as the arbiters of life and death, everything was permitted, and nothing refused them; the people would suffer anything at their hands without being able to obtain redress, and with never a thought of complaining" (PBa, 210). They thus lived "in clover," (G, II, 24), better than all the rest of the people (St, 1, 399). And yet in a sense they were restricted: they must not partake of the flesh of the larger animals, but limit themselves to those only which are indigenous to their country (ScR, 1, 173); they had religiously to abstain from certain fish and game (PBa, 211); no animal food was publicly tasted by these priests, while they abstained, even more strictly than the laity, from the flesh of oxen, sheep, and all other animals that had been transported from Europe (Sect. 247) and were "unnatural" to their country (St, 1, 399). They were said to renew their piai power from time to time by drinking tobacco juice, but in doses not so strong as at the time of installation (PBa, 211). As stated above, even dead the medicine men were still respected.

They also keep the dead bones of these sorcerers with as much veneration as if they were the Reliques of Saints. When they have put their bones together, they hang them in the Air in the same cotton beds those Wizards use to live in when alive. [Da, 98.]

Bates gives a curious example of such veneration and sanctity, met with at a spot on the Jaburu channel, Marajo Island, at the mouth of the Amazon, "which is the object of a strange superstitious observance on the part of the canoe-men. It is said to be haunted by a Pajé, or Indian wizard, whom it is necessary to propitiate, by depositing some article on the spot, if the voyager wishes to secure a safe return from the sertaô, as the interior of the country is called. The trees were all hung with rags, shirts, straw hats, bunches of fruits, and so forth. Although the superstition doubtless originated with the aborigines, yet I observed, in both my voyages, that it was only the Portuguese and uneducated Brazilians who deposited anything. The pure Indians gave nothing; but they were all civilized Tapuyos" (HWB, 115). Koch-Grünberg gives a similar example on the River Caiary-Uaupes (Upper Rio Negro), where the practice is undoubtedly observed by the Indians (KG, 1, 237), while Coudreau (II, 404) has observed it on the Rio Branco. (Compare the protective charm against the Curupira, etc., in Sect. 109.)

287. It sometimes happened that the captain and the piai were one and the same person, as in Cayenne (PBa, 208). But on the other hand, however great his abilities, the medicine-man did not obtain any distinctive position, as head of the family, through his proficiency (Go, 14). Bancroft (310) says that in almost every family, there is a person consecrated to the craft. There was apparently nothing characteristic about the piai in the way of ornament or decoration. I can find no confirmation of Bernau's statement that the novitiate's "right ear is pierced, and he is required to wear a ring all his lifetime" (Be, 31).

288. The insignia and "stock-in-trade" of the medicine-man, in his highest stage of development, comprise a particular kind of bench, a rattle, a doll or manikin, certain crystals, and other kickshaws, generally something out of the common, all except the first mentioned being packed away when not in use, in a basket, or pegall, which is usually of a shape different from that employed by the lay fraternity. The peculiarity of the basket among Arawaks and Warraus lies in both top and bottom being concave. St. Clair (1, 330) reports that on the Corentyn, among Arawaks, he came across the "magical shell” (rattle) supported by three pieces of stick, the ends of which were stuck into the ground, in the middle of the floor; it is not clear, however, whether in this situation the implement was being used or At any rate, all the insignia were taboo to the common folk and were kept out of harm's way in a special shed, the piai's con

not.

sulting-room, so to speak. Were they to be profaned, they would lose their intrinsic virtues, while the delinquents would suffer misfortunes of various descriptions. The bench (the ha-la of the Arawaks), plate 5, differed from the ordinary article of furniture usually met with in Indian houses, in being larger, often painted, and carved in fanciful designs of various animals, but little is known concerning the why and wherefore of the selection of the particular beast; thus, I have seen the turtle, alligator, tiger, and macaw more or less faithfully represented on such Warrau and Arawak divining-stools.

289. The rattle, maráka (an Arawak word), the shakshak of the Creoles, differs somewhat in shape, size, and ornamentation throughout the various tribes. It consists essentially of a large cleaned-out "calabash," containing stones and other objects, through which a closely fitting tapering stick is run from end to end by means of two apertures cut for the purpose (fig. 4). This gourd shell (Crescentia cujete Linn.), which may or may not be painted in various colors, is provided with certain small circular holes as well as with a few long narrow slits, both kinds of openings being too small to allow of the contents (either quartz-crystals or a species of agate) dropping out. Seeds may be employed with or without the stonessmall pea-like seeds variegated with black and yellow spots which, it is commonly believed, will occasion the teeth to fall out if they are chewed (Ba, 311), or hard red ones (StC, 1, 320). But whether seeds or stones, they usually have some out-of-the-way origin; the former, for instance, may have been extracted from the piai teacher's stomach (PBa, 208); the latter may be the gift of the Water Spirits (Sect. 185). According to a Kaliña, the power of the maráka lies in the stones contained therein (Go, 14). The thicker, projecting part of the stick constitutes the handle, to prevent its slipping; it may be wrapped with cotton thread. The exposed thinner end is ornamented with feathers, as those of the parrot, inserted in a cotton band, which is then wound spirally on it. An Arawak medicine-man assured me that the feathers must not only be those of a special kind of parrot (Psittacus aestivus), but that they must be plucked from the

FIG. 4. Piai's rattle (Arawak), Pomeroon.