ROTH] HEROES < 125 



ferent species of duck come and steal it. At last he happened to make one out of the 

 silk-cotton tree and this particular one was not stolen. It was thus Ilaburi who first 

 made a boat and taught the ducks to float on the surface of the water because it was 

 with his boats that they managed to do it; indeed, we Warraus say that each duck has 

 its own particular kind of boat. 



16. But what was more curious, the last boat to be manufactured was found next morn- 

 ing to be ver>' much V)igger than it was the night before. Ilaburi told his mother and 

 her sister to collect all the provisions and put them aboard in anticipation of then- 

 long journey. He himself returned to the field, bringing the cassava cuttings for 

 old Wau-uta to plant in their respective holes, and so they both continued working 

 hard. By and bye, he slipped away, went back to the house, took his arrows and ax, 

 and proceeded down to the water-side. But before he left the house, he told the 

 posts not to talk, for in those days the jwsts of a house could speak (Sect. 169), and 

 if the owner were absent a visitor could thus find out his whereabouts. There was 

 a parrot, however, in the house, and Ilaburi cjuile forgot to warn him to keep silent. 

 So when the old woman after a time found hcr.self alone, she went back to the house, 

 and seeing no Haburi, asked the ])ost8 whither he had gone; they remained silent. 

 The parrot, however, could not help talking, and told her. 



17. Wau-uta thereupon rushed down to the landing, arriving there just in time 

 to see Haburi stepping into the boat to join his mother and aunt. She seized hold 

 of the craft, screaming ' ' My son ! My son ! you must not leave me so. I am your mother, ' ' 

 and though they all repeatedly struck her fingers with their paddles, and almost 

 smashed them to pieces on the gunwale, she would not let go her hold. So poor 

 Haburi had jjerforce to land again and with old \\'au-uta proceeded to a large hollow 

 tree wherein the bees had l)uilt their nest. Cutting down the tree, Haburi made a 

 small hole in the trunk, and told the old lady to get in and suck the honey. She was 

 very fond of honey, and thovigh crjing very hard all the time at the thought of losing 

 Haburi, crawled through the little opening which he immediately closed in upon her. 

 And there she is to be found to the present day, the Wau-uta frog which is heard only 

 in hollow trees. And if you look carefully, you will see how swollen her fingers are 

 from the way in which they were bashed by the paddles when she tried to hold on 

 to the gunwale. If you listen, you can also hear her lamenting for her lost lover; 

 she still cries Wang ! Wang ! Wang ! 



18. The tree-frog above referred to is probably the konoibo)-aru, or 

 rain-frog, the name given to the old woman in the Carib version of the 

 story (Sect. 35). The croalung of this creature (Hyla venulosa Dand.) 

 is an absolutely sure sign of rain. This frog lives only in the trunk of 

 the Bodelsclnringia macrophyJla Klotzsch, a tree found on the Pome- 

 roon and Barania (Sc R, ii, 419). Though the Warraus are beheved 

 to have been the first of the Guiana Indians to use boats, the invention 

 of the sail has been credited to the Caribs. A modern addition to the 

 above version of the story is that Haburi sailed awaj', found new 

 lands, and taught the white people all their arts and manufactures, 

 all about guns and sliips, and for many years used to send his old 

 Warrau friends certain presents annually, but they never come now — 

 an unscrupulous Government detains them in Georgetown! 



19. With regard to Koroiomanna, or Kururumanni, the same 

 remarks concerning his tribal origin applj" as in the case of Haburi. 

 Hilhouse and Schomburgk (Sc R , ii, 31 9) seemingly would have him an 

 Arawak, but Brett undoubtedly makes him a Warrau, the view which 



