166 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [eth. ann. 30 



88. In connection witli tiie idea of at least one of the individual's 

 Spirits being located in his head, it is of interest to record Schom- 

 bui^k's observations among tlie Wapisiana on the Takutu River 

 with regard to idiocy: Imbeciles are regarded with awe by the 

 IndiaiLs, 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, ii, 54) ; then- doings and sajdngs are con- 

 sidered 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 bunari crabs, and just as he was at)Out to step out of the boat, an immense 

 tiger approached; thinkingit 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 

 himting 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 hia 

 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 (repre- 

 senting thetail) 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 handlmg of, certain birds' feathers con- 

 duces to loss of memory and to insanity (Sect. 223). 



